Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace

Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace (cast)

PRINCE SIDDHARTHA

CHANNA, HIS CHARIOTEER

AN OLD MAN

A SICK MAN

A DEAD MAN

A SPIRITUAL MAN

Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace (act I, Scene I)

(Channa, Siddhartha's charioteer, is driving the Prince through the streets.)

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, I am so happy today. For the first time I have come out of the palace. I smell now the real fragrance of life. Look at this panoramic view. My entire being is in deep ecstasy.

CHANNA: O Prince, in your happiness is my happiness. I am always at your disposal.

(All of a sudden Siddhartha sees an old man before him.)

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, who is this man? He can't even walk. How strange-his hair is white. My hair is black, and yours is, too. Everyone in the palace has black hair. What is wrong with this man's hair?

CHANNA: Prince, he is an old man; therefore he is very weak. That is why he cannot walk properly. Old people have white hair. One day you and I also will grow old.

SIDDHARTHA: Me? I shall become old? Impossible! I feel miserable for that old man. Channa, I don't think that I shall ever have to become old.

CHANNA: Prince, how I wish that you would never become old! But, unfortunately, nobody can escape old age.

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, I feel really miserable for that old man, who is so thin and weak. Let us go back to the palace. I hope that tomorrow I shall not have to see an old man.

CHANNA: Oh, no. Tomorrow I shall drive you along another road.

SIDDHARTHA: The very idea of becoming old in the future is making me sad.

CHANNA: Me too, O Prince.

Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace (act I, Scene Ii)

(The following day Channa is driving Siddhartha in the chariot along a different road.)

SIDDHARTHA: Life outside the palace is really beautiful, Channa. Here everything is fresh, charming and soulful.

CHANNA: I am glad that you are enjoying your ride.

SIDDHARTHA: Inside the palace it is all luxury. Outside the palace it is all beauty, nature's beauty, life's beauty. (All of a sudden Siddhartha sees a man lying in the street.) Channa, who is this man? He can't even sit properly. He is lying down in the street. He is pressing his head with one hand and pressing his stomach with the other. His eyes are deeply sunken. He is moaning and shedding bitter tears. What is wrong with him? It seems that he is finding it difficult to breathe.

CHANNA: Prince, that man is sick. He is suffering from severe pain in his head and stomach. Perhaps he has other ailments, too. Prince, everyone falls sick once in a while.

SIDDHARTHA: No! I have never fallen sick. I feel such sorrow for that man. Can I be of any help to him?

CHANNA: No, you cannot be of any help to him, Prince. Only a doctor can help him. I am sure that soon some of his friends will take him to a doctor. Prince, we should move away from this place. As it was yesterday, today also your joy is ruined. The world is full of misery.

SIDDHARTHA: I see. I was totally ignorant of this. Tomorrow we must take another road and drive around the Kingdom.

CHANNA: Certainly. Tomorrow we will drive through other streets.

Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace (act I, Scene Iii)

(The next day. Siddhartha and Channa are in the chariot. Channa has taken a new road.)

SIDDHARTHA: Beauty, beauty! Today I see and feel real beauty on earth. We have covered a long distance. We are passing through a series of beautiful spots. (All of a sudden Siddhartha sees some people carrying a man on their shoulders. Tears are running down their cheeks.) Channa, what is wrong with that fellow? Why should others have to carry him? And why are they crying?

CHANNA: Ah, that man is dead.

SIDDHARTHA: What do you mean?

CHANNA: There is no life in him, Prince. His play on earth is over. Everybody has to die one day. Everybody has to go away from this world. Everybody has to suffer from death.

SIDDHARTHA: Not me! I don't want to die. My beloved wife also has to die? My darling Rahul also has to die? No, that can't be. I shall not be able to bear such a loss.

CHANNA: Prince, whoever lives on earth has to die eventually. Nobody can live forever.

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. I must conquer death, not only for myself, but for everybody. Channa, please tell me if there is anything more powerful, more destructive than death.

CHANNA: No, Prince, there is nothing more powerful and destructive than death. Death conquers everybody. We are all slaves of death.

SIDDHARTHA: Not me!

CHANNA: We are all at the mercy of death.

SIDDHARTHA: Not me! Channa, now that I have seen an old man, a sick man and a dead man, I think that I have seen everything bad that the world can show me. But something within me tells me that there are still things that I have not seen as yet. I want to come out tomorrow again.

CHANNA: If you want to come out of the palace again, I shall be more than happy to drive you, O Prince.

Prince Siddhartha Leaves The Palace (act I, Scene Iv)

(The next day. Siddhartha and Channa are in the chariot driving along the streets.)

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, we have covered a very good distance. Today everything is fine. Today I don't have to see an old man, a sick man or a dead man. Today I shall see and enjoy only nature's beauty, nature's lustre, nature's love, nature's heart and nature's soul.

(All of a sudden he sees someone meditating beneath a tree.) SIDDHARTHA: Who is that man, Channa? What is he doing at the foot of that tree? Why are his eyes closed? What is he doing with a garland of beads?

CHANNA: I am answering your questions one by one, O Prince. Who is that man? He is a spiritual man. What is he doing at the foot of the tree? He is praying and meditating. Why are his eyes closed? He thinks that his prayers will be more sincere and his meditation will be more intense if he keeps his eyes closed. What is he doing with a garland of beads? He is repeating the name of God, and counting the number of chants on the beads.

SIDDHARTHA: I believe all that you say, but what will he get by leading this kind of life?

CHANNA: He will get infinite Peace and infinite Joy.

SIDDHARTHA: Infinite Peace? Infinite Joy? I must go and talk to him. Channa, come along. Let us go and speak to this peculiar man.

CHANNA: Indeed, that's a nice idea.

(They leave the chariot and approach the spiritual man.)

SIDDHARTHA: May I know your name? What do you do for your living? (No answer from the spiritual man.) Do you know that I am Prince Siddhartha? My father owns this Kingdom; he is the Lord of this Kingdom. You are ignoring his son. I can do anything to you that I want. For God's sake, don't waste my precious time!

(No answer from the spiritual man.)

CHANNA: Prince, forgive me. I must tell you something. He is a spiritual man. He is praying to God; he is meditating on God. We should not disturb him. Who knows what is happening inside him? Perhaps God and he are talking inwardly. Perhaps God is telling him how he can have infinite Peace and Bliss.

SIDDHARTHA: I need that. I need infinite Peace and infinite Bliss, Channa. Do you think I will ever have that kind of Peace and Bliss?

CHANNA: Why not? Why not? Without fail you will have infinite Peace and infinite Bliss if you pray and meditate like this spiritual man.

SIDDHARTHA: Channa, then tomorrow a new life for me begins. I shall pray and meditate all day and night. My present life of luxury is no longer for me. I shall welcome the life of poverty. I shall embrace the life of renunciation. I shall put an end to suffering in this world. I know ignorance is the root of all suffering. I shall uproot the huge ignorance-tree, Channa; I shall exterminate it. The first day I saw an old man; the second day I saw a sick man; the third day I saw a dead man; today, the fourth day, I see a spiritual man. Either tomorrow, or in the near future, or in the distant future, I shall see another man, who has infinite Light, infinite Peace and infinite Bliss. My life is meaningless and useless without eternity's Light, infinity's Peace and immortality's Bliss. The human in me ends its role today, Channa. No more for me this life of pleasure. The divine in me shall begin its role tomorrow. For me, from now on, only the life of universal Peace and transcendental Bliss.