Buddha left his home Kapilavastu and went to another kingdom, just to get rid of the relatives and the family, because they would bother him there and they would go on coming, trying to persuade him to come back. So he left the kingdom and went to another kingdom.
There was a rumor that a prince had left a neighboring kingdom and had come there. So even the king of the neighboring kingdom came, and he said, ”My son, you are young and you don’t know the ways of the world. You are immature, I am experienced. I say to you through my experience, go back to your home. This is foolish. At this age, such foolish ideas catch hold of the mind. One has to resist. At this age, when one is young, one is prone to, tends to be idealistic. But later on, experience proves it is wrong. Don’t be foolish, go back!”
Buddha listened and he said, ”You may be right as far as your own experience is concerned, but I have lived in that world for many lives, and nothing, nothing was ever attained. Now it is enough. It is through experience that I have left, not through some romantic idealism of a young man.”
The old man would not listen. He said, ”If you don’t want to go back, I understand – there may be some trouble. You may not be feeling good with your father, or with your family, or something has gone wrong. Then don’t go back, come to me. I have got a beautiful daughter; get married to her and this kingdom is yours.”
Buddha said, ”I am married and I have left a very beautiful woman. It is impossible to find another like her. But even that beautiful woman will not give me the ultimate – and I am in search of the ultimate.”
The old king left, & said, ”You are mad, incurably mad.
