Four Sights - Background

Background

After the birth of the Prince Siddhārtha, King Śuddhodana called upon eight Brahmins to predict his son's future. While seven of them declared that the prince would either be a Buddha or a great King, the Brahmin Kaundinya was confident that he would renounce the world and become a Buddha.

Śuddhodana, who was determined that his son should be a king, confined the prince within the palace and surrounded him with earthly pleasures and luxury, thereby concealing the realities of life that may encourage him to renounce these pleasures and become an ascetic.

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