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Queen Maha Maya's Dream

Note: Queen Maha Maya was the mother of the Buddha

More than 2,500 years ago in the north of India in what is now known as modern-day Nepal, King Suddhodana married a beautiful princess named Maha Maya. Maya was endowed with many virtues and gifts, and King Suddhodana was known as the "King of the Law" because of his just rule.

One night when the moon was full, while asleep in the palace, the queen had a dramatic dream in which she was carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. The devas bathed her in the lake and clothed her in heavenly attire, anointing her with heavenly fragrances and adorning her with flowers. Soon after a white elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and circled her three times, upon which he entered her womb through her right side. The elephant then disappeared and the queen awoke. The next morning, the queen told the king about the dream. The king was puzzled and sent for some wise men to divine the meaning of the dream.

The wise men told the king that the devas had chosen the queen to be the mother of the “Purest-One” and that the child she bore would become a very great being.
The king arranged for a great feast, and gave generously to the poor in celebration. The whole kingdom waited in expectation for the birth of the new prince, and Queen Maya enjoyed a trouble-free pregnancy, all the while living a life of simplicity and purity for herself and her unborn child.

Paintings with a Buddhist Theme

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