Tribes in Ancient India c53.3

c53.3

The traditional story of the Buddha’s birth starts with a discussion among the Devaputras in the Tuṣita heaven, as to which of the great royal families of India the Bodhisattva should honour with his birth. In this discussion, the Śākyas were not mentioned. The Devaputras pondered over the merits of the sixteen *Mahājanapadas* of Jambudvīpa (India), and analysed the claims of all the important royal families of the day, but found them all stained with one black spot or another. Being at a loss to find a people worthy of claiming him as their congener, the Devaputras at length had recourse to the Bodhisattva himself, and when finally the Śākyas were chosen as the recipient of that great honour, it was rather on account of their moral qualities.¹