Читать книгу 108 Buddhist Parables and Stories - Olga Gutsol - Страница 3

Twenty-five centuries ago, in the royal city of Kapilavatthu, King Suddhodana from the great Sakya dynasty ruled a land near the Himalayan Mountains.

His wife, Queen Maya, gave birth to a son. Shortly after the birth, the king was visited by a great sage Asita who had travelled many miles to behold the child. The baby was brought to him, but on seeing the child Asita immediately burst into tears.

The king, alarmed by this reaction and concerned for what it may mean, bade Asita to tell him why he was saddened. Thus the sage explained, “His future is supreme. Your son shall become an Enlightened One, and free the world from its bonds of illusion. I weep only for myself, for I will not live to hear his teachings. For he will give up the kingdom in his indifference to worldly pleasures, and, through bitter struggles grasping the final truth, he will shine forth as a sun of knowledge in the world to dispel the darkness of delusion. With the mighty boat of knowledge he will bring the world, which is being carried away in affliction, up from the ocean of suffering, which is overspread with the foam of disease and which has old age for its waves and death for its fearsome flood.”

Though Suddhodana proceeded with a celebration of his son’s birth, concern and anxiety began to creep into his mind. The possibility that his son might renounce all that he, the king, held dear, in favour of the homeless life and to pass his days as a wandering sage – this was difficult for Suddhodana to bear. The king called upon eight brahmin priests, all skilled in interpreting astrology signs, and asked them to prophesy for the prince.

When the brahmins had conferred, they said, “According to the signs your son will certainly become either an enlightened seer or the greatest monarch -a chakravartin- on earth. Should he desire earthly sovereignty, then by his might and law he will stand on earth at the head of all kings. Should he desire salvation and renounce his home and family for the life of a seeker, then by his knowledge and truth, he will overcome all creeds and save the world from its ignorance and folly.”

The king asked, “What would cause my son to renounce home and family?”

The brahmins replied, “Seeing the four signs.”

“And what are the four?”

“An old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man.”

“Then none of these shall he see,” the king declared. Then he placed guards around the palace to keep all such persons away.

The king desired for his son to inherit the throne and rule in his stead. For Suddhodana, nothing would be better than to see his son become the greatest monarch on earth and to bring the Sakya kingdom to new heights of glory. The king named the boy Siddhartha (the one who achieves his goals).

Seven days after giving birth Queen Maya died. The infant prince was nursed and raised by the queen’s sister Pajapati, also married to King Suddhodana.