Page:Buddhist Birth Stories, or, Jātaka Tales.djvu/188

72 them great honour, and asked them to recognize the signs of what the child should be.

Among them —

270. Rāma, and Dhaja, and Lakkhaṇa, and Mantin, Kondanya and Bhoja, Suyāma and Sudatta, These eight Brāhmans then were there, Their senses all subdued; and they declared the charm.

Now these eight Brāhmans were recognizers of signs; it was by them that the dream on the night of conception had been interpreted. Seven of them holding up two fingers prophesied in the alternative, saying, "If a man having such marks should remain a householder, he becomes a Universal Monarch; but if he takes the vows, he becomes a Buddha." And, so saying, they declared all the glory and power of a Cakkavatti king.

But the youngest of all of them, a young Brāhman whose family name was Kondanya, beholding the perfection of the auspicious marks on the Bodisat, raised up one finger only, and prophesied without ambiguity, and said, "There is no sign of his remaining amidst the cares of household life. Verily, he will become a Buddha, and remove the veils of sin and ignorance from the world."

This man already, under former Buddhas, had made a deep resolve of holiness, and had now reached his last birth. Therefore it was that he surpassed the other seven in wisdom; that he perceived how the Bodisat would only be subject to this one life; and that, raising only one finger, he so prophesied, saying, "The lot of one possessed of these marks will not be cast amidst the cares of household life. Verily he will become a Buddha!"

Now those Brāhmans went home, and addressed their