The Buddha’s Birth at Lumbini Grove
Following the customs of the time, Queen Maya left the palace to give birth to the Buddha in her hometown of Devedaha. On her way home, she stopped briefly to rest at Lumbini Grove and enjoy the fragrant flowers of the Sala trees which were in full bloom. When Queen Maya reached for a branch of the fragrant Sala tree, she felt a sudden pang of pain. She immediately gave birth to the young Buddha who was given the name Siddhartha, meaning “wish- fulfilled”. Emerging miraculously from the queen’s right side, the infant Siddhartha is said to have instantly stood up and taken seven steps in the four cardinal directions. With one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the ground, the newborn Buddha proclaimed:
Above and below the heavens,
I, alone, am high and noble.
With the entire world mired in sufferings,
I will bring peace to the world.
It is said that with each step the Buddha took, lotus flowers sprung up from the ground. Nine dragons appeared and cleansed the Buddha’s body with heavenly nectar. Upon the Buddha’s birth, the earth trembled softly and flowers fell from the sky like a fragrant rain. Heavenly gods descended from above to pay homage to the young prince and celebrated his birth.
The young Buddha, Prince Siddhartha is said to have been born with thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks on his body. These marks include wheel symbols on both the infant Buddha’s palms and the soles of his feet as well as a circle of hair between his eyebrows. Upon seeing these auspicious marks, the ministers of the Buddha’s father, King Suddhodana, predicted that the young prince was destined to achieve supreme greatness. They foretold that the young Prince Siddhartha would grow up to become either a universal monarch or the spiritual savior of humankind.
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