THE SHAKYA CLAN

Shakya is the name of a family which lived in what is now the southern region of Nepal, and it is said that at the time in question,  the Shakva clan bad built a kind of Republic. First they chose ten chiefs, and then elected one of the ten chiefs to be the leader, whom they called the king. The capital citv of the Shakva clan was called Kapilavastu.


THE BIRTH OF SHAKYAMUNI
The sage who came from this Shakva clan was given the honorific title "Muni,- [meaning sage] and was called "Shakvamuni, the World-Honored One." This name was shortened to "Honored One of the Shakyas. Shakyamuni's father was Suddhodana, king of Kapilavastu castle, mid his mother was the king's wife, Queen Mava. The story spread that at birth, the crown prince walked seven steps and proclaimed, "I alone am honored throughout heaven and earth."


TEARS OF THE ASCETIC ASITA

Gladdened by the birth of the prince, King Suddhodana decided to have the ascetic Asita foretell the prince's future. Thereupon the ascetic said: "in the future, this prince will either become a great king and rule India, or if he should take the tonsure, lie will become a great Buddha. Great However, am old, and will not be able to see this prince come to maturity." So saying , it is told that  Asita wept.

TONSURE

Prince Siddhartha. exhibited wisdom from infancy, and during his youth his skill in both letters and the martial arts was markedly superior. Therefore Suddhodana wished to have the prince ascend the throne. However, the prince had no such intentions, and when a son, Rahula- -,was born to  Siddhartha and his wife, the Queen Consort Yashodhara. Siddhartha's desire to take the tonsure grew  stronger.

On occasion, Prince Siddhartha left the castle by on- of the gates of the four directions (north, south, east and west), for recreation. But the first time, leaving by way of the east gate, he met up with an aged person. The next time, going out through the south gate, he came upon one who was ill. When he left through the west gate, he saw a corpse. At that time, lie lost his appetite for pleasure, and felt more and more repugnance for his earthly existence. Finally, when the prince went out via the north gate, he met a man of  the Way, whose body and mind were pristine. In that man, the crown prince saw the ideal figure he truly sought to become himself, and from that moment, resolved in his heart
to enter the Path. This story is known as, "Play at the Four Gates."

ATTAINING THE PATH (BUDDHAHOOD]

It is said that Suddhohana dispatched five ascetics - Ajnata Kaundinya Ashivajit, Bhadrika, Dashabala, Kashyapa and Mahanama - to go with Prince Siddhartha when he left the castle. Together, they trained under two ascetics, first under Alara Kalarna, and then under Uddaka Ramaputta. But this practice did not lead to enlightenment.  Afterwards, for the next twelve years, Shakyamuni pursued every kind of religious austerity imaginable, but he realized that the practice of these extreme austerities
was as meaningless as  indulgence in worldly pleasures. So in a tributary of the Ganges River called the Nairanjana, near  Buddhagaya, he bathed himself, ate a milk and rice porridge offered him by a maiden named Sujata,  and regained his strength. When the five ascetics witnessed this, they believed that Shakyamuni had given up his quest for Buddhahood, and left him.  Following that, Shakyamuni sat with  single minded yearning under a pipal tree. After entering into profound meditation, his heart finally