Siddhartha is said to have remained living in the palace until the age of 29 when everything changed.Īccording to the story, one day Siddhartha travelled outside of the palace gates and he was deeply disturbed by the sight of an old man. She gave birth to a son, Rāhula, some years later. As such, he was raised in the lap of luxury and blissful ignorance where he knew nothing about aging, disease, or death.Īt the age of 16, Siddhartha’s father arranged his marriage to a cousin, Yaśodharā, who was also a teenager. His father, hoping to steer Siddhartha in the direction of the throne, shielded him from religion of any kind and sheltered him from seeing human hardship and suffering. Since Siddhartha’s mother died, he was brought up by his maternal aunt, Maha Pajapati. The infant was given the name Siddhartha, meaning “he who achieves his aim.” When Siddhartha was still a baby, several seers with the power of supernatural insight into the future, predicted he would either be a great spiritual leader, military leader or a king. His mother was Queen Māyā of Sakya who is said to have died shortly after his birth. His father Śuddhodana (translating to, “he who grows pure rice”) presided over a large clan called the Shakya in either a republic or an oligarchy system of rule. He was the son a chieftain and believed to be born in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal) in the 6th century B.C. The founder of Buddhism was a man named Siddhartha Gautama. Let’s take a closer look at “The Buddha”, Siddhartha Gautama on Biographics.