In the previous episode, we learned about the Magical events on the birth of Siddharth Gautam and in this episode, we would learn why one Monk smiled & then cried after meeting baby Buddha.
At the moment when Buddha was born, Deva Loka the angel’s plane was filled with music everywhere. At that moment, Kaladevala, the teacher of King Suddhodana, was giving a discourse to the celestial beings of the Tavatimsa Deva Loka.
Kaladevala was a hermit of fame who was the master of eight jhanas (eight samadhi) which gave him supernatural powers. Learning of the birth of a son to king Suddhodana in the midst of rejoicing in all the worlds, he quickly came back to the king’s palace and desired the baby to be brought before him for his blessings.
As the king was about to place the baby before his teacher for the occasion, another magical event took place. The baby rose into the air
and rested his tiny feet on the head of Kaladevala who at once understood that the baby was no other than the baby Buddha.
He smiled at this knowledge but cried almost immediately thereafter because he foresaw that he would die before the baby would become Buddha and he would be in the arupabrahma-loka (the immaterial planes of the Brahmas) where he would have no relationship with any of the material planes. He regretted bitterly that he would miss the Buddha and his teachings.
In the next episode, we would learn about the early life of Siddharth Gautam Buddha.