1. Look at the image below. What do you see?
- How would you describe the setting?
- Why do you think the man in the palace is holding a baby? Who might this man be?
- What details in the scene suggest that this baby’s birth is unique?
2. Read the text below and follow the directions on your worksheet.
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/0/5/24059461/936534908.jpg)
Around 563 B.C.E., the Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha in the northern part of India, near the Himalayas to a powerful king and queen.
According to legend, the queen had a dream before her son was born. In the dream, she encountered a white elephant with six tusks. The elephant walked toward her, offering her a lotus flower and then struck her in the right side.
Around the time of Siddhartha's birth, the king and queen asked the Brahmins, or Hindu priests, to analyze the dream. The Brahmins told them that the child would either become a great ruler or a holy man. They predicted that he would either conquer the world or become an enlightened being, the Buddha.
The legend continues that the queen gave birth to Siddhartha in a garden, holding on to a nearby tree which had lowered a branch to support her. After the baby was born, lotus flowers fell from the sky. Siddhartha already looked to be several years old, walking and talking. It is believed that he took a few steps and said, "I am the leader of the world and the guide to the world.”
According to legend, the queen had a dream before her son was born. In the dream, she encountered a white elephant with six tusks. The elephant walked toward her, offering her a lotus flower and then struck her in the right side.
Around the time of Siddhartha's birth, the king and queen asked the Brahmins, or Hindu priests, to analyze the dream. The Brahmins told them that the child would either become a great ruler or a holy man. They predicted that he would either conquer the world or become an enlightened being, the Buddha.
The legend continues that the queen gave birth to Siddhartha in a garden, holding on to a nearby tree which had lowered a branch to support her. After the baby was born, lotus flowers fell from the sky. Siddhartha already looked to be several years old, walking and talking. It is believed that he took a few steps and said, "I am the leader of the world and the guide to the world.”