Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.860

v2.c29.860

The Bodhisatta’s last birth is attended by various miracles.¹⁶ Soothsayers, being summoned, see on the child’s body the thirty-two marks of a Great Man (*mahāpurisa*),¹⁷ and declare that the child will become either a Cakkavatti or a Buddha. His father, desiring that his child shall be a Cakkavatti rather than a Buddha, brings him up in great luxury, hiding from him all the sin and ugliness of the world. But the destiny of a Bodhisatta asserts itself, and he becomes aware of the presence in the world of old age, disease, death and the freedom of mind to be found in the life of a Recluse.¹⁸ Urged by the desire to discover the cause of suffering in the world and the way out of it, the Bodhisatta leaves the world on the day of his son's birth. Some Bodhisattas leave the world riding on an elephant (e.g., Dīpaṅkara, Sumana, Sumedha, Phussa, Sikhī and Koṇāgamana), some on a chariot (e.g., Koṇḍañña, Revata, Paduma, Piyadassī, and Kakusandha), some on a horse (e.g., Maṅgala, Sujāta, Atthadassī, Tissa, Gotama), and some in a palanquin (e.g., Anomadassī, Siddhattha and Vessabhū). Some, like Nārada, go on foot, while Sobhita, Dhammadassī and Kassapa travelled in the palaces of their lay-life.