ve and friendship, and
will unite them in a close alliance." We read in St. Luke's Gospel:
"To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her,
and said, 'Hail, thou that art highly favoured.... Behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest.'"

The Brahmins, or Indian priests, who know what the birth of a Buddha
means, interpret Maya's dream. They have a definite, typical idea of
a Buddha, to which the life of the personality about to be born will
have to correspond. Similarly we read in Matthew ii. _et seq._, that
when Herod "had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the
people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born." The
Brahmin Asita says of Buddha: "This is the child which will become
Buddha, the redeemer, the leader to immortality, freedom, and light."
Compare with this Luke ii. 25: "And, behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was
upon him.... And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do
for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms,
and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."

It is related of Buddha that at the age of twelve he was lost, and
found again under a tree, surrounded by poets and sages of the olden
time, whom he was teaching. With this incident the following passage
in St. Luke corresponds: "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year
at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they
went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had
fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind
in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they,
supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and
they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they
found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And
it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors, b