Lord Gautam buddha and Father Shuddhodana | Shuddhodana and Siddhartha

Father's Plans to Save His Son | Lord Gautam buddha and Father Shuddhodana | Shuddhodana and Siddhartha

• While the king was happy to see his son married and thus enter the life of a householder the prophecy of the sage Asita continued to haunt him.
• To prevent the prophecy from coming true, he thought of getting him engrossed in the pleasures and carnal joys of life.
• With this object in view Suddhodana built three luxurious palaces for his son to live in, one for summer, one for the rainy season and one for winter, furnished with all the requirements and excitements for a full amorous life. 
• Each palace was surrounded by an extensive garden beautifully laid out with all kinds of trees and flowers.
• In consultation with his family priest Udayin, he thought of providing a harem for the prince with very beautiful imnates. 
• Suddhodana then told Udayin to advise the girls how to go about the business of winning over the prince to the pleasures of life.
• Having collected the inmates of the harem, Udayin first advised them how they should win over the prince.
• Addressing them he said : " Ye are all skilled in all the graceful arts, ye are proficient in understanding the language of amorous sentiments, ye are possessed of beauty and gracefulness, ye are thorough masters in your own styles.
• " With these graces of yours, ye are able to move even sages who have lost all their desires, and to ensnare even the gods, who are charmed by heavenly nymphs.
• " By your skill in expressing the heart's feelings, by your coquetry, your grace, and your perfect beauty ye are able to enrapture even women, how much more easily men.
• "Thus, skilled as ye are, each set in your own proper sphere, it should not be beyond your reach to captivate and capture the prince and hold him in your bondage.
• " Any timid action on your part would be fit for new brides whose eyes are closed through shame.
• "What though this hero be, great by his exalted glory, yet ' great is the might of woman.' Let this be your firm resolve.
• " In olden time a great seer, hard to be conquered even by gods, was spurned by a harlot, the beauty of Kasi, planting her feet upon him.
• "And the great seer Visvamitra, though plunged in a profound penance, was carried captive for ten years in the forests by the nymph Ghritaki.
• " Many such seers as these have women brought to naught, how much more then a delicate prince in the first flower of his age ?
• " This being so, boldly put forth your efforts that the posterity of the king's family may not be turned away from him.
• "Ordinary women captivate simple men; but they are truly women, who subdue the nature of high and hard."