The Great Chronicle of Buddhas
by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw | 1990 | 1,044,401 words
This page describes The Conception of The Bodhisatta contained within the book called the Great Chronicle of Buddhas (maha-buddha-vamsa), a large compilation of stories revolving around the Buddhas and Buddhist disciples. This page is part of the series known as the Story of Sataketu Deva, The Future Buddha. This great chronicle of Buddhas was compiled by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw who had a thorough understanding of the thousands and thousands of Buddhist teachings (suttas).
Part 3 - The Conception of The Bodhisatta
[Reference: The Conception of The Bodhisatta]
It may be questioned as to why did Mother Queen Maya conceive the Bodhisatta only in the third period of the second stage of life. The answer is: The sensual desire in an existing being in the first stage is usually strong. Therefore, women who become pregnant at that stage are unable to look after their pregnancy. Many are those who cannot take care of it. Such an inability causes several forms of injury to the pregnancy.
The middle stage, which is the second of the equally divided three periods, may be subdivided into three equal portions. When a woman reaches the third portion, her womb is clean and pure. A baby conceived in such a clean and pure womb is healthy, free from diseases.
The mother of a Bodhisatta in his last existence enjoys pleasure at her first stage, and it is customary that she dies after giving birth to him during the length of the third portion of the middle stage. (It is also a phenomenal law that she dies seven days after the birth of the Bodhisatta. She dies not because she is in labour. As a matter of fact, the (Bodhisatta) deva descends only when he has seen that his would-be mother has ten months and seven days more to live, after she begins to conceive, as has been mentioned in the account of the Bodhisatta Deva’s five great investigations. Taking this into consideration, it is clear that her death is not caused by childbirth; it should undoubtedly be held that the mother dies only because her time is up.) (Dīgha Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā, etc.)