Queen Maya and King Suddhodana did not have children for twenty years into their marriage. According to legend, one full-moon night, sleeping in the palace of her husband, the queen had a vivid dream.

She felt herself being carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. After bathing her in the lake, the devas clothed her in heavenly cloths, anointed her with perfumes, and bedecked her with divine flowers.

Soon after a white elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and went round her three times, entering her womb through her right side.

Finally the elephant disappeared and the queen awoke, knowing she had been delivered an important message, as the elephant is a symbol of greatness.

She soon found she was pregnant. Ten lunar months later, in 563 BCE, Maya gave birth to Siddhartha, later known as the Buddha.

(Below, Indian carving of Queen Maya's dream; right, Chinese Buddhist painting, 10th century.)

EDITOR'S NOTE

What strikes me is an uncomfortable fact--Maya died soon after giving birth. Yet her dream only hints at that--she gets anointed, washed by devas, dressed in heavenly robes. It's a very genteel way of saying she's going to die, won't get to see her only child grow up. Job done, a woman's work, gone to her reward, bye! Jesus at least got to have a human moment of doubt--"Why do I have to be a human sacrifice?" But Maya gets not a peep of protest--at least as the dream's come down to us!

Not to say she didn't dream the part we have... but you sure can tell it was written down, copied and censored polished by a long chain of men.

--Chris Wayan

SOURCE: Dreams and Dreaming, Norman Mackenzie, 1965; p.59, plus Wikipedia. Dating of Buddha's birth is disputed; I've used the figure standard through much of the 20th century, but many recent scholars propose dates for Buddha that would shift this dream as late as 491 BCE.

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