Gautama Buddha story in childhood
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Answer:
Several details regarding Gautama Buddha’s early life are shrouded in mystery. He is believed to have been born in Lumbini (today, modern Nepal) in the 6th century B.C. His birth name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born as a prince. His father, King Suddhodana, was leader of a large clan called the Shakya and his mother was Queen Maya. His mother died shortly after his birth.
When Siddhartha was a little boy, learned seers prophesized that the boy would either be a great king or military leader or he would be a great spiritual leader. His father wanted Siddhartha to become a great king, so he raised him in the lap of luxury and shielded him from religious knowledge of any kind.
His father did not want Siddhartha to learn about human hardships and sufferings as he was afraid that such knowledge might propel the boy towards spirituality. So, he took great care to ensure that his son was raised in seclusion and kept away from knowledge of processes like aging and death.
Having spent all of his life confined to his palace, young Siddhartha grew curious and asked a charioteer to take him on a tour of the city. While travelling through the city he came across an old crippled man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man with no home.
These sights shocked him as he had no prior knowledge about the concepts of sickness, old age, death, and asceticism. The charioteer explained to him that sickness, aging and death were a part and parcel of life, and that some people renounce their worldly life in order to seek answers to questions regarding human sufferings.
Siddhartha was very troubled after witnessing these sights. The opulence of palace life no longer interested him and he realized that he had to seek the ultimate truth.
Answer:
Several details regarding Gautama Buddha's early life are shrouded in mystery. He is believed to have been born in Lumbini (today, modern Nepal) in the 6th century B.C. His birth name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born as a prince. His father, King Suddhodana, was leader of a large clan called the Shakya and his mother was Queen Maya. His mother died shortly after his birth.