Tag Archives: The Bodhisatta And Asanka

118. The Bodhisatta And Asanka

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was king in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a Brahmin family at a village of that country. When he grew up, he learned the arts at Takkasila, became an ascetic and reaching the Faculties and Attainments lived on roots and fruits in the Himalaya.

At that time a star fell from the Heaven and was conceived as a girl inside a lotus in a pool; and when the other lotuses grew old and fell, that one grew great and stood. The ascetic coming to bathe saw it and thought, “The other lotuses fall, but this one is grown great and stands; why is this?” So he opened the lotus and saw the girl. He took her to his hut and tended her as his daughter. Now the Bodhisatta had given the maiden the name Asanka. When she came to sixteen years, she was beautiful. Sakka came to see the Bodhisatta and gave a crystal palace with all facilities for her dwelling.