Question

around 500 bce, siddhartha gautama, who became the founder of buddhism, was born into the warrior varna. read the following story about siddhartha’s family. then answer the question below.

one night, a woman named maya had a dream about a white elephant. she thought that the dream was a sign that she was pregnant with an important child. when maya gave birth to the child, she felt no pain. because she gave birth without pain, maya believed that her baby was special.

after the baby was born, maya’s husband, suddhodana (sud-ha-dah-nah), asked a holy man to tell the boy’s future. the holy man said that the baby would be either a powerful ruler or a great religious leader. the holy man explained that if the baby was protected from suffering, he would become a great king. but if he suffered or saw other people suffering, he would decide to live a religious life. because of the holy man’s prediction, they named the baby siddhartha, which means \the successful one.\

according to tradition, suddhodana protected his son from suffering. based on the story, why did he do this?

suddhodana wanted siddhartha to become a great king.
suddhodana hoped that siddhartha would become a religious leader.
an elephant told suddhodana to protect siddhartha from suffering.
a holy man warned suddhodana that siddhartha was in danger.

Explanation:

The story says the holy man told Suddhodana that if the baby (Siddhartha) was protected from suffering, he would become a great king. So Suddhodana protected him to make him a great king. The other options are incorrect: he didn't want a religious leader (as that came with suffering), an elephant didn't tell him, and the holy man didn't warn of danger but gave a prediction about the future role.

Answer:

A. Suddhodana wanted Siddhartha to become a great king.