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old age and sickness are the nature of the body then there must be a way to get freedom from these menacing phenomena.
Thereafter, his mind could not find peace within the walls of the palace. One day he went out walking and as he was strolling he saw a corpse being carried to the cremation grounds. The loved ones of the deceased were following and weeping in great pain at their loss. This was the first time in his life Siddhartha had seen this, and he was astonished. He again asked his charioteer what was happening. The charioteer explained: “Some man has died and his relatives are taking his lifeless body to the cremation grounds.” Thus Siddhartha learned, to his despair, that all living beings must meet the same end. Overcome by such thoughts the prince returned to the palace.
Once again the king came to know of the event and thought it must be a bad omen that his son was repeatedly distressed by these common life events. He remembered the prophecy spoken at the time of Siddhartha's birth and was greatly concerned. The King quickly made further arrangements to keep the prince tethered to the material world. However, Siddhartha continued to be distressed by the grim realities of life he had seen, and his detachment from the world only grew in the course of time. When the King saw that the prince was becoming even more
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