Who accompanied Siddhartha when he left the palace?

Channa accompanied Siddhartha when he left the palace during the Great Renunciation. Channa was Siddhartha’s royal servant and charioteer, and he helped the prince escape the city while the palace slept.

He brought Siddhartha’s favorite horse, Kanthaka, and rode with him toward the Anoma River. At the edge of the forest, Siddhartha removed his princely ornaments, cut his hair, and began life as a wandering ascetic. Channa was then sent back with the horse and the prince’s possessions.

The story is closely linked with the Four Sights—an old person, a sick person, a corpse, and an ascetic—which awakened Siddhartha to suffering and the possibility of liberation. Channa had served as the charioteer during some of these earlier excursions as well.

Kanthaka is the horse, not the human companion. Ananda became one of the Buddha’s leading disciples much later, while Devadatta was a relative and monk associated with a later period of the Buddha’s life.