The young prince Siddhartha was born into the ancient Sakya clan, whose symbol was the lion; hence he is often known as "Sakyamuni" (the Sage of the Sakya), or as "Sakyasimha" (the Lion of the Sakya).

His father belonged to the warrior caste. Soon after the young prince's birth, a wise sage named Asita predicted that the child would grow up to be a holy man, rather than following his father as ruler.

Suddhodana tried to prevent this from happening by making sure that the prince lived a sequestered life of ease and luxury in the royal palace, ignorant of the world outside.

When he was sixteen, he was given the beautiful princess Yasodhara as his wife, and they had a son, named Rahula.

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