In Vietnamese folklore, the phrase “the eighth day of the fourth month” is commonly used to refer to the day of the birth of Buddha Shakyamuni. But why is the Buddha’s birthday celebrated on the 15th of April (lunar calendar)?
According to Buddhist scriptures, Buddha was born on a full moon day in the month of Vesak – the second month in the ancient Indian calendar. According to the lunar calendar, this corresponds to the fourth month. In the ancient Indian calendar, the full moon day is specifically the eighth day.
Thus, the 8th of April in the ancient Indian calendar is also the full moon day of the fourth lunar month that Vietnamese people still observe.
Scholars suggest that considering the 15th of April in the lunar calendar as Buddha’s birthday follows tradition, but no one has proven that he was actually born on that day. In India, the full moon of the month of Vesak also marks the beginning of the rainy season, when animals and insects thrive, and monks begin to practice locally to avoid trampling on smaller creatures.
Buddha took seven steps on seven lotus flowers, one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the earth.
Even the exact year of Buddha’s birth is not definitively established. Various sources propose numerous hypotheses about the year he was born, with differences of nearly 400 years, such as the years 1028, 1027, 685, 624, 566, 561, 558, 557, 520, 487, 466… The most widely accepted theory is that Buddha was born in 624 BCE (both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism officially recognize this year).
According to scriptures, Queen Mahamaya gave birth to Buddha in the Lumbini garden, under the Bodhi tree (sala tree). Specifically, Theravada scriptures state that according to tradition, as her due date approached, Queen Mahamaya returned to her parental kingdom to give birth. While resting in the Lumbini garden, labor pains began. The maidservants quickly set up a screen for the queen, who grasped a branch of the Bodhi tree and gave birth to the prince.
At that moment, four great deities appeared in the sky, holding a golden net that enveloped the newborn, while two rains poured down to bathe mother and child. After that, the child was received by the Four Heavenly Kings, wrapped in a piece of cloth made from black antelope skin.
According to Mahayana scriptures, Queen Mahamaya dreamt of a six-tusked white elephant transforming into a beam of light that shone into her womb, leading to her pregnancy. When the time came, she went to the Lumbini garden and gave birth to the prince from her right side. A lotus flower sprang up to support the child. From the sky, nine dragons descended, spouting two streams of hot and cold water to bathe him, and then the deities came down to care for him. Immediately after birth, Buddha took seven steps (each step supported by a lotus flower), one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the earth, proclaiming: “In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one.”
