How does a Buddha come down to earth? This question is debated in Heaven, and the Vedas were searched because, as Seydel shows, although Buddhism seemed a root and branch change, it was attempted to show that it was really the lofty side of the old Brahminism, a lesson not lost by and by in Palestine. The sign of Capricorn in the old Indian Zodiac is an elephant issuing from a Makara (leviathan), and it symbolises the active god issuing from the quiescent god in his home on the face of the waters. In consequence, Buddha comes down as a white elephant, and enters the right side of the queen without piercing it or in any way injuring it. Childers sees a great analogy in all this to the Catholic theory of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Catholic doctors quote this passage from Ezekiel (xliv. 2):-- "Then said the LORD unto me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore shall it be shut." A DOUBLE ANNUNCIATION. It is recorded that when Queen Mâyâ received the supernal Buddha in her womb, in the form of a beautiful white elephant, she said to her husband: "Like snow and silver, outshining the sun and the moon, a white elephant of six defences, with unrivalled trunk and feet, has entered my womb. Listen, I saw the three regions (earth, heaven, hell,) with a great light shining in the darkness, and myriads of spirits sang my praises in the sky." A similar miraculous communication was made to King Suddhodana:-- "The spirits of the Pure Abode flying in the air, showed half of their forms, and hymned King Suddhodana thus: "Guerdoned with righteousness and gentle pity, Adored on earth and in the shining sky, The coming Buddha quits the glorious spheres And hies to earth to gentle Mâyâ's womb." In the Christian scriptures there is also a double annunciation. In Luke (i. 28) the angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to the Virgin Mary before her conception, and to have foretold to her the miraculous birth of Christ. But in spite of this astounding miracle, Joseph seems to have required a second personal one before he ceased to question the chastity of his wife. (Matt. i. 19.) Plainly, two evangelists have been working the same mine independently, and a want of consistency is the result. When Buddha was in his mother's womb that womb was transparent. The Virgin Mary was thus represented in mediæval frescoes. (_See_ illustration, p. 39, in my "Buddhism in Christendom.") "WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR IN THE EAST." In the Buddhist legend the devas in heaven announce that Buddha will be born when the Flower-star is seen _in the East_. (Lefman, xxi. 124; Wassiljew, p. 95.)