Week 6 Story: Baby who was born to be Buddha (Life of Buddha, Part A & B)
In the ancient India, there was a prince named Siddhartha who was born into wealth, power, and privileges. Siddhartha was an unusual and precocious kid. He could stand by himself when he turned two months old, walked when he was eight months old, and spoke when he was barely eleven months old. His parents were totally taken by awe and surprise when Siddhartha held a pencil and started writing at 2 years and 3 months old!
Siddhartha's parents, who were the king and queen of the city state of Kapila in the Indian subcontinent, thought it was gods' benevolent will that they sent this highly intelligent, gifted, and precocious son into the world.
The king of Kapila, who was Siddhartha's father, appointed Prince Siddhartha as his successor when he was merely 4 years old. His older siblings were outraged. Siddhartha had two older brothers who were 21 years old and 17 years old.
The jealous and malicious brothers decided to do something evil. They decided to poison Siddhartha by putting grounded poisonous plant in his baby milk bottle. Siddhartha sucked up and drank the whole poisoned milk. He coughed a bit when he was drinking the milk, but he appeared fine.
Totally shocked, the vicious brothers saw the sleeping baby and said to each other, "This ain't possible! What the heck?!!"
Even the poison couldn't kill Siddhartha. The evil attempt was discovered by a maid who was washing Siddhartha's milk bottle. She saw her hands inflaming and felt sudden spiky pain. She ran down to the doctor's office for help. The doctor told her that her hands were contaminated by poison and gave her the cleaning soap to wash away the poison.
The maid informed the king about Siddhartha's poisoned milk bottle. The king was outraged and instinctively knew that it was his elder sons' vicious attempt. The king was even more surprised by the fact that Siddhartha was unaffected and fine despite the poisoning.
So the king declared the baby as the new Buddha (Supreme god and Ultimate protector of all gods) of Kapila.
Siddhartha's parents, who were the king and queen of the city state of Kapila in the Indian subcontinent, thought it was gods' benevolent will that they sent this highly intelligent, gifted, and precocious son into the world.
The king of Kapila, who was Siddhartha's father, appointed Prince Siddhartha as his successor when he was merely 4 years old. His older siblings were outraged. Siddhartha had two older brothers who were 21 years old and 17 years old.
The jealous and malicious brothers decided to do something evil. They decided to poison Siddhartha by putting grounded poisonous plant in his baby milk bottle. Siddhartha sucked up and drank the whole poisoned milk. He coughed a bit when he was drinking the milk, but he appeared fine.
Totally shocked, the vicious brothers saw the sleeping baby and said to each other, "This ain't possible! What the heck?!!"
Even the poison couldn't kill Siddhartha. The evil attempt was discovered by a maid who was washing Siddhartha's milk bottle. She saw her hands inflaming and felt sudden spiky pain. She ran down to the doctor's office for help. The doctor told her that her hands were contaminated by poison and gave her the cleaning soap to wash away the poison.
The maid informed the king about Siddhartha's poisoned milk bottle. The king was outraged and instinctively knew that it was his elder sons' vicious attempt. The king was even more surprised by the fact that Siddhartha was unaffected and fine despite the poisoning.
So the king declared the baby as the new Buddha (Supreme god and Ultimate protector of all gods) of Kapila.
Siddhartha departs his kingdom. Source: Siddhartha's departure
Bibliography:
The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922)
Author's Note: I created this story of the Life of Buddha in my own version of the story. Original content may be different from my re-created story, so you are advised to visit the website in my bibliography for the original content of the story.
Hi Peter!
ReplyDeleteI liked how the characters of the two brothers would speak how we do today, "What the heck?!" Poor little prince Siddhartha to be named a successor when he was so young, just imagining the stress the little one would have to endear. I also wonder why at the age of 4 was he still drinking from a bottle, if at younger ages he was so advance in everything else? I have a nephew who is 3 and doesn't drink from a baby bottle anymore, maybe a sippy cup. I also wonder what happened to the two brothers for punishment for trying to kill the young child?
Hi Peter!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I like the plot and the different characters. I like that at only 4 the son was appointed and the older siblings were so raged by this they decided the right thing to do would be to poison him.
How they poisoned him though was through a bottle. You would think that a baby who was this smart would not still be drinking from a bottle at 4. Maybe it should have been in his food?
I bet the siblings were just stunned when they saw him survive.
I would maybe add a little more into the authors note. Give us a couple of details without having to go somewhere else.
Hi Peter! I actually read the original story and wrote my own to this too! I like the way you changed it up and made it an original story. I will say, however, that your authors note is lacking some detail about the original story. I have read the story so it was not a big deal to me but I am sure some others would love to see a little more information. Otherwise, great job!
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