KING SUDDHODANA AND QUEEN MAHA MAYA
Long ago, there was a king called Suddhodana. He married a beautiful Koliyan princess named Maha Maya. The coupte ruled over the Sakyas, a warrior tribe living next to the Koliya tribe, in the th of India. The capital of the Sakya country was Kapilavatthu. Since King Suddhodana was a very good king and Queen Maha Maya was equally good, everyone in the kingdom loved them. But they did not have children and they were longing for a son for a long time. One full moon night, in the palace, the Queen had a dream. She felt herself being carried away by four DEVAS (angels) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. After bathing her in the Lake. The DEVAS clothed her in Heavenly clothes. Soon after a white elephant, hold- ing a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and went round her three times. Finally the elephant disappeared. She woke up. She found it was all a dream. The next day, early in the morning, the Queen told the King about the dream. The King was puzzled and so he sent for some wise men and asked them the meaning of the dream. The wise men said "Your Majesty, you are very lucky, the DEVAS have chosen our Queen as the mother of the Purest-One and the child will become a very great being." The King and Queen were very happy when they heard this. tywere so pleased that they invited many of the noble- men in the country to the palace to a feast and to tell them the good news. Even the needy were not forgotten. Food and clothes were given to the poor people
THE BIRTH IN LUMBINI PARK
About ten months after the dream, the Queen was expecting koc child and so she went to the King and said "My dear, I have to go back to my parents. My baby is about due now." Since it was Custom in India, for a wife to have her baby in her father's house, the King agreed, saying "Very well, I will make the necessary ar- rangements for you to go." The King then sent soldiers ahead to clear the road and some were retained to guard the Queen as she was carried in a deco- rated palanquin. The Queen left Kapilavatthu in a long procession of soldiers and retainers, for the capital of her father's kingdom. way to the Koliya country, they passed a garden On called Lumbini Park. This garden was near the kingdom called Nepal, at the foot of the Himalayan mountains. At that time, the park was full of sweet scented flowers growing on the Sala trees and thousands of birds, bees and other insects had flocked to the trees. The beautiful park with its trees and scented flowers and busy birds and bees attracted the Queen. Since the park was a good resting place, the Queen ordered the bearers to stop there for a while. However, as she rested underneath one of the Sala trees, her baby boy was born. It was an auspicious day. The birth took pleace on a VESAK full moon day, in the year 623 B.C. According to the legends about this Birth, the baby began to walk seven steps forward and at each step, a lotus flower appeared on the ground where his foot should have been. Another legend tells us that the baby said:
"I am the chief in the world, There is no equal to me I am supreme This is my last birth No Rebirth for me."
Aggo Hamsmi Lokassa
Jettho Hamasmi Lokassa Settho Hamasmi Lokassa
Aya mantima jati Natthi dani punabhavo
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