The Four Signs
King Suddhodana was certain that the marriage would ensure that Prince Siddhartha would be his successor. When the prince turned twenty nine, he started to get bored with his life and he made a journey to the city. while on the road he encountered an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic. Moved with compassion for the first three, he realized that life was subject to old age, disease and death. However, the ascetic signified the possibility of release from the conditions of the other three.