the child was able to walk and talk immediately. A lotus flower blossomed under the infant's feet at each step, and then the child announced that this would be his last lifetime (37). King Suddhodana Gautama, the infant's father, summoned Asita, a Brahmin of dignified mien, to see the child. While holding the infant, Asita began to weep and sighed deeply; this caused King Suddhodana distress, so King Suddhodana asked Asita, "Why has the sight of my son caused you grief and pain?" Asita, as in Paul Carus's writes, answers King Suddhodana's question thoroughly:
             " The King, like the moon when full should feel great joy, for he has acquired a wondrously noble son. I do not worship Brahma, but I worship this child; and the gods in the temples will descend from their places of honor to adore him. Banish all anxiety and doubt; the omens manifested indicate that the child now born will bring deliverance to the whole world. The wheel of empire will come to him. He will either be a king of kings to govern all the lands of Earth, or eh will become a Buddha. He is
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