Maya: the mother of the Saviour of the World

In the oldest version of the myth of the Buddha's birth, the young mother Maya, after carrying the "Saviour of the world" in her womb for exactly ten lunar months, wished to give birth at her own mother's house. Along the route, which she travelled carried in a golden palanquin, banners, streamers and flowering trees had been set out in her honour. At a certain point the procession reached a beautiful garden of sal trees, plants very common in India, which were then in full bloom. Enchanted by such beauty, Maya wanted to linger a while in that lovely place; so she stepped down from the palanquin and, with her retinue, walked into the grove. Suddenly, at the foot of a huge sal tree, she was seized by labour pains. She reached up to grasp something, and the tree bent a great flowering branch towards her, supple as a reed, which Maya took hold of. Standing, holding on to the branch, Maya gave birth to the Buddha from her right side. Four deities "of pure mind" instantly came down from heaven and caught the newborn in a golden net, laying him at his mother's feet with these words: "Rejoice, O queen! You have given birth to a great son!" Meanwhile two streams of water poured down from the heavens, refreshing mother and child. Immediately afterwards the child stood up, turned to the east, took seven steps, raised his right hand to point to the sky and lowered his left towards the earth, sounding the cry of all the Buddhas: "Worlds above, worlds below! I am the centre of all worlds!"

Bibliography:

- Miti del Mondo. Gli Dei e gli Eroi delle grandi civiltà del passato, Angela Cerinotti, Giunti 2006