The Bodhisatta's Birth

There was in Kapliavatthu a Sakya king, strong of purpose and

reverenced by all men, a descendant of the Okkakas, who call

themselves Gotama, and his name was Suddhodana or Pure-Rice.



His wife Maya-devi was beautiful as the water-lily and pure in

mind as the lotus. As the Queen of Heaven, she lived on earth,

untainted by desire, and immaculate.



The king, h r husband, honored her in her holiness, and the

spirit of truth, glorious and strong in his wisdom like unto a

white elephant, descended upon her.



When she knew that the hour of motherhood was near, she asked the

king to send her home to her parents; and Suddhodana, anxious

about his wife and the child she would bear him, willingly

granted her request.



At Lumbini there is a beautiful grove, and when Maya-devi passed

through it the trees were one mass of fragrant flowers and many

birds were warbling in their branches. The Queen, wishing to

stroll through the shady walks, left her golden palanquin, and,

when she reached the giant Sala tree in the midst of the grove,

felt that her hour had come. She took hold of a branch. Her

attendants hung a curtain about her and retired. When the pain of

travail came upon her, four pure-minded angels of the great

Brahma held out a golden net to receive the babe, who came forth

from her right side like the rising sun, bright and perfect.



The Brahma-angels took the child and placing him before the

mother said: "Rejoice, O queen, a mighty son has been born unto

thee."



At her couch stood an aged woman imploring the heavens to bless

the child.



All the worlds were flooded with light. The blind received their

sight by longing to see the coming glory of the Lord; the deaf

and dumb spoke with one another of the good omens indicating the

birth of the Buddha to be. The crooked became straight; the lame

walked. All prisoners were freed from their chains and the fires

of all the hells were extinguished.



No clouds gathered in the skies and the polluted streams became

clear, whilst celestial music rang through the air and the angels

rejoiced with gladness. With no selfish or partial joy but for

the sake of the law they rejoiced, for creation engulfed in the

ocean of pain was now to obtain release.



The cries of beasts were hushed; all malevolent beings received a

loving heart, and peace reigned on earth. Mara, the evil one,

alone was grieved and rejoiced not.



The Naga kings, earnestly desiring to show their reverence for

the most excellent law, as they had paid honor to former Buddhas,

now went to greet the Bodhisatta. They scattered before him

mandara flowers, rejoicing with heartfelt joy to pay their

religious homage.



The royal father, pondering the meaning of these signs, was now

full of joy and now sore distressed.



The queen mother, beholding her child and the commotion which his

birth created, felt in her timorous heart the pangs of doubt.



Now the re was at that time in a grove near Lumbini Asita, a

rishi, leading the life of a hermit. He was a Brahman of

dignified mien, famed not only for wisdom and scholarship, but

also for his skill in the interpretation of signs. And the king

invited him to see the royal babe.



The seer, beholding the prince, wept and sighed deeply. And when

the king saw the tears of Asita he became alarmed and asked: "Why

has the sight of my son caused thee grief and pain?"



But Asita's heart rejoiced, and, knowing the king's mind to be

perplexed, he addressed him, saying:



"The king, like the moon when full, should feel great joy, for he

has begotten a wondrously noble son.



"I do not worship Brahma, but I worship this child; and the gods

in the temples will descend from their places of honor to adore

him.



"Banish all anxiety and doubt. The spiritual omens manifested

indicate that the child now born will bring deliverance to the

whole world.



"Recollecting that I myself am old, on that account I could not

hold my tears; for now my end is coming on and I shall not see

the glory of this babe. For this son of thine will rule the

world.



"The wheel of empire will come to him. He will either be a king

of kings to govern all the lands of the earth, or verily will

become a Buddha. He is born for the sake of everything that

lives.



"His pure teaching will be like the shore that receives the

shipwrecked. His power of meditation will be like a cool lake;

and all creatures parched with the drought of lust may freely

drink thereof.



"On the fire of covetousness he will cause the cloud of his mercy

to rise, so that the rain of the law may extinguish it. The heavy

gates of despondency will he open, and give deliverance to all

creatures ensnared in the selfentwined meshes of folly and

ignorance.



"The king of the law has come forth to rescue from bondage all

the poor, the miserable, the helpless."



When the royal parents heard Asita's words they rejoiced in their

hearts and named their new-born infant Siddhattha, that is, "he

who has accomplished his purpose."



And the queen said to her sister, Pajapati: "A mother who has

borne a future Buddha will never give birth to another child. I

shall soon leave this world, my husband, the king, and

Siddhattha, my child. When I am gone, be thou a mother to him."



And Pajapati wept and promised.



When the queen had departed from the living, Pajapati took the

boy Siddhattha and reared him. And as the light of the moon

increases little by little, so the royal child grew from day to

day in mind and in body; and truthfulness and love resided in his

heart.



When a year had passed Suddhodana the king made Pajapati his

queen and there was never a better stepmother than she.