Siddhartha life and marriage

Siddhartha, destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces (one for each season) especially built for him. His father, King Śuddhodana, wishing for Siddhartha to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human suffering. Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[5]

As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā), a cousin of the same age. In time, she gave birth to a son, Rahula. Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilavastu, a place now situated in Nepal. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.[6]


The Four Heavenly MessengersAt the age of 29, however, the young prince left his palace for a short excursion. While venturing outside of his palace, and despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man . Disturbed by this, and the fact that all people would eventually grow old, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a crippled man, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These four scenes are referred to as the four sights, or the four heavenly messengers (Pali: devaduta). Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic. Siddhartha soon left his palace, his possessions, and his entire family at age 29, to take up the lonely life of a wandering monk.[7]

Abandoning his inheritance, he is then said to have dedicated his life to learning how to overcome suffering. He meditated with two hermits, and, although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, he was still not satisfied with his path.[8]


The Buddha as an ascetic. Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE. British Museum.Siddhartha then chose the robes of a mendicant monk and headed to Magadha in what is today Bihar in India. He began his training in the ascetic life and practicing vigorous techniques of physical and mental austerity. Gautama proved quite adept at these practices, and surpassed even his teachers.

However, he found no answer to his questions regarding freedom from sufferings. Leaving behind his caring teachers, he and a small group of close companions set out to take their austerities even further. Gautama tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day (some sources claim that he nearly drowned), Gautama began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing.
 

Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Great Enlightenment 

Siddhartha Passing