Buddhist traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Suddhodana
Suddhodana rules the Shakyas and wishes his son to become a universal emperor. The prediction that age, illness, death and a hermit will turn the prince towards renunciation prompts elaborate protection. Once the prince begins seeing the world, the king orders disturbing sights removed and later strengthens the guards and pleasures of the palace. The effort cannot prevent the knowledge that changes his son’s purpose.
Also known as Suddhodhana
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSuddhodana rules the Shakyas and wishes his son to become a universal emperor. The prediction that age, illness, death and a hermit will turn the prince towards renunciation prompts elaborate protection.
Further detail
TraditionalOnce the prince begins seeing the world, the king orders disturbing sights removed and later strengthens the guards and pleasures of the palace. The effort cannot prevent the knowledge that changes his son’s purpose.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the guarded-prince account in the 1914 collection, where the king’s name has variant spellings. It concerns his narrative role rather than establishing the details of an ancient political biography.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
The raja of the Shakyas was SuddhodanaOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 299
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0299
- Original scan leaf
- 299
- Recorded leaf number
- 299
- Current Reader position
- 290
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
redoubled the guard about the palaceOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 319
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0319
- Original scan leaf
- 319
- Recorded leaf number
- 319
- Current Reader position
- 310
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Figures in Sacred Narratives ↗
Channa
The charioteer who explains the prince’s first encounters with suffering and accompanies his departure.
Shared source pageFour Sights
The encounters with age, illness, death and a mendicant that unsettle the prince’s protected life.
Same subject and traditionAnanda
The disciple who pleads for women’s admission and grieves at Buddha’s final departure.
Same subject and traditionDevadatta
The rival whose acquired powers fail to overcome hostility towards the Buddha.