too was subject to old age, sickness and death - that no-one, not even a king's son, could escape these three. What hope was there, what point in living, if this was the destiny of all? On his fourth excursion, however, he encountered a holy man or sadhu, apparently content and at peace with the world. Perhaps, there was a way out of what seemed like the inevitability of suffering after all! (In Buddhism these are referred to as 'the four sights' or 'four signs'.)