At the age of 29, Siddhartha renounced his royal life and embarked on a spiritual quest to find the meaning of life and a way to end suffering. He left behind his wife, Princess Yasodhara, and their newborn son, Rahula, to seek out wise men and spiritual leaders of his time. For six years, he practiced intense asceticism under the guidance of several renowned teachers but found their teachings incomplete. He then adopted a middle path between self-indulgence and self-mortification, which became the foundation of Buddhism.