The Life of Shakyamuni Buddha - Birth
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha-to-be,
was born in the sixth century BC in Lumbini, to the North of the holy Indian city of Varanasi. His father Suddhodana
was King of the Shakya clan, and ruler of one of several kingdoms that existed in India at the time.
One night Mayadevi the Queen had an extraordinary dream in which a white elephant descended from heaven, walked around her three times and entered her womb. Both herself and the King were deeply disturbed by this and summoned the wisest sages and the most learned men in the kingdom to interpret the dream. They were told that the Queen would have a son who would grow up to be exceptional. If he remained in the palace, they said, the child would be a great King who would rule over the entire world. If however, their son was to renounce the world and abandon the comforts of the palace, he would gain enlightenment and find a path which would bring an end to the sorrows of mankind.
The time of the child's birth drew near, and Queen Mayadevi was seized with a longing to return to her parent's home at the foot of the Himalayas. Preparations were made for the journey and the Queen set out in a palanquin accompanied by her attendants. They passed by a beautiful garden at Lumbini where a grove of trees lay close by the road and one beautiful flowering tree captured the Queen's attention. She alighted from her palanquin and went to admire the tree, which seemed to bend down towards her.
Reaching out to clasp a branch of the tree it is said Siddhartha was born miraculously from her right side. According to legend, the gods attended Siddhartha's birth and witnessed the miracles which occurred. Emerging from his mother's side, he immediately took seven steps. At each step, a lotus grew out of the ground to receive the future Buddha, and the child stepped from blossom to blossom. The gods in heaven rejoiced at the Great One's birth and showered petals upon the earth. The Queen then returned to the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu, where she and her newborn child were received with great jubilation.
