The Bodhisatta walks through Rajagaha; the people talk wildly about him all over the city
While Channa the loyal page was going back to inform Kapilavatthu of the news, the Great Being, who had once been Prince Siddhattha, journeyed from the sandy bank of the Anoma to a district in which there were many mango forests, known as Anupiya Ambhavana. This district was in the district of Malla. He stayed there for one week and on the eighth day journeyed into the state of Magadha, eventually making his way to Rajagaha, which at the time was the capital of this kingdom.
Magadha was a big and prosperous state, with many people and power equal to another great state of that time, Kosala, the capital of which was Savatthi.
The King of Rajagaha in Magadha at that time was King Bimbisara. Being the same age as the Great Being, he was at that time still a young king.
In the morning the Great Being entered the city. The people of the city were moved to a state referred to be the Pathamasambodhi as "great excitement" which spread over the city at the sight of the noble-featured recluse. No one could tell whether a deva, a naga [serpent-deity], a garuda [bird-deity], or some other kind of divine being had entered the city for alms. The talk buzzed all over the city.
Prince Siddhattha, the Great Being who would later become the Buddha, had been born into the Khattiya clan, of noble birth on both sides of the family. His complexion was referred to in the Pali texts as kancanavanno", meaning of golden complexion. His features were handsome. Even though he had shaved off his hair and beard and was wearing the yellow robe of a homeless one who has given up the beauty of the worldling, his bearing as he walked, more stately than that of a normal person, clearly belied his noble birth.
Thus, when the people of Rajagaha saw him they were filled with excitement, and the news eventually reached the ears of King Bimbisara, the King of Rajagaha.
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