One evening Prince Siddhartha was sitting with his courtiers and his wife Yashodhara. Chitra was a maid ***. She was singing a sweet song. All of a sudden she stopped and began to tell them a story of olden days. This story was about love, a magic horse and wonderful countries. She told that the pale people lived there. When it was night, the sun sank into the sea.
Hearing this story, the Prince was reminded of the song of Veena. The Prince was restless. He sighed and asked Yashodhara many questions. Some of those important questions are given below:
Is the world so wide?
Is there a country where the sun is seen sinking into the sea ?
Are there many unknown and sad people whom we can help ?
Who welcomes, the first beam of the sun at the edge of the world ?
How are the people at another edge of sky where the sun sinks into the sea ?
Thus the Prince desired to see the people at both of these edges, in the East as well as in the West. He requested Chitra to tell him where the magic horse was tied. He wanted to ride on it to see the whole world. Besides this so many other ideas about the world struck his mind. He had an earnest ** to see things outside the palace.
