Suddodana Father of Gautama Buddha

Suddodana Brief History:

Suddodana was the father of Lord Gautama Buddha. He was born to Sihahanu and Kaccana. He had four brothers, Dhotodana, Sakkodana, Amitodana and Sukkodana. His sisters were Amita and Pamita. Maya was his chief consort and gave birth to Siddhartha. Maya died shortly after the birth of Siddhartha, So Suddodana married her sister Pajapati Gotami. Suddodana had a son and daughter with Prajapati Gotami; they were Nanda and Sundari Nanda, and both followed Buddhism.

Cares for his son Siddhartha:

Maya gave birth to Siddhartha in Lumbini, present in Nepal. The soothsayers predicted to Suddodana about the future life of Siddhartha that the boy may become the great king or a Sage who knows the salvation of life and brought the new Dharma to the society. They also suggested to Suddodana that when Siddhartha saw the sorrows of the people, those might change the life of Siddhartha. Later few days after Siddhartha’s birth, Asita, the teacher of Suddodana, visited the boy, kept the boy’s feet on his head, and worshipped the child. Another surprising thing was during the ploughing ceremony, a Jambu tree kept its shadow on the child and did not move to the air’s force. So Suddodana wanted the child to become the king and provided all kinds of luxuries within the fort to hold him fast to household life and protect him from looking at sorrows outside the defence.

Invites Buddha to Kapilavastthu:

Later, Siddhartha looked at the people’s sorrows and wanted to leave the palace to know the salvation of their sufferings. One day at 29, he left the court at midnight and practised austerities. Suddhodana received much news about his son, among them about his death due to the severity of his penances. However, Siddhartha didn’t believe this news and firmly believed his son would achieve his goal one day. After a few years, Suddodana received information about the Enlightenment of his son. Suddodana wanted to invite Buddha to visit Kapilavastthu and send a message to Buddha.

Visiting Kapilavastthu

This message was sent to him nine times. However, Lord Buddha didn’t visit Kapilavastthu. At last, for the tenth time accepted the invitation of Suddoddana and visited Kapilavastthu. The next day Buddha entered Kapilavattu and started begging on the streets. This made Suddoddana lament about the position of his son. Then Buddha told him that begging was the custom of the Buddhas. Buddha entered the palace, and Suddoddana entertained Buddha and his followers and served the meals. After the meals, Buddha preached Suddoddana about the Enlightenment and went back to spread his messages. Again Buddha visited his father Suddodana when he was about to die in the capital Vesali and preached to him.