Chapter 21: Prophecy and Prediction｜Siddhartha’s Destiny

Soon after the Buddha’s birth comes another key episode: the prophecy of Siddhartha’s destiny. In the traditional accounts, the sage Asita was invited to the palace to examine the newborn prince.

In Gandharan reliefs, this scene often shows the king and queen seated, presenting the infant Siddhartha. The ascetic Asita, depicted as an elderly bearded sage, gazes at the child—sometimes raising a finger in a gesture of divination. Attendants and Brahmins may also be present.

According to legend, Asita recognized the thirty-two marks of a great man on the infant and foretold that Siddhartha would either become a universal monarch or a Buddha. This prophecy brought both joy and concern: King Śuddhodana feared that his son might renounce royal power to seek enlightenment.

Artistically, Gandharan depictions combine Indian and Hellenistic elements. Asita appears in the guise of an Indian ascetic, yet the carving of garments reflects Greco-Roman influence. The infant, shown as a child rather than an abstract symbol, highlights the tension between ordinary birth and extraordinary destiny.

This scene, etched in schist relief, conveys more than a ritual—it captures the sense of inevitability that surrounded the Buddha’s life from the very beginning.