These stories are said to have been related by Gotama Buddha for the purpose of conveying to his hearers moral and religious lessons and the lessons of common sense. Gotama Buddha was born nearly twenty-five centuries ago in the city of Kapila, in Northeast India. Kapila was the principal city of the Sakya tribe, and his father was king of the tribe. _Gotama_ was his family name. _Buddha_ means _Awakened_ or _Enlightened_, that is to say, awakened or enlightened to the cause and the cure of human suffering. The Buddhist Scriptures tell us that when Gotama was born, the angels rejoiced and sang. An aged wise man inquired: “Why doth the company of angels rejoice?” They replied: “He that shall become Buddha is born in the village of the Sakyas for the welfare and happiness of mankind; therefore are we joyful and exceeding glad.” The wise man hastened to the king’s house, and said: “Where is the child? I, too, wish to see him.” They showed him the child. When he saw the child, he rejoiced and was exceeding glad. And he took him in his arms, and said: “Without an equal is he! foremost among men!” Then, because he was an old man, and knew that he was soon to die, he became sorrowful and wept tears. Said the Sakyas: “Will any harm come to the child?” “No,” replied the wise man, “this child shall one day become Buddha; out of love and pity for mankind he shall set in motion the Wheel of Religion; far and wide shall his religion be spread. But as for me, I have not long to live; before these things shall come to pass, death will be upon me. Therefore am I stricken with woe, overwhelmed with sorrow, afflicted with grief.” Seven days after Gotama was born, his mother died, and he was brought up by his aunt and step-mother. When he was nineteen years old, he married his own cousin. For ten years he lived a life of ease, in the enjoyment of all the comforts and luxuries which riches and high position could give him. When he was twenty-nine years old, a change came over him. * * * * * For many centuries, it has been a common belief in India that when a human being dies, he is at once born again. If he has lived a good life, he will be born again on earth as the child of a king or of a rich man, or in one of the heavens as a god. If he has lived an evil life, he will be born again as a ghost, or as an animal, or in some place of torment. According to this belief, every person has been born and has lived and died so many times that it would be impossible to count the number. Indeed, so far back into the past does this series of lives extend that it is impossible even to imagine a beginning of the series. What is more to the point, in each of these lives every person has endured much suffering and misery. Said the Buddha: “In weeping over the death of sons and daughters and other dear ones, every person, in the course of his past lives, has shed tears more abundant than all the water contained in the four great oceans.”