Birth of the Buddha
Mythological Facts
White Banner Bodhisattva
Svetaketu
In readiness in Tushita heaven
Enters Maha Maya’s side
In a dream
A white elephant holding
A white lotus
Ten months later,
Right hand raised to a branch
Of a flowering sal tree
In Lumbini,
Queen Maha Maya
Brings forth
the future Tathagata
From her side:
Siddhartha is born