After the prince's birth, soothsayers (brahmins who read bodily marks; the brahmins were the priestly class that conducted the rituals of ancient India) examine him and say that he bears the thirty-two : if he does not go forth he will become a wheel-turning monarch ruling the whole world, and if he goes forth he will become a Buddha. The king also gives the prince his name. The soothsayers' prophecy is found mainly in the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, and the naming mainly in the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Taishō Canon
More sources (3)
Different Accounts
The prince's name: the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya records the names “Accomplisher of All Things”, “Sakyamuni”, “Strength of a Thousand Elephants”, “Siddha” and others; the Buddha biography Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing has “Sarvasiddha”; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition have Siddhattha. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The number of soothsayers: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says only “the brahmin soothsayers”; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say there were eight brahmins, of whom seven said there were two possibilities, and only Koṇḍañña declared that he would certainly go forth. Taishō Canon
The reason for going forth: the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the soothsayers foretold that the prince would go forth after seeing four sights, an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a renunciant (see “Riding out through the four gates” at age fourteen).
Timing: the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says the soothsayers examined him “just after the birth”; the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the naming was on the fifth day after the birth.
Dating
Not long after the birth, the Buddha newly born; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says “just after the birth”, and the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say the naming was on the fifth day after the birth, so on the commentaries' account it can be fixed to the day, while the canonical texts themselves give no exact time.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “the soothsayers' two paths” is recorded only in the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü). Recorded by one school. Within it, “the naming” is recorded only in the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); commentarial dating (the canonical texts give no date; later commentaries record it). Time precision: year uncertain, fixed to the day.
Sources
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.779b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.108b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.108c
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.110b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.627b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Ja-a
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，§50，PTS 0.277
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.116c
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.854a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.626b
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 Bv-a，PTS 0.277