法苑珠林 8.176

8.176

With right mindfulness the Bodhisattva descended from Tuṣita and took lodging in the right flank of Lady Māyā, King Śuddhodana's chief queen. At that time, the chief queen while asleep dreamed that there was a white elephant with six tusks, its head vermilion, its seven limbs touching the ground, its tusks adorned with gold, which flew down from the sky and entered her right flank. After the queen dreamed this, the next morning she spoke to King Śuddhodana: "Great King, you should know that last night I had such a dream. When it entered my right flank, I experienced a joy never known before. From this day forward, I truly have no need for worldly pleasures. For the auspicious signs of this dream, what oneiromancer can interpret it for me?" King Śuddhodana then summoned a female palace attendant and instructed her, saying: "Go swiftly outside to proclaim my decree, telling my state preceptor, the son of Mahānāma, to summon eight great brahmin dream-interpreters." Following the king's decree, that messenger summoned the eight brahmins. When the eight brahmins heard the king's words, being skilled in recognizing marks and interpreting dream omens, they addressed the king in detail: "May the Great King listen well! We shall explain in full the auspicious signs of the dream, just as recorded in the classics passed down by the ṛṣis and gods of the past." For his sake they spoke a verse: