THE NAMING CEREMONY
The King Suddhodana had an old teacher. As the teacher Who was very wise, he was known as a Sage. His real name was Kala Devala but people usually call him Asita the Sage. Asita lived in the jungle. He had heard that the King then had a son; he was very happy because this was the first time a child was born to the King.
The next day, he went to see the King's son. The King was very happy to see his wise old teacher again. In the palace, ate the Sage was seated, the King brought the Prince before the Sr and said "Teacher, my son was born only yesterday. Here he i Please see if his future will be good."
As the King said this, he lowered the infant Prince before the Sage so that he might examine him properly. However, the baby turned his feet on to the Sage's head. Thus surprised, Asita took hold of the baby's feet and examined them very carefully. He saw some marks on the Prince's feet. Then he got up and said, "This Prince will become a very great Teacher in this world." The Sage was very pleased and putting his palms together, paid due respect to the baby Prince. The King seeing this, also did the same. This was the first salutation of the King.
Everyone was happy and pleased to know of the Sage's pre- diction.
On the fifth day, the King invited five wise men to witness the Naming Ceremony and to suggest a good name for the Prince. The wise men examined the birth marks of the Prince and concluded that "The Prince will be a King of kings if he wants to rule. It he chooses a religious life then he will become the Wisest - the Buddha."
The youngest of the five wise men called Kondanna said "This Prince will be the Buddha and nothing else." Then the wise men gave him the name SIDDHARTHA mean ing "wish-fulfilled"
His education
On the seventh day, Prince Siddhartha's mother died. The king had another queen called Prajapati Gotami. She was the younger sister of Queen Maha Maya. She had given birth to a s on the same day that Queen Maha Maya died. Then Prajapa Gotami gave her own son to a nurse and brought up Prince Siddharta as her own son. She loved him very much. Prince Siddhartha could not remember his own mother.
When Prince Siddhartha was only a few years old King Suddhodana sent him to school. There were many children in his class. All of them were from noble families. His teacher was called Sarva Mitra. He learnt languages. reading, writing, mathematics, history geography, science and many games like boxing, archery, wrestling and many others.
He learnt all these subjects faster than any other pupil in his class. He was the cleverest in the class, the best in games and the best in everything. He gained distinction in every subject and became cleverer than his teachers. He was the wisest and the only one who asked many questions from his teachers and elders. He was the strongest, the tallest and the most handsome boy in the class. He was never lazy, never misbehaved and never disobedient to the teachers. He loved everybody and everybody loved him. He was a friend of all: kind even to animals and never harmed them.
