Who was the Buddha's father? His life and concerns as the Buddha's father
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The Buddha is the most blessed being in the world. To be chosen as his parent, one must be exceptionally noble and extraordinary, as such individuals are incredibly rare in this world.
King Suddhodana was the one and only special person selected by the Buddha to be his father before he descended into the world.
From his birth, “omens” suggested that Prince Siddhartha (who later became Shakyamuni Buddha) would renounce worldly life and not care for wealth or power. This caused King Suddhodana much concern, as he hoped his son would inherit the throne and rule the kingdom. However, Prince Siddhartha eventually chose to leave. Later, before the King passed away, the Buddha came to enlighten his father, enabling him to attain Arahantship.
What made King Suddhodana's life so special as the Buddha's father? Let's explore the answer in the article below!
A brief overview of King Suddhodana's life
King Suddhodana was the ruler of the Shakya clan, governing the kingdom of Kapilavastu. He was married to Queen Maya and was the father of Prince Siddhartha (who later became Shakyamuni Buddha).
At that time, the King and Queen had no heir despite being advanced in age. Eager to have a son to inherit the throne, they devoted themselves to worship, prayers, and acts of merit, hoping to give birth to a prince. The royal courts were also anxious, urging the King and Queen to give birth to a prince to continue the royal lineage.
The royal courts also implored the King and Queen to have a Prince to inherit the throne and continue the lineage (illustrative image)
After a praying ceremony, Queen Maya organized a charity event for the poor. She then returned to the palace to rest and dreamt of a snow-white elephant with six tusks holding a beautiful lotus flower in its trunk. It descended from heaven on a cloud and entered the queen's right side. Afterward, she experienced a faint, fragrant scent. Upon awakening, she recounted her dream to King Suddhodana. The King invited fortune tellers to the palace, and they foretold that the Queen was carrying an extraordinary being—none other than Shakyamuni Buddha.
Why was King Suddhodana chosen to be the Buddha's father?
Bodhisattva Prabhapala, Tusita heaven's ruler, was the previous incarnation of Shakyamuni Buddha. Before descending to Earth, he carefully observed all necessary conditions, including choosing the most suitable parents.
Specifically, to have the merit and fortune to give birth to a fully enlightened Buddha, one must cultivate virtuous deeds over countless lifetimes, thereby accumulating the following blessings:
Status: Must be a king
Kingdom: The kingdom must be a place where the sacred energies of heaven and earth converge; it must be located in a central, prosperous, and densely populated region, from which the Dharma can spread far and wide.
Merit: must possess 60 merits.
Lineage and family merit from past lives to the present:
1. The origin of that family must be perfectly pure.
2. Supported by holy sages
3. The lineage is perfectly pure through every generation from its very origin
4. The kings of the lineage must be firstborns, without interruption
5. It must, from its origin, have been in a royal lineage.
6. Well-known all over
7. Being superior to all other family lineages
8. Often showing their gratitude
9. Often practicing asceticism
10. Regular in religious conduct and willing to comply with all the rules
11. Often willing to give alms to sentient beings
12. Exact in determining the law of cause and effect.
13. Often making offerings to all saints and sages
14. Often making offerings to divinities
15. Often making offerings to deities
16. Often making offerings to great beings
17. Having a peaceful country in every lifetime being king.
Merits that caused those born into the family lineage of the Buddha's father in past lives to possess the following qualities:
1. All belonging to holy ancestry
2. Belonging to the most auspicious among holy ancestries
3. Often belonging to the lineage of a Wheel-Turning King
4. Belonging to a stately and virtuous lineage
5. Supported by countless retinues around
6. Having tight and unbroken family bonds
7. Having more relatives than others
8. Being pious to their mothers
9. Being pious to their fathers
10. All making offerings to Buddhist monks
11. All making offerings to Brahmins
12. Not doing any evils
13. All members of that family must be faultless.
14. All the kings of that lineage must have cultivated many good seeds of karma.
15. Being praised by deities, saints, and sages
16. Being stately and virtuous
17. All the women of that family must be decent and faithful
18. Young men of that family must be wise and brave
19. Having an amiable and agreeable disposition
20. Not embracing hatred
21. Not having flirtatious and indecent traits
22. Well-gifted with intellectual power
23. Not ignorant
24. Absence of sin
25. Afraid of committing sin
26. No cowardice
27. Fearless
28. Not led by fear to follow others
29. Not easily led by others
30. Good at many professions
31. Not doing any worldly deceitful occupations, not greedy for wealth
32. Having plenty of friends
33. Not slaughtering animals for livelihood
34. Having no murderous tendency
35. Having an indomitable will
36. Strong and vigorous
37. Getting a lot of offerings when going on alms rounds
38. No member of the family would fail to receive alms.
39. Plenteous in grain
40. Rich in possessions, not lacking anything
41. Abounding in cattle, servants, elephants, horses, oxen, sheep
42. Never serving anyone else
43. Not deficient in any worldly possessions
King Suddhodana fulfilled all 60 required conditions and was chosen to be the father of Prince Siddhartha, as known as Shakyamuni Buddha.
To have the fortune of being the Buddha's father, King Suddhodana also had to cultivate numerous Paramita merits over countless lifetimes. If the Buddha's birth is a rare event, then his parents were also extraordinarily rare and exceptional.
The King's worries upon learning that the Prince would become ordained
When the Prince was born, fortune tellers and astrologers all predicted that he would become a great and extraordinary being, the most special person in the world.
Among them, a 100-year-old great hermit named Asita, who had long been practicing in the Himalayas, told the King: "If this person remains a lay person's life, he will become a Wheel-Turning King ruling over the four continents. But if he renounces the world, he will attain Buddhahood and save all sentient beings."
The great hermit Asita examined the Princes features and made a prophecy about his life (illustrative image)
In addition, a Brahmin astrologer named Kaundinya also examined the Prince's features and confirmed: "I am certain that when the Prince grows up, he will renounce worldly life. I'm sure of this. I affirm this."
After learning from these prophecies and witnessing that the Prince, although still young, showed no interest in a life of noise and pleasure, King Suddhodana became deeply worried. The King did not want the Prince to become a monk but wished for his son to be highly skilled in every field so that he could one day inherit the throne.
Thus, the King devised a plan to prevent the Prince from learning about the suffering and sorrows of worldly life. He had three palaces built, each filled with maids who sang and danced. The Prince was surrounded by a life of royal luxury, with music, dancing, and abundant pleasures.
Moreover, the King arranged a marriage for the Prince with Princess Yasodhara from a neighboring kingdom, and they later had a son named Rahula.
King Suddhodana arranged the marriage of the Prince to Princess Yasodhara (illustrative image)
Although the married life of the Prince and Princess was filled with peace and luxury, deep within, the Prince's desire to renounce the worldly life remained persistent. He was deeply contemplative about the value of human life. He firmly believed that renouncing the worldly life to seek enlightenment was the path he must take.
On the night of the 8th day of the second lunar month, the Prince left his royal family behind, escaped the palace, embarked on the path of monastic life, and ultimately attained enlightenment, becoming Shakyamuni Buddha.
From these events, we can see that ever since the Prince was born, King Suddhodana constantly carried the fear that his son would leave home to become a monk. As a father, he deeply loved the Prince and wished for him to live in luxury and comfort. As a king, he worried about the future of his kingdom and hoped the Prince would one day inherit the throne and rule the land.
Thus, the King did everything he could to prevent the Prince from becoming a monk, hoping to change his son's mind. However, nothing could stop the Prince from pursuing the path of renunciation in search of ultimate happiness and liberation.
Fortunately, in his final moments of life, King Suddhodana had the opportunity to listen to the Buddha's teachings, which led him to enlightenment and the attainment of Arahantship, freeing him from the cycle of rebirth forever.
