Asita pays a visit to the king. Asita takes the little child in his arms. Asita weeps.
"Wherefore these tears, O holy man?"
"I weep because this child will be the great Buddha, and I shall not be alive to witness the fact."
The points of contact between Simeon and Asita are very close. Both are men of God, "full of the Holy Ghost." Both are brought "by the Spirit" into the presence of the Holy Child, for the express purpose of foretelling His destiny as the Anointed One.
More remarkable still is the incident of the disputation with the doctors.
A little Brahmin was "initiated," girt with the holy thread, etc., at eight, and put under the tuition of a holy man. When Vis'vâmitra, Buddha's teacher, proposed to teach him the alphabet, the young prince went off:—
"In sounding 'A,' pronounce it as in the sound of the word 'anitya.'
"In sounding 'I,' pronounce it as in the word 'indriya.'
"In sounding 'U,' pronounce it as in the word 'upagupta.'"