Every human being is born to be a Buddha; every person possesses the seed of buddhahood within. If one looks at the masses, it does not however seem to be true. If it were true, there would have been numerous Buddhas. But one hardly ever hears about a buddha. Everybody is aware that somewhere, twenty-five centuries ago, a certain Siddhartha Gautama became Gautama Buddha. Umpteen myths, wondrous stories and legends surround Gautama Buddha`s birth and after life greatness.
Numerous stories have been woven around Buddha that he looked more like a mythological figure than a reality. Legends about Buddha`s birth first speak that Gods had showered him with flowers, incense and everything nice. When he finally became enlightened, Gods also came from heaven, played beautiful music and danced around him.
A much retold legend surrounding Gautama Buddha`s birth was that when Buddha was born his mother immediately expired. During those times it was believed that whenever a buddha is born, the mother immediately dies. The story is that Gautam Buddha was born while his mother was standing under a saal tree. And not only that, he was born standing. The first thing Gautama did was to take seven steps in front of his mother and declare to the universe, "I am the most enlightened person ever."
As a legend surrounding Gautama Buddha`s birth it is known that during the exact time of his birth, a great sage, one hundred and twenty years old, immediately rushed down from the Himalayas. His disciples asked, "Where are you going?" He only ran and ran. They had rarely even seen him walk, because he was so old. And he did not answer them because there was no time; he just said, "No time to answer." The disciples followed the old sage down into the plains. Buddha was born close to the Himalayas, on the border of Nepal and India. The old man immediately arrived at the king`s palace. The king could not believe his eyes, because this man was not known to go anywhere. For at least fifty years he had dwelled in a solitary cave. Buddha`s father could not believe it. He touched the old man`s feet and enquired the exact reason of his arrival and whether anything untoward incident had occurred. The old man answered that he did not have much time, because his death was fast approaching. That was the primary reason that he had to rush. He then wished to see the king`s child and also articulated that that was his only ambition that he had come to see him. Buddha then was just one day old. The moment he was born this old man had started running; it took twenty-four hours for him to reach the plains. The king could not believe it, because this old man was legendary, a `Master of Masters` and he was curious to know why at all the sage was interested in his child. Gautama was brought immediately and the old man touched Buddha`s feet and started crying. The father was puzzled, the mother was shocked. Both of them wondered the reason of his crying and was something wrong somewhere. They asked him, "Why are you crying? Isn`t the child going to survive? Is there going to be some calamity? Say it clearly-why are you crying?"
The sage replied, "No, I am not crying because of any calamity. I am crying for joy because I have seen, and I am crying also because I will not live to see the full flowering of this man." He went on to say that he was seeing Gautama only in the bud, but even that is also much more, to see a buddha in the bud. He explained that he was crying for joy, because a god was finally born. He was crying in sadness because the sage would not be able to see him grow as his days were numbered. Soon he would be leaving his body and would never be able to see what flowering Gautama would bring to the world. As a tremendous addition to the legends surrounding Buddha`s birth, the sage foreshadowed that millions and millions of people would become enlightened because of him. Gautama had brought a light together with his birth; he had brought a revolution into the world. But, he assured the child`s parents that there would never be anything to worry and they could rejoice in merriment.
Legends surrounding Gautama`s birth state that Buddha was born as the son of a great king, the only son. He was born when the king was getting very old. There was thus great rejoicing and fanfare within the kingdom. The people had awaited long. The king was much loved by the people; he had served them, he had been kind and compassionate, he had been loving and sharing. The king had made his kingdom one of the richest, loveliest kingdoms of those times. People were praying that their king should have a son because there was nobody to inherit the throne. Then Buddha was born in the king`s very old age, unexpected as his birth was. There was great celebration, great rejoicing. All the astrologers of the kingdom gathered to make predictions about Buddha. He was given the name Siddhartha, because it stood for fulfillment. The king was fulfilled, his desire was fulfilled, his deepest longing was fulfilled. He had wanted a son his whole life; hence the name Siddhartha. It simply means "fulfillment of the deepest desire."
The son made the king`s life purposeful, significant. As with royal traditions, great astrologers made predictions and they were all in agreement except for one young astrologer. His name was Kodanna. The king had asked, "What is going to happen in the life of my son?" And all the astrologers raised two fingers, except Kodanna, who raised only one finger. The king pleaded to the men to not mouth in symbols as he himself was a simple man and was unaware about anything in astrology. He thus enquired from these astrologers what exactly did they mean by two fingers. And they all replied that either he would go on to become a chakravartin, a world ruler, or he would renounce the world and would become a buddha, an enlightened person. These were the two alternatives; hence, they had raised two fingers. The king was worried about the second alternative, that his son would renounce the world, so again the problem would arise. He pondered, "Who will inherit my kingdom if he renounces the world?" He then asked Kodanna exactly why he raised only one finger. Kodanna expressed his view that he was absolutely certain that Buddha would renounce the world. He would become a buddha, an enlightened one, an awakened one. The king was not happy with Kodanna. Truth is very difficult to accept. He ignored Kodanna and did not reward him at all. On the contrary, for speaking the truth Kodanna was punished in a thousand and one ways. His prestige fell miserably after that day. Because the king did not reward him, the rumour spread that he was a fool. When all the other astrologers were in agreement, he was the only one who was not.
Continuing on the path of legends surrounding Gautama Buddha`s birth, the king once more enquired from the other astrologers what would they suggest in such a perilous situation and what should he do so that his son does not renounce the world. The king expressed his desire that he would not want Siddhartha to be a beggar, or see him as a monk, a sanyasin. He verily wished that he would witness his son to become a chakravartin, a ruler of all six continents. He went on to sat, "This is the ambition of all parents. Who would like their son or daughter to renounce the world and to move into the mountains, to go into their own inner world to seek and search for the self? Our desires are for external things." The king was a commonplace man, just like everybody else, with the same desires and same ambitions. The astrologers answered that such an exemption could be arranged. They advised the king to give Siddhartha as much pleasure as was possible, to keep him in as much comfort and luxury as was humanly feasible. They strongly counseled the king to not allow him to become aware about illness, old age, and especially death. The astrologers spoke, "Don`t let him come to know about death and he will never renounce."
