While she was sleeping, a child emerged from her side; the same side that the elephant had touched in her dream. Her bodyguards were astounded as the infant got up and walked, and with each step lotus flowers would emerge from under his feet. Then the newborn proudly announced, "Today is a great day. Oh joy, this is my last lifetime." .
Although his birth was miraculous, whatever mystical powers the infant had quickly faded. Siddhattha lived a very happy and very sheltered life with his father. Not only was his family wealthy and powerful, but Siddhattha himself was very handsome and very athletic. By the age of 20 he was married to a beautiful woman Yasodhara, and .
had a baby son, Rahula. Siddhattha had everything anyone could ever want, but something bugged him. He didn't know how other people lived. Whenever he would go out to visit the city, Shuddhodana would have the area in front of Siddhattha's caravan removed of the peasantry. .
Finally Siddhattha decided to go out and see the city for himself. So while his father was away he convinced his chariot driver to take him around the city. While on his trip Siddhattha saw some things he had never seen before. He saw a corpse, a diseased man, and a monk. He was horrified by the corpse because he did not know the reality of death. Siddhattha was both deeply saddened and terrified by the diseased man. He did not know that there were such depths of misery. However he was intrigued with the monk, who purposely subjected himself to the poverty and tragedy of life, in order to understand it. .
He was so interested in the monk that he decided to become one. At night after saying goodnight to his wife and son, Siddhattha began his spiritual journey. He shaved his head and got rid of his fancy clothes. In their place he put on the simple yellow robe of a monk. He then had his driver take him to the edge of the city where the monks were staying. .
So Siddhattha spent sometime as a monk in an attempt to become holy and come to peace with a world that contain so much beauty, yet at the same time was very cruel and ugly.
