Maya's Dream of the Birth of Gautama Siddharta, the Buddha, BC 568 (litho)

Maya's Dream of the Birth of Gautama Siddharta, the Buddha, BC 568. One of the commonest scenes in ancient sculpture is that of the famous dream of Maya and her miraculous conception of her son, the Buddha. The legend relates that the celestial white elephant, known as the Chhadanta, appeared to her in a dream, carrying a lily in his trunk, and entered her right side to be born as the great reformer. She was no lowly woman, but one of the two sister wives of Suddhodana, chief of the Sakyas of Kapilvastu, a mighty Kshatriya clan, so that the Buddha was born as a wealthy prince. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920). Note: Image has been digitally enhanced to facilitate repro.