batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l5332-l5432
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l5332-l5432
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: TABLE VII. / THE BODISATS. / TABLE VIII. / THE DISTANT EPOCH.; lines 5332-5432
start: '5332'
end: '5432'
translation: Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage describes the conception, pregnancy, birth, first actions,
and exemplary past births of the future Buddha. Queen Mahā Māyā bears the Bodisat
for exactly ten months, travels toward Devadaha, enters the Lumbini sāla grove,
holds a bending sāla branch, and gives birth standing. Divine beings receive the
child, heavenly water falls, the newborn stands, takes seven strides, receives
royal honours, and proclaims his supremacy. The passage then compares this birth
with two other births of the future Buddha, Mahosadha and Vessantara, in which
he also spoke immediately after leaving the womb.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: From the moment of the future Buddha's incarnation, four sword-bearing angels
guard the Bodisat and his mother from harm.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The mother sees the child within her clearly, is described as pure and happy,
and dies seven days after his birth to be reborn in the City of Delight.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The mother of a Bodisat gives birth standing after exactly ten months of pregnancy;
the passage presents this as distinctive.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Queen Mahā Māyā asks King Suddhodana to let her go to Devadaha, and the king
prepares a decorated road and sends her in a golden palanquin with attendants.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The Lumbini grove between the two towns is filled with fruits, flowers, bees,
birds, and sāla-trees.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: At the monarch sāla-tree, a branch bends within reach; Mahā Māyā grasps it,
her pains begin, and she gives birth standing behind a curtain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Four pure-minded Mahā Brahma angels bring a golden net, receive the future
Buddha on it, and announce to his mother that a mighty son has been born.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The future Buddha leaves the womb erect, unsoiled, pure, fair, and shining;
two showers of water descend from heaven to refresh him and his mother.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The infant is passed from angels to four kings, then to men, after which he
stands on the ground and looks east; many world-systems become visible to him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Men and angels offer garlands and state that no one is like him; he searches
the ten directions, takes seven strides, and proclaims victory beginning with
a claim to be chief of the world.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: During the seven strides, Brahma holds a white umbrella over him, Suyāma follows
with a fan, and other deities hold other symbols of royalty.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: In the Mahosadha birth, Sakka places sandal-wood medicine in the newborn's
hand; the child speaks to his mother, and the medicine later heals the sick.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: In the Vessantara birth, the newborn asks whether there is anything in the
house so that he may give a gift, and his mother places a bag containing a thousand
in his hand.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: The passage states that the future Buddha spoke immediately after leaving
the womb in three births and that thirty-two Good Omens appeared at both conception
and birth.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Future Buddha / Bodisat
description: The child conceived and born to Queen Mahā Māyā, guarded before birth,
received by divine beings, purified by heavenly showers, taking seven strides,
and proclaiming victory.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Queen Mahā Māyā
description: Mother of the Bodisat, wife of King Suddhodana, who travels toward
Devadaha and gives birth standing while holding a sāla branch in Lumbini grove.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: King Suddhodana
description: The king who consents to Mahā Māyā's journey, has the road decorated,
and sends her in a golden palanquin with a retinue.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Four sword-bearing angels
description: Angels who stand guard over the Bodisat and his mother from the moment
of incarnation.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Four Mahā Brahma angels
description: Pure-minded angels who bring a golden net, receive the future Buddha
on it, and present him to his mother.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Four kings
description: Beings who receive the future Buddha from the angels on cloth of antelope
skins used for royal state occasions.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Men and angels offering garlands
description: Human and divine witnesses who offer sweet-smelling garlands and declare
that no one is like the newborn great Being.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Archangel Brahma and archangel Suyāma
description: Brahma holds the white umbrella over the newborn during his strides,
while Suyāma follows him with a fan.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Archangel Sakka
description: In the Mahosadha birth, Sakka comes to the future Buddha at birth and
places fine sandal-wood medicine in his hand.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Mahosadha / Medicine-child
description: A named birth of the future Buddha in which he emerges holding medicine
and speaks to his mother.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Vessantara
description: A named birth of the future Buddha in which he speaks immediately after
leaving the womb and asks to give a gift.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: future Buddha / Bodisat
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage repeatedly identifies the unborn and newborn child as the future
Buddha or Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: mother of a Buddha elect
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage describes distinctive qualities of a Bodisat's mother and applies
them to Queen Mahā Māyā.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: royal sender and arranger
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Suddhodana consents to the queen's journey and arranges the decorated road,
palanquin, attendants, and retinue.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: protective guardians
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The four angels with swords guard the Bodisat and his mother from harm.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: divine receivers of the newborn
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: The Mahā Brahma angels receive the newborn on a golden net; four kings then
receive him on antelope-skin cloth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: miraculous newborn
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The newborn is born unsoiled and shining, receives heavenly water, stands,
takes seven strides, and speaks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: witnesses and honour-givers
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Men and angels offer garlands and praise the newborn as without equal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: royal-symbol attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Brahma carries the white umbrella and Suyāma carries the fan while other
deities hold royal symbols.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: divine giver of birth-token
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Sakka places sandal-wood medicine in the hand of the future Buddha as he
is born as Mahosadha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:10
label: speaking past-birth infant
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: The passage names Mahosadha and Vessantara as births in which the future
Buddha speaks immediately after leaving the womb.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sāla-tree branch
literal_form: The branch of the monarch sāla-tree bends down within Mahā Māyā's
reach, and she holds it while giving birth.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: golden net
literal_form: A golden net brought by four Mahā Brahma angels to receive the newborn
future Buddha.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: heavenly showers of water
literal_form: Two showers of water come down from heaven and refresh the Bodisat
and his mother.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: white umbrella, fan, and royal symbols
literal_form: The white umbrella held by Brahma, the fan carried by Suyāma, and
other symbols of royalty carried by deities.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: seven strides
literal_form: The newborn takes seven strides after searching the ten directions
and finding no one like himself.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: sandal-wood medicine
literal_form: Fine sandal-wood placed in the newborn Mahosadha's hand by Sakka;
later kept as a healing drug.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: bag containing a thousand
literal_form: A bag containing a thousand placed in the newborn Vessantara's hand
after he asks to give a gift.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:8
label: thirty-two Good Omens
literal_form: Thirty-two Good Omens seen at the moments of conception and birth.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Incarnation and guarded pregnancy
summary: At the incarnation of the future Buddha, four armed angels guard the Bodisat
and his mother; the mother is pure, sees the child within her, and is later said
to die seven days after birth and be reborn in the City of Delight.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Journey to Devadaha and Lumbini grove birth
summary: Mahā Māyā requests to go to Devadaha; Suddhodana prepares her journey.
She enters the flowering Lumbini grove, grasps a bending sāla branch, and gives
birth standing.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Divine reception and purification of the newborn
summary: Mahā Brahma angels receive the child on a golden net and announce his birth.
The newborn emerges unsoiled and shining, and heavenly water showers refresh him
and his mother.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Recognition, seven strides, and victory proclamation
summary: The child is passed to four kings and then to men, stands on the ground,
sees vast world-systems, receives garlands, takes seven strides, and proclaims
himself chief while deities bear royal symbols.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Three births with immediate newborn speech
summary: 'The passage identifies three births in which the future Buddha speaks
immediately after leaving the womb: Mahosadha, who receives medicine from Sakka;
Vessantara, who asks to give a gift; and the present birth, in which he sings
a song of victory.'
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Miraculous sacred birth of the future Buddha
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
- miraculous_child
basis: The passage describes guarded conception, distinctive pregnancy, standing
delivery, divine reception, unsoiled birth, heavenly water, immediate standing,
seven strides, and speech.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This extraction is limited to the passage's own birth narrative and does
not infer broader doctrinal meanings beyond it.
- id: motif:2
label: Birth in a flowering grove while grasping a tree
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
basis: Mahā Māyā gives birth in Lumbini grove while holding a sāla branch that bends
down within her reach.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy includes tree as a symbol, but the passage does
not explicitly identify the tree as an axis or world center.
- id: motif:3
label: Divine guardianship and reception of an extraordinary child
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
basis: Sword-bearing angels guard mother and child; Mahā Brahma angels receive the
newborn in a golden net; four kings and men then receive him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents multiple classes of divine and human receivers, but
their exact cosmological status beyond the named labels is not expanded in this
excerpt.
- id: motif:4
label: Royal and cosmic recognition of the newborn
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: The newborn is honoured with garlands, a white umbrella, a fan, other royal
symbols, and a proclamation of supremacy after surveying the ten directions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage supports royal symbolism and supremacy, but the phrase 'royal
legitimacy' is a taxonomy-level classification rather than the passage's own term.
- id: motif:5
label: Speaking newborn across repeated births
taxonomy_refs:
- miraculous_child
basis: The passage states that the future Buddha spoke immediately after leaving
the womb in the Mahosadha, Vessantara, and present births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is explicitly intra-passage and intra-tradition; no external
comparison is asserted.
- id: motif:6
label: Miraculous healing object at birth
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: In the Mahosadha birth, Sakka places medicine in the newborn's hand, and
that medicine later heals the sick who come to it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: This motif applies to the Mahosadha exemplum within the passage rather
than to the main Lumbini birth scene.
- id: motif:7
label: Gift-giving impulse at birth
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: In the Vessantara birth, the newborn asks whether there is anything in the
house so that he may give a gift, and his mother places wealth in his hand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage only gives a brief exemplum, so the broader function of giving
is not elaborated here.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The passage itself groups the Mahosadha birth, the Vessantara birth, and
the present birth as instances of the same pattern: the future Buddha speaks immediately
after leaving the womb.'
claim_level: same_motif
target: Three births of the future Buddha with immediate newborn speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal comparison explicitly made by the passage; it does
not establish comparison with texts outside the supplied excerpt.
- id: claim:2
claim: 'Within the three named speaking-birth episodes, newborn speech marks different
functions: healing in Mahosadha, generosity in Vessantara, and victory or supremacy
in the present birth.'
claim_level: same_function
target: Speaking newborn motif differentiated by healing, giving, and victory functions
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The functional labels are derived from the immediate actions described
in the passage and should be reviewed against the wider Jataka context.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 5332-5340
quote_or_summary: At incarnation, four angels with swords guard the Bodisat and
mother; the mother is pure, sees the child clearly, and dies seven days after
birth to be reborn in the City of Delight.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 5342-5347
quote_or_summary: Other women vary in term and posture, but the mother of a Bodisat
gives birth standing after exactly ten months; this is a distinctive quality of
the mother of a Buddha elect.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 5349-5360
quote_or_summary: Mahā Māyā asks to go to Devadaha; Suddhodana agrees, decorates
the road with arches, water-pots, flags, and banners, and sends her in a golden
palanquin carried by many attendants.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 5362-5378
quote_or_summary: In Lumbini grove, full of fruits, flowers, bees, birds, and sāla-trees,
Mahā Māyā wants to sport; a sāla branch bends down, she takes hold of it, her
pains begin, and she gives birth standing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 5380-5383
quote_or_summary: Four pure-minded Mahā Brahma angels bring a golden net, receive
the future Buddha on it, and say to his mother that a mighty son is born.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 5385-5393
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat leaves the womb erect, with hands and feet stretched
out, unsoiled, pure, fair, and shining; two showers of water come from heaven
to refresh him and his mother.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 5395-5402
quote_or_summary: The newborn is received from angels by four kings on antelope-skin
cloth, then by men on fine cloth; he stands on the ground, looks east, sees thousands
of world-systems, and is honoured with garlands.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 5402-5410
quote_or_summary: After searching the ten directions and finding no equal, the newborn
takes seven strides. Brahma holds the white umbrella, Suyāma follows with the
fan, other deities hold royal symbols, and he shouts a victory cry beginning that
he is chief of the world.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 5412-5422
quote_or_summary: In the Mahosadha birth, Sakka gives the newborn fine sandal-wood
medicine; the child says it is medicine, and the substance is kept in a water-pot
and heals the sick.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 5424-5428
quote_or_summary: In the Vessantara birth, the newborn stretches out his right hand
asking whether there is anything in the house so he may give a gift; his mother
places a bag containing a thousand in his hand.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 5412-5432
quote_or_summary: 'The future Buddha is said to have uttered his voice immediately
after leaving the womb in three births: Mahosadha, Vessantara, and the present
birth; thirty-two Good Omens appear at conception and birth.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain; full text allowed.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strongly supported by the passage. Motif taxonomy mapping
is strongest for sacred birth and miraculous child; royal legitimacy, sacred exchange,
and other labels require human review.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No external traditions or texts were used. Comparison claims are limited to internal comparisons explicitly supported by the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l5332-l5432
passage_sha256=3cd667712952d8151010e9e742b4cfbf82ba6dba4624b178ce1b77368308232f