im three magnificent
palaces--for the three Indian seasons--the cold, the hot, and the
rainy--of nine, five, and three stories respectively, and handsomely
decorated.

22. Q. _How were they situated?_

A. Around each palace were gardens of the most beautiful and fragrant
flowers, with fountains of spouting water, the trees full of singing
birds, and peacocks strutting over the ground.

23. Q. _Was he living alone?_

A. No; in his sixteenth year he was married to the Princess
Yasodhara, daughter of the King Suprabuddha. Many beautiful
maidens, skilled in dancing and music, were also in continual
attendance to amuse him.

24. Q. _How did he get his wife?_

A. In the ancient Kshattriya or warrior fashion, by overcoming all
competitors in games and exercises of skill and prowess, and then
selecting Yasodhara out of all the young princesses, whose fathers
had brought them to the tournament or _mela_.

25. Q. _How, amid all this luxury, could a Prince become all-wise?_

A. He had such natural wisdom that when but a child he seemed to
understand all arts and sciences almost without study. He had the best
teachers, but they could teach him nothing that he did not seem to
comprehend immediately.

26. Q. _Did he become Buddha in his splendid palaces?_

A. No. He left all and went alone into the jungle.

27. Q. _Why did he do this?_

A. To discover the cause of our sufferings and the way to escape from
them.

28. Q. _Was it not selfishness that made him do this?_

A. No; it was boundless love for all beings that made him devote
himself to their good.

29. Q. _But how did he acquire this boundless love?_

A. Throughout numberless births and aeons of years he had been
cultivating this love, with the unfaltering determination to become a
Buddha.

30. Q. _What did he this time relinquish?_

A. His beautiful palaces, his riches, luxuries and pleasures, his soft
beds, fine dresses, rich food, and his kingdom; he even left his
beloved wife and only son, Rahula.

31. Q. _Did any other man ever sacrifice so much for our sake?_

A. Not one in this present world-period: this is why Buddhists so love
him, and why good Buddhists try to be like him.

32. Q. _But have not many men given up all earthly blessings, and
even life itself, for the sake of their fellow-men?_

A. Certainly. But we believe that this surpassing unselfishness and
love for humanity showed themselves in his r