The Buddha Story Continues ~ A Song of Beauty

In earlier posts, we have followed the story of the Buddha: Birth of the Buddha, The Young Prince, The Wise Men's Predictions,  The Marriage Contest, and The Pleasure Palaces.  Today the story continues.

One evening after dinner, Prince Siddhartha lay reclining on his couch, his head resting in the lap of his beautiful bride, Yasodhara.

His musician was playing beautiful songs.  The servant girls were  whispering to each other.  It was another beautiful evening, like so many others, inside the Pleasure Palace where Siddhartha's father wished his son to stay, isolated from the world.

But on this evening, Siddhartha was feeling restless.  He turned to the singer and made a request,  "Help me fall asleep with a song you have never sung for me before."

The musician, of course, did as she was asked.  Quickly she began to compose a new song with the words and images floating through her brain, all the while strumming along on her instrument.  She sang of the beautiful things to be found in the world, of the distant lands where she had once traveled,and of golden cities where people lived happily.

The prince was enchanted by the song, and asked the singer, "Are there really places of beauty outside these palace walls?"  When the singer assured him that there were, he asked more questions.  "What kind of lives do the people there live?  Are there things more lovely than what I see before me each day?"  He begged the singer to tell him everything she knew of the world outside.

And so she told him of cities and towns, mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, lands where people spoke in different languages.  She told him that these were only things she had seen; she heard that there were more places and people she had not even imagined.  "Though your place and gardens and walls are beautiful," she told the prince, "there is much to see outside these walls."

The prince, of course, now wanted to see and experience all these strange and wonderful things himself.  He had lived in the pleasure palaces for so long, he had forgotten about the world outside, as his father had wished.

The prince was content in his palaces, sitting in his garden. listening to beautiful music.  But now it was time to travel and see what lay beyond.

That very night, the prince sent a message to the King.  He asked that a travel party be arranged, to that he might go out into the city and learn what lay beyond the garden walls.

Next: An Unexpected Sight

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The Buddha Story Continues ~ The Pleasure Palaces

In earlier posts, we have seen the story of the Buddha: Birth of the Buddha, The Young Prince, The Wise Men's Predictions, and The Marriage Contest.  Today, The Pleasure Palaces.

Having won the marriage contest, Prince Siddhartha and Princess Yasodhara were married. The King wanted to be sure his son would never wish to leave the kingdom, and so he had three palaces  built for the young couple.  He wanted them to be so beautiful, so magnificent, that anyone who entered would think he was in heaven.

He commissioned a summer palace with pools and fountains, a warm and luxurious winter palace, and a palace for the rainy season.  The palaces were to be placed in a park, with scenery wherever one looked.  Each would be surrounded by a large wall, so that nothing unpleasant would ever be able to enter.  That way, Prince Siddhartha would never be tempted to leave.  

The King did not stop there.  He hired the best musicians to play all day and all night.  

The servants were beautiful dancing girls.  The chefs were trained to make an endless variety of delicious and tempting foods.  Nothing was allowed inside to disturb the prince in any way.

For many years Prince Siddhartha lived in these heavenly surroundings, entertained from morning until night.  He never heard or saw anything even slightly unpleasant.  If one of the servant girls fell ill, she was taken from the palace and not allowed to return until she was in the bloom of health once again.  If a plant began to droop, it was quickly replaced with a strong healthy plant.

The Prince knew nothing of sickness or sadness. He never even saw a wilted plant.  Thus he was kept ignorant of all the suffering and unpleasantness of the world.  

Soon Yasodhara gave birth to a son, who was named Rahula. Everything was perfect and the King felt sure that his plans to keep the Prince interested in the royal life were working perfectly.

 Buddha charms here and here.

Next:  A Song of Beauty