Sujata

Once upon a time there was a young, beautiful girl named Sujata who wanted a husband and a son. She was told to go to a banyan tree near the river and pray to the tree god.

Later she married a good man and they had a son. Sujata was very happy and always wanted to serve the tree god to show her appreciation.

Sujata had many cows that gave sweet milk. She used this milk to make sweet rice to give as an offering to the tree god.

One day, Sujata's servant went to clean the area under the tree but was surprised to see someone meditating there. The servant ran back to Sujata and said, 'The tree god is meditating under the tree. Now you will be able to give him rice in person.'

But it was not the tree god. It was Siddhartha Gautama meditating under the banyan tree. He was meditating so that he could become the Buddha.

Sujata took the bowl of rice to Siddhartha and bowed respectfully. She said, 'Please accept this rice from me. May you be as successful in obtaining your wishes as I have been.'

Siddhartha ate the rice. He continued to meditate under that tree and in time became enlightened. He achieved his wishes and became the Buddha.

The End

The sculpture of Siddhartha and Sujata was on the wall of a temple in Vientiane, Laos.