When she heard of the king's death at the hand of his brother, Polajanaka, she gathered her gold and jewels into a basket and covered them with rice. She put on some worn and dirty garments and blackened her face with soot so that she would not be recognized. Then, lifting the basket onto her head, she went unnoticed out of the city by the northern gate. Now, the child in the fleeing queen's womb was to be a Great Being, or Bodhisatta, and the attention of Sakka, king of the gods, was drawn to the