Hieroglyphmultiplextext of stalks as horns is displayed on another frieze of Sanchi with an elephant ligatured to the body of a bull:

ib 'iron'). King Śuddhodana and his soothsayers interpreted the dream that she would bear a son who with detached passion would satisfy the world with sweetness of his ambrosia.

Amaravati. Portion of narrative frieze depicting Māyā's Dream. ca. second century CE, 101 CE - 200 CE H - ca. 12.50 in Madras Government Museum, Madras, Tamil Nadu, India.

 
Peshawar sculptural fragment depicting Māyā's Dream. Kusana. a. mid-first to mid-third century CE, 50 CE - 250 CE grey stone H - ca. 5.00 in Indian Museum, Calcutta, West Bengal, India

North West Frontier relief sculpture fragment Māyā's Dream  Kusana ca. 1st c.-2nd c. CE, 100 BCE - 300 CE grey schist H - ca. 5.50 in National Museum, Karachi, Pakistan

Sarnath. Buddha life scenes. ca. fifth century CE, 401 CE - 500 CE buff sandstoneH - ca. 35.13 in W - ca. 19.50 inNational Museum, New Delhi, India. The bottom register to the left, interpretsMāyā's dream. Descent of the elephant.

Bharhut stupa. Inscription in Brahmi. brown sandstone Sunga ca. 100-80 BCE, 100 BCE - 80 BCE Indian Museum, Calcutta, West Bengal, India. Bottom register shows descent of elephant in Māyā's dream.

Māyā's Dream at Bharhut. from the collection of Dr David Efurd, Wofford College.  

"Dreams (supina) are mental images that occur during sleep. There is widespread belief that dreams have some significance. Some people believe they foretell the future, others that the dead can communicate with the living through them. Modern psychoanalysts say that when interpreted correctly, dreams can offer an insight into suppressed desires and drives and thus can lead to a deeper self-understanding. Buddhist psychology recognizes several types of dreams. According to the Milindapanha these are (1) dreams caused by physical stress, (2) by psychological irritability, (3) by spirits, (4) because of mental clarity and (5) prophetic dreams (Mil.II,298). It also says that dreams mainly occur in the interval either between falling asleep or waking up (okkante middhe) and deep sleep (asampatte bhavnge, Mil.II,299), a fact confirmed by science. Before the Buddha was enlightened, he had seven dreams full of strange symbolism which did in fact foretell his enlightenment (A.III,240). However, he was sceptical of those who claimed that they could interpret other people’s dreams and he forbade monks and nuns from doing so (D.I,8). He said that a person who does loving kindness meditation (metta bhavana) will not be disturbed by nightmares (A.V,342) and also that a monk who falls to sleep mindfully will not have a wet dream (A.III,251). The Buddha also said that dreaming of doing something, i.e. killing someone or stealing something, is not ethically significant and therefore has no kammic effect (Vin.III,111). Thus he understood that dreams are beyond the power of the will. Legend says Maha Māyā, Prince Siddhattha’s mother, had a dream dreamed of a white elephant soon after he was conceived and that this was a portent of his future greatness. The story is not in the Tipitaka and the earliest version of it is found in the Jatakanidana 50." This quote refers to okkanti in the context of dreams and I suggest that Rhys Davids' reading of the inscriptio on Bharhut stupa is the correct one.

Sage Asita explaining Māyā's dream, Kushan, Gandhara, India, 2nd-3rd C. Indian Sculpture-The Asian Arts Museum of Sanfrancisco, California, ACSAA


Government Museum, Chennai. "Māyā's Dream and Interpretation (Period III) On the left panel, Māyā is shown reclining. Below the couch four women attendents are shown half asleep. Four turbaned men of rank stand as guards at the four corners of the couch. In the right panel Māyā is seen seated on a small wicker seat in front of the King while a Brahmana is seated to the left of the king. The Brahmana holds up his two fingers suggesting two possibilities regarding the future of the child to be born. The two possibilities are that either he would be a monarch, if he adopted the life of a house-holder or  he would become the Buddha, if he renounced the world."

Detail of the top of the sandstone Vedica pillar, half-roundel at top of vedika pillar with composite creatures in relief:

The top register o this relief shows ligatured antelopes back-to-back; the next register from the top shows a bull ligatured to a makara (crocodile with curved fish tail).


Detail of the roundel:


Borobodur Indonesia 3rd level (gallery); volcanic rock; wall east side, south end Māyā's dream bove: Queen Māyā dreams (from Lalitavistara); below: Sudhana learns about Manohara from his mother (from Jataka). Saildendra Dynasty (778- 926) ca. late 8th century CE, 750 CE - 799 CE

A makara and merchant Ship Scene, Borobudur

Sarasvati -- divinity of knowledge -- holding a veena on her left hand. Sarasvati sculpture from Uttar Pradesh. 6th century. Sandstone. H 84.2 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Sarasvati 33 1/8 x 24 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches "Sarasvati is the Hindu goddess of learning and the arts. She is the consort of Brahma, the god of creation and source of all knowledge. Because Brahma created Sarasvati from his own flesh and blood, she is often regarded as the embodiment of knowledge and creativity.  This sandstone representation draws attention to Sarasvati's importance as the divine patron of the arts. As in many depictions, she is seen here seated upon a sacred lotus blossom, the symbol of supreme knowledge and spiritual truth. An avid musician, Sarasvati is shown playing a musical instrument called a veena. The neck and base of the veena can still be seen on this figure, though the body of the instrument is no longer intact.  Sarasvati is depicted with a serene smile as she sways gently to the music. Her attendants dance around her, one accompanying Sarasvati on a flute and another on a small drum. Because of Sarasvati's importance in all things intellectual and artistic, many students, scholars, poets, musicians, painters, and sculptors look to her for guidance and support."

Interpretation of Māyā's dream by a Brahman. Borobodur  Indonesia Above: a brahman interprets QueenMāyā's dream (from Lalitavistara); below: Sudhana visits King Druma (from Jataka)

Buddha annunciates in the form of Mahā Māyā's dream in which Māyā sees a white elephant descending from the skies to enter her womb. The would-be son was to be a Universal Emperor or a Buddha. Dream turned into reality, she goes to her parents in Devahrada, the child Gautama is born as she supports herself by the branch of a tree in Lumbini park and the Buddha was turning the wheel to be Lord.

Queen Maha Māyā was the daughter of King Anjana of the Koliyas. The Koliyan princess was named  Mahā Māyā. Māyā and Suddhodana ruled over the Sakyas, a warrior tribe living next to the Koliya tribe, in the north of India, in what is now known as Nepal. 

Interpreting the dream, Bauddham literature has this narrative:

"(Queen Māyā)...had a vivid dream. She felt herself being carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. After bathing her in the lake, the devas clothed her in heavenly cloths, anointed her with perfumes, and bedecked her with divine flowers. Soon after a white elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and went round her three times, entering her womb through her right side. Finally the elephant disappeared and the queen awoke, knowing she had been delivered an important message, as the elephant is a symbol of greatness in Nepal. The next day, early in the morning, the queen told the king about the dream. The king was puzzled and sent for some wise men to discover the meaning of the dream.The wise men said, "Your Majesty, you are very lucky. The devas have chosen our queen as the mother of the Purest-One and the child will become a very great being." The king and queen were very happy when they heard this. They were so pleased that they invited many of the noblemen in the country to the palace to a feast to tell them the good news. Even the needy were not forgotten. Food and clothes were given to the poor people in celebration. The whole kingdom waited eagerly for the birth of the new prince, and Queen Māyā enjoyed a happy and healthy pregnancy, living a pure life for herself and her unborn child."
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/1lbud.htm

The dream is rendered as a metaphor in texts and in sculptures. One sculptural representation comes with every book from Sahitya Akademi, India with a note:

The sculpture reproduced on the end-paper depicts a scene where three soothsayers are interpreting to King Suddhodana the dream of Queen Māyā, mother of Lord Buddha. Below them is seated a scribe recording the interpretation. This is perhaps the earliest available pictorial record of the art of writing in India.

From Nagarjunakonda, 2nd Century CE
Courtesy: National Museum, New Delhi.

Queen Māyā's white elephant dream, and the conception of the Buddha. Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE.

Ananda temple revering the Buddha's life. Stone sculpture. Southeast of Tharabar gate. 1105 CE. Region: Old Bagan, Myanmar. (King Kyanzittha). 

The descent of Buddha, Bharhut. British Library. Beglar, Joseph David, 1875

Buddha's birth (Bharhut) Brahmi text: bhagavato rukdanta. Gen. Cunningham reads the letters as Bhagavato okkanti (?ukkanti); thus, the text simply says: 'descent of the blessed one'. Association with the elephant in Māyā's dream may be a figure of speech to explain the incarnation, avatāra. General Cunning-ham says of the description placed above this sculpture : ' Above it 

in large characters is inscribed Bhagavato rukdanta, which may perhaps be translated, "Buddha as the sounding elephant," from ru, to sound, to make a particular sort of sound.' Now the first word of the inscription is in the genitive case, so that if the second word could mean an elephant, the whole would signify, ' The Buddha's elephant.' But the characters which General Cunningham reads rukdanta are, I venture to suggest, okkanti (^ ukkanti); and the inscription simply says, ' The descent of the blessed One.' As I have pointed out in 'Buddhism' (Cunningham, Alexander, 1879, The stupa of Bharhut: a Buddhist monument ornamented with numerous sculptures illustrative of Buddhist legend and history in the 3rd century BCE, Published by order of the Secretary of State for India in Council, London, WH Allen and Co., p.184).

This interpretation of the Brahmi text is rejected by Rhys Davids. 

Brahmi inscription says okkanti, NOT rukdanti (falsely claimed by Cunningham)

"Plate xxviii has a scene entitled Bhagavato Okkanti (The descent of the blessed one), in illustration of Māyā Devi's dream...Footnote 7: General Cunningham's reading of this inscription as Bhagavato rukdanta seems to me to be incorrect, and his translation of it ('Buddha as the sounding elephant') to be grammatically impossible."(Davids, TW Rhys, Buddhist birth-stories (Jataka tales): the commentarial introduction entitled Nidaana Kathaa, the story of the lineage, translated from Prof. V. Fausboll's edition of the Pali text by TW Rhys Davids, London,  George Rouledge and Sons, New York: EP Dutton and Co., p. 248)

Gloss: okkanti explained in Pali:

Avakkanti (f.) [fr. avakkamati] entry, appearance, coming down into, opportunity for rebirth S ii.66 (nāmarūpassa); iii.46 (pañcannaŋ indriyānaŋ); Pug 13 (= okkantinibbatti pātubhāvo PugA 184); Kvu 142 (nāmarūpassa); Miln 123 (gabbhassa). Okkanta [pp. of okkamati] coming on, approaching, taking 

place D ii.12; Miln 299 (middhe okkante).

āˊkramatē ʻ approaches ʼ RV., ʻ ascends ʼ AV., ʻ seizes ʼ MBh.[√kram] Pa. akkamati  ʻapproaches, treads on, attacks ʼ; Pk. akkamaï ʻ presses, attacks ʼ; N. ã̄knu ʻ to venture, dare ʼ (?); Si. äkmenavā ʻ to be crushed, be seized ʼ der. tr. (CDIAL 1017).

Okkanti (f.) [fr. okkamati] entry (lit. descent), appearance, coming to be. Usually in stock phrase jāṭi sañjāti o. nibbatti M iii.249; S ii.3; iii.225; Nd2 257; Pug A 184. Also in gabbh˚ entry into the womb DA i.130. Okkantika (adj.) [fr. okkanti] coming into existence again and again, recurring. Only as epithet of pīti, joy. The opposite is khaṇika, momentary Vism 143 = DhsA 115 (Expositor153 trsls. "flooding"). Okkanta [pp. of okkamati] coming on,approaching, taking place D ii.12; Miln 299 (middhe okkante).

"Bhagavan, nominative singular of the crude form Bhagavat -- Bhagava, Pali, Btchcom Idandasa, Tibetan. The technology of the Buddhists is to a great extent borrowed from the literature of the Brahmans. The Vija-mantra of Buddha begins with Om, their metaphysical terms are exclusively Hindu, and the names of most of their divinities are taken from the Hindu pantheon.
The word Bhagavan, which, according to the Abhidharma-kosha-vyakhya, a Bauddha work of great repute, "is not an arbitrary or superflous, but the most appropriate title of Buddha," has been, by the Vedas, used to designate the Deity's self. It is said in the Vishnu Purana, in accordance with the interpretation of Yaksa, that, "the essence of the Supreme is defined by the term Bhagavan: the word Bhagavan is the denomination of the primeval and eternal god: and he who fully understands the meaning of that expression is possessed of holy wisdom, the sum and substance of the three Vedas. The word Bhagavan is a convenient form to be used in the adoration of that Supreme Being, to whom no terms is applicable, and therefore Bhagavan expresses that supreme spirit, which is individual, almighty, and the cause of all things."
The dissyllable Bhaga indicates the six properties, dominion, might, glory, splendour, wisdom, and dispassion. The purport of that va is that elemental spirit in which all beings exist, and which exists in all beings." (The usual itymon of the word, however, is Bhaga with the possessive affix.) "This word, therefore, which is the general denomination of an adorable object, is not used in reference to the Supreme in a general, but a special signification. When applied to any other (person) it is used in its customary or general import. In the latter case, it may purport one who knows the origin and end and revolutions of beings, and what is wisdom, what ignorance. In the former it denotes wisdom, energy, dominion, might, glory, without end, and without defect.
All the Sutras invest S'akya Sinha with this title, and, next to Tathagata, it is perhaps the most common appellation of Buddha."

Dream of Mahā Māyā presaging the Buddha’s birth, marble relief from Nagarjunakonda, Andhra Pradesh state, India, Amaravati style, c. 3rd century ce; in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (Kolkata).