From the wise sage's words, it seemed that when Siddhartha was born, his future had already been determined. The king was quite worried that his son would choose to leave home, so he made the palace a place of luxury and comfort. The prince ate only the most delicious food and drank only the sweetest nectar and the purest waster. In order to prevent him from thinking of leaving home, the king ordered that no one should ever mention anything having to do with misery or unhappiness, such as aging, illness or death, in front of the prince. The king also summoned his ministers and asked them if there were any other means to prevent Siddhartha from leaving home and becoming a religious teacher. One of the ministers suggested that the king should choose one of the most beautiful women in the land for his son. Once he had experienced a wonderful married life, he would forget the idea of leaving home. The king agreed. He then selected Yasodhara, daughter of King Suppabuddha, for his son and built a luxurious palace for them.

The king also ordered the construction of high walls around the palace and gardens where the prince lived. Only young and beautiful women were allowed to enter into the gardens and palace from beyound the walls. The gates of the gardens were closely guarded to pervent the prince from going outside for any reason, except with the king's permission. Now King Suddhodana began to relax, assured that the prince would no longer think about leaving home.

Although the king tried every possible way to keep his son from experiencing anything unpleasant in his life, Siddhartha was not as happy as his father had expected. He eagerly desired to see other jouful things of the world, things that were beyond the palace walls. He also wanted to know what the life of the ordinary people was like.

Unable to refuse Siddhartha's persistent demands, King Suddhodana finally gave in. He prepared the city beforehand, so that the prince would think the whole world was as luxurious and beautiful as inside the palace.

However, the king could not hide all the suffering outside the palace. On his trip into the city, Siddhartha saw four things that made him reconsider his way of life. He saw a feeble old man and realized that everyone must lose the beauty and vigor of youth. He saw a corpse wrapped in preparation for cremation and recognized that life would inevitably come to an end. Finally, the prince saw a wandering mendicant and thought that this way of life might lead to serenity and truth.

Siddhartha quietly returned to the palace, sat down alone and thought deeply about what he had seen. Through these four incidents, he realized that every person has to go through birth, aging, illness and death, life after life, enduring continuous suffering without end. He had to find a way like that of the mendicant, seeking to understand the causes of aging, illness and death, and searching for a way to stop suffering.

Soon after, his wife, Yasohara, gave birth to a son. This happy news, however, brought Siddhartha no joy. He had become even more solemn and contemplative than before. The king was very worried. As a last resort, he tried to reawaken his interest by searching the whole country for the most beautiful dancing girls to sing and dance for his son.

At first the prince watched their performances in order to please his father, but he soon lost interest and fell asleep. The dancing girls decided to rest until he woke up again, after which they would resume their performances.

Siddhartha woke up after a little while and found that the fatigued dancing girls had all fallen asleep. In their sleep, they exhibited all kinds of ugly attributes. Some opened their mouths, and the dripping saliva caused the makeup on their faces to run. Some ground their teeth loudly like angry ghosts. The prince was surprised to see how the girls who had appeared so elegant a little while before could be transformed into such ugly creatures.