Part 1 - King Suddhodana saluting the Bodhisatta for the Second Time

The day arrived for King Suddhodāna to perform the ploughing ceremony which was an annual seasonal festival. On that day, the whole royal city of Kapilavatthu was decorated like the abode of devas. All the people of the city including workers dressed in their best attires, having perfumed and adorned themselves with flowers, assembled in the palace square. In the fields where the ploughing ceremony was to be held, one thousand ploughs were kept in readiness, eight hundred of them were meant for the King and his ministers. Seven hundred and ninety-nine ploughs to be manned by the ministers were decorated with silver ornaments and equipped with ploughshares together with yokes, oxen and driving rods The plough to be ridden and driven by the King was fully ornamented with red gold.

When King Suddhodāna left the royal city with a great retinue of ministers, courtiers, bodyguards and other followers, he brought his son, the Bodhisatta, to the ceremonial sites and kept him under the delightfully cool shade of a big rose-apple (Syzgium Jambos) tree in full foliage. The ground underneath the tree was well-carpeted with the best velvet cloth, on which the royal child was placed. And above him was fixed a crimson red velvet canopy embroidered with gold and silver stars. The whole place was screened off with heavy curtains, and guards were posted for security. The King then dressed himself in the regal accoutrement, which was customarily put on for the ploughing ceremony. Accompanied by ministers and courtiers, he proceeded to the auspicious field where the ploughing ceremony would be held.

On arrival at the auspicious field, King Suddhodāna mounted the golden plough which was specially prepared for him. The seven hundred and ninety-nine courtiers taking part in the ceremony also rode and drove their respective silver ploughs. The remaining two hundred ploughs were handled by two hundred royal farm workers who proceeded to plough the field thoroughly, going back and forth many times across the field. King Suddhodāna ploughed the field only once to bring auspicious blessing to the ceremony by driving across the field from one side to the other. The ceremony was magnificently performed

The nursing attendants and security guards, who were assigned to look after the Prince, left their posts and went out of the royal enclosure, saying, “Lets us watch the grand spectacle of our lord performing the ploughing ceremony.”