Who Was the Buddha?
The article is correct in that Buddha being a prince is a myth. The Pali canon (Tripitaka) does not assert he lived in a palace, depending on the translation used.<p>It states he was born in <i>bhavana</i> (Sn. 685) which has in the past been translated as palace but it simply means a place. When Buddha talks about his fathers abode he just refers to a house or mansion or family complex, using the word <i>nivasana</i> (A.I 145) which did not refer specifically to a palace or royal residence (vimana or mandira). <i>nivasana</i> was not used to refer to royal palaces until centuries after it was presumably written in the Tripitaka. Buddha also does not refer to his father as a king, but when asked he just said his dad was from Sakya clan (Sn 322,323,324).