Kaundinya - Early Years

Early Years

Kaundinya was born before the time of Siddhartha to a wealthy brahmin family in a town named in Donavatthu, near Kapilavastu, and was known by his family name. When he was growing up, he mastered the three Vedas at a young age and excelled in the science of physiognomy (lakhana-manta).

Kaundinya became a young Brahmin scholar in Kapilavastu in the Sakya kingdom of King Suddhodana. He was one among the group of scholars who were invited to the royal court to predict the destiny of Crown Prince Siddhartha at his naming ceremony. Siddhartha was the first child born to Suddhodana and Queen Maya in twenty years of marriage and much interest surrounded the infant from royal society and the public alike. All the other scholars raised two fingers and offered a twofold prediction: That Siddhartha would either become a Chakravarti (supreme king) or would renounce the world and become a supreme religious leader. Kaundinya was the only one that explicitly predicted that Siddhartha would renounce the world to become a Buddha, raising one finger and stating his prediction.

Kaundinya thereafter vowed that he would follow when Siddhartha became an ascetic to learn from the future Buddha's findings. In the meantime, Suddhodana attempted to foil Kaundinya's prediction because he wanted his son to succeed him in ruling and expanding the kingdom. Suddhodana made intricate arrangements to shield Siddhartha from all worldly suffering in order to steer his mind away from spiritual matters, pampering him with all the material luxury and sense pleasures that he could find. However, Siddhartha finally persuaded his father to allow him out of the palace to meet his subjects. Suddhodana agreed, but attempted to present a sanitised image of human existence by ordering beggars, old people and sick people to be kept from the streets. Despite this, Siddhartha saw the four sights which prompted him to reevaluate his view of the world.