Siddhatha's Marriage

When being a baby, Siddhatha was predicted he would be a Buddha and save the beings in the world. But 7 Brahmanas predicted, pointing 2 fingers up that he would be a Buddha or an Empire King while one Brahmana pointed up only one finger and predicted that Siddhatha would be really a Buddha.
Shortly thereafter, a wise man visited his father, King Śuddhodana. The wise man said that Siddhartha would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a holy man (Sadhu) based on whether he saw life outside of the palace walls. Determined to make Siddhartha a king, Śuddhodana shielded his son from the unpleasant realities of daily life. Years after this, Gautama married Yasodhara, with whom he had a son, Rahula, who later became a Buddhist monk.

Despite predictions that Siddhatha would be the Buddha while still a baby, his father arranged a marriage at the age of sixteen. Siddhatha married a cousin of the same age and produced a son.

Despite being a wealthy prince for twenty-nine years, however, Siddhatha was not satisfied with his life and was generally unhappy. The Great DepartureAt the age of twenty-nine, while wandering outside his palace, Gautama encountered an old crippled man, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic, or holy man. These sights are now referred to as the four heavenly messengers. The inspiration of these four sights caused Gautama to leave his family, wealth, and inheritance behind and begin life anew as an ascetic in hopes of ending the suffering of old age, disease, and death.

Despite meditation and deprivation, Gautama was unable to find the satisfaction and purpose he was looking for, but after nearly starving to death, remembered the peaceful bliss of a naturally concentrated state, and decided to purse this course.

LeavingHaving made this discovery, Gautama left the asceticism and meditation behind and focused on The Middle Way, a path away from all extremes. History tells that Gautama then accepted some rice pudding, sat beneath a papal tree and refused to arise until he had discovered the truth. At the age of thirty-five, or six years after beginning his quest, Gautama obtained enlightenment.

Buddha conceded to become a teacher and instructed monks and other followers in the ways of Nirvana, or the shedding of suffering, and bodhi, the pathway to enlightenment, among many other lessons and concepts. Buddha was very clear to emphasize that he was not a god, but rather an enlightened man. He shared his teachings for another forty-five years, and then passed to Parinivana, or the final deathless state, fully abandoning the human body. His teachings have lived on, however, and become the fourth largest organized religion in the world today.