Man who know something about the 32 major marks of the Great Man have noted
how odd the Buddha would really look if he literally had all the 32 marks.
One possible explanation of these Marks is that they are only manifested
whenever the Buddha wished and to whomever the Buddha wished. Otherwise the
Buddha, of true noble beauty, often appears indistinguishable from other
monks, especially in an assembly. Take for example the Saama~n~naphala
Sutta, where it is stated that Ajaatasatu on arriving at the monastery has
to ask Jiivaka which monk in the assembly is the Buddha (D 2.11/1:50).
There is also another sutta or story where a monk meets the Buddha and they
discuss their personal doctrines. In the end, when the Buddha asks the
other monks who is teacher is, that monk replies that his teacher is one
called "the Buddha". Only that does he discover that the Teacher is right
before him. Anyone remember the reference of this interesting sutta.
NOTE:
The 32 major marks of the Great Man (mahaa purisa,lakkha..na): (1) He has
feet with a level tread; (2) On the soles of his feet are wheels with a
thousand spokes, all rimmed and hubbed, complete in every way; (3) He has
projecting heels; (4) He has long fingers; (5) He has soft, tender hands
and feet; (6) His fingers and toes are net-like [reticulated or evenly
spaced]; (7) His ankles are high-raised [over the exact middle of the
tread]; (8) His legs are shapely like an antelopes; (9) While standing
without stooping, he can touch and rub his knees with both hands at once;
(10) His male organ are covered with a sheath; (11) He has a golden
complexion; (12) His skin is so delicate and smooth that no dust or dirt
settles on it; (13) His body-hairs are separate, one to a pore; (14) They
grow upwards, bluish-black like collyrium, curling to the right; (15) His
body is perfectly straight [like Brahm]; (16) He has seven convex surfaces
[on hand, feet, shoulders, trunk]; (17) The front of his body is like a
lions; (18) There is no hollow between his shoulders; (19) His proportions
is like a banyan tree: his arm-span equals his height; (20) The curve of
his shoulders is evenly rounded; (21) He has a perfect sense of taste; (22)
His jaw is like a lions; (23) He has forty teeth; (24) His teeth are even;
(25) There are no spaces between his teeth; (26) His canine teeth are very
bright; (27) His tongue is very long and flexible [able to touch his
forehead]; (28) His perfect voice [like Brahms] is sweet like the sound of
a karavîka [Indian cuckoo]; (29) His eyes are deep blue; (30) His
eye-lashes are [long and shapely] like a cows; (31) The hair between his
eye-brows is white, soft like cotton-down; (32) His head is shaped like a
royal turban (D 14/ 2:17 f, 136 f; D 30/3:142 ff).
Sukhi
Piya
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]