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(Part
One) 3. The Naming Ceremony
King Suddhodana
had an old teacher who was known to be very wise. He was called
Asita the Sage. Asita lived in the jungle. While sitting one
day he heard the devas singing and saw them dancing. "Why
are you so happy?" he asked. "Because the most excellent
of all beings has been born at Lumbini Park to Queen Maha
Maya," replied the devas. When he heard this, Asita went
quickly to see the king and queen and their newborn son.
The
king was very happy to see his wise old teacher again. In
the palace, after the sage was seated, the king brought the
prince before him and said, "Teacher, my son was born
only yesterday. Here he is. Please see if his future will
be good."
As
the king said this, he lowered the infant prince before the
sage so that he might examine him properly. However, the baby
turned his feet on to the sage's head. Thus surprised, Asita
took hold of the baby's feet and examined them very carefully,
finding some marks on them. He got up and said, "This
prince will become a very great teacher in this world."
The sage was very pleased and, putting his palms together,
paid due respect to the baby prince. The king, seeing this,
did the same. This was the first salutation of the king.
On
the fifth day of his son's life, the king invited five wise
men to witness the naming ceremony and to suggest a good name
for the prince. The wise men examined the birthmarks of the
prince and concluded, "The prince will be King of Kings
if he wants to rule. If he chooses a religious life then he
will become the Wisest — the Buddha."
The
youngest of the five wise men, Kondanna, then said, "This
prince will be the Buddha and nothing else."
Then
the wise men gave him the name Siddhartha meaning "wish-fulfilled"
or "one who has accomplished his goal".
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