Overview
Śuddhodana
Quick Reference
The father of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. According to Buddhist sources he was a king (rāja) of the Śākya people, although historically the Śākyas may have had a republican constitution. Śuddhodana ruled from his capital at Kapilavastu.which today would lie inside the southern borders of Nepal. He belonged to the noble or warrior (kṣatriya) caste and is depicted as wealthy and indulgent towards his son. On hearing a prediction that his son would renounce the world and become a religious teacher, he used every means to keep him inside the palace, providing luxuries and distractions of all kinds. Māyā, the mother of the Buddha, was his chief consort, and after her death he married her sister Mahāprajāpatī, by whom he had a son, Nanda. When the Buddha ordained both Nanda and his grandson Rāhula, Śuddhodana was distressed and obtained the Buddha's agreement that monks should not be ordained in future without parental consent. See also Siddhartha Gautama.
From: Śuddhodana in A Dictionary of Buddhism »
Subjects: Religion
