One night Queen Maya, who had remained childess during twenty years of marriage, deamed that a white elephant descended from the heavens and entered her womb. The conception of a child represents a new starting point in life, and her dream symbolizes the mystery of this event.

On her way back to her parents' home, Queen Maya happened to rest at Lumbini Gardens. There, just as she was reaching out to the branch of an asoka tree, a baby boy was born. It is recorded that his first words were, "I alone am the honoured one in the heavens above and the earth below," a fitting expression of the unlimited potential inherent in a newly born child.

Bereft of his mother son after his birth, the young prince Siddhartha was brought up amidst the luxury of the palace. But he was unable to find full satisfaction in such a life, and at the age of 29 he slipped out of the palace one night in secret, accompanied by a single servant, in order to search for the true purpose of human life.