Decades later, Gautam Buddha in the course of his preaching tour happened to pass by Kapilvastu, the city of his birth and the capital of the kingdom he was once crown prince of.
His arrival sent waves of joy in the city and the palace. The old king and the queen were very excited. Their Siddhartha was back. They hoped that after his spiritual quest he would take up his own responsibilities as the king and rule.
The palace was profusely decorated. Arrival of Siddhartha was eagerly awaited.
The royal family expected its prodigal son Siddhartha Gautam Buddha to march in, in regal style, now as he was the emperor of thousand of monasteries, millions of followers and the commander of the armies of saffron robed soldiers.
But only a group of alms seeking monks entered the city and reached the palace. And one of them was Gautam Buddha. Some one recognised his face and ran in to inform the king and the queen that their Siddhartha had arrived. The royal family rushed out to the gate.
Buddha said, “I seek alms.”
The king said with tears in his eyes, “Son, why do you seek alms? What is here is all yours. This palace, kingdom, throne and entire treasury is your property. You can take anything you like.”
Buddha announced, “King, please don’t call me son. I severed all my worldly relationships when I left home. Now I am only one of the Buddhist monks who seeks alms to stay alive and meditate. I am a subject of the spiritual kingdom where peace is the only real objective.”
Queen Prajawati stood stunned. The tears were rolling down her checks.
She beseeched, “Son, you renounced the world. But what will happened to this kingdom? What shall we, your old parents do? What will become of your wife and son? Are you not derelicting your personal duties, your obligations?”
Buddha calmly said, “Royal lady, I am not deserting my duties. I am infact giving it a larger meaning. I am showing the path of peace, mercy compassion, non-violence and the brotherhood to all. In it lies the happiness and safety of all the people, all the kingdoms, all the parents, all the wives, all the sons, all the brothers, all the daughters and all the sisters. For the redemption of all we must rise above personal levels and think in terms of entire mankind. We must love the parents of all there as we love our own. We must take care of all children like we care for our own. I am not teaching anyone to forget one’s duty. I am teaching everyone to remember his duty to all. That is the way to love and peace. I don’t object to your calling me ‘son’. But please extend you kind love to all the sons and the daughters of all the lands. I want all of them to be blessed with the kind of love you gave me in my childhood. Don’t keep your love confined to me. In this world nothing lasts for ever and nothing is permanent. The only thing everlasting is God we must unite with. Royal lady, in the worldly relationship, I am your son. But as the God is creator of all, I and you are siblings on that level. At higher level I am your brother. And at the ultimate level we are parts of one God and one Entity.”
Queen Prajawati stood with folded hands overawed by the spiritual wisdom of her saintly son. She could feel the height of spirituality her son had achieved.
Buddha turned to princess Yashodhra and said, “Lady! The king and queen give me no alms. Shall you also turn down my request and I go empty handed?”
Yashodhra thought for a moment. Then, she called out to her son Rahul. Putting Rahul’s hand in the alms bowl of Buddha, Yashodhra spoke, “I give him to you.”
Buddha pulled his son to his side and said, “Thank you lady.” Rahul was initiated into the Sangha on that very day. Later entire royal family joined Sangha and became Buddhist monks and nuns. To the surprise of all even the evil Devdutta had a change of heart and became a Buddhist monk.
Several other royal persons while going to join Sangha met a barber named Upali. They took off all their ornaments and royal finery and gave them to the barber.
The barber asked, “Sirs! Why are you giving your valuables to me?”
“Dear Upali, we go to join Lord Buddha’s Sangha which will lead us into Nirvana. Now we don’t need these princely things.”
Upali stood thinking. Then, he spoke, “Sirs, if these royal fineries are no use to you, so will they for me. I am also coming with you to join Sangha to gain more valuable goal of life, the salvation.”
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