Everything about Gautama Buddha totally explained
Siddhārtha Gautama, in
Sanskrit, or
Siddhattha Gotama, in
Pali, was a
spiritual teacher from
ancient India and the founder of
Buddhism. He is generally recognized by Buddhists as the Supreme
Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of our age. The precise nature of such a supreme Buddha - whether "merely"
human or a transcendental,
immortal, god-transcending being - is differently construed in
Theravada and
Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada tends to view him as a super-human personage of supreme teaching skill and
wisdom (uncontactable after his physical
death), whereas Mahayana Buddhism goes further and tends to see him as a projection of an
eternal, ultimate principle of Buddhahood (see
Dharmakaya), present in all phenomena, immortal and transcendent. The time of his
birth and
death are uncertain: most early
20th-century historians date his lifetime from
circa 563 BCE to
483 BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium on this question, the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of
400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with others supporting earlier or later dates.
Gautama, also known as
Śākyamuni or
Shakyamuni (Skt.; Pali:
Sakyamuni; English: “sage of the
Shakyas”), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and
monastic rules were said to have been summarized after his death and memorized by the [[sangha|]]. Passed down by
oral tradition, the
Tipitaka, the collection of teachings attributed to Gautama by the
Theravada, was committed to writing some centuries later.
The Buddha's life
The prime sources of information regarding Siddhārtha Gautama's life are the
Buddhist texts. The Buddha and his monks spent four months each year discussing and rehearsing his teachings, and after his death his monks set about preserving them. A council was held shortly after his death, and another was held a century later. At these councils the monks attempted to establish and authenticate the extant accounts of the life and teachings of the Buddha following systematic rules. They divided the teachings into distinct but overlapping bodies of material, and assigned specific monks to preserve each one. The teaching was thus preserved orally for three centuries after the Buddha's death when they were finally recorded on palm-leaf scrolls that were arranged in three baskets (
Pali:
ti-pitaka). By this point, the monks had added or altered some material themselves, in particular magnifying the figure of the Buddha.
The ancient Indians were not concerned with chronologies, being far more focused on philosophy. The Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, and we've a much clearer picture of what the Buddha thought than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the
Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which substantial accounts exist. The following is a summary of what is found in these texts.
Conception and birth
Siddhārtha was born more than 200 years before the reign of the
Maurya king
Aśoka (273–232 BCE).
Siddhartha was born in
Lumbini(External Link
) and raised in the small kingdom or principality of
Kapilavastu. His father was King
Suddhodana, the chief of the Shakya nation, one of several ancient tribes in the growing state of
Kosala; Gautama was the
family name. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya fell pregnant, she returned to her father's kingdom to give birth, but after leaving
Kapilvastu, she gave birth along the way at
Lumbini in a garden beneath a
sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in
Theravada countries as
Vesak. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning “he who achieves his aim”. During the birth celebrations, the hermit
seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (
chakravartin) or a great
holy man. This occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodarna held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight
brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.
Kaundinya (Pali: Kondanna), the youngest, and later to be the first
arahant, was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a
Buddha.
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a
hereditary monarch, the
descendant of the Solar Dynasty of [[Ikshvaku|]] (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars believe that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early life and marriage
Siddhartha, destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) especially built for him. His father, King
Śuddhodana, wishing for Siddhartha to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human
suffering. Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister,
Maha Pajapati.
As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to
Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā), a cousin of the same age. In time, she gave birth to a son,
Rahula. Siddhartha spent 29 years as a Prince in
Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth wasn't the ultimate goal of life. to prevent guards from knowing the Bodhisatta's departure. This event is known as "The Great Departure".
Siddhartha initially went to
Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Having been recognised by the men of King
Bimbisara, Bimbisara offered him the throne after hearing of Siddhartha's quest. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of
Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
Siddhartha left Rajagaha and practiced under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of
Alara Kalama, Siddhartha was asked by Kalama to succeed him, but moved on after being unsatisfied with his practices. He then became a student of
Udaka Ramaputta, but although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was asked to succeed Ramaputta, he was still not satisfied with his path, and moved on.
Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by
Kondanna then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing
self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. As he laid there, a boat passed him and he overheard the conversation that the two musicians aboard it were saying: "If you tighten the string too tight it'll snap, but if it's too loose it won't play." From this, he realised that he'd have to take a "middle-way" to reach enlightenment and not by using extremes. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he'd been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he'd fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the
jhana. Coming out of the jhana, he realised that a village girl named
Sujata was standing over him with a bowl of porridge.
The Great Enlightenment
After asceticism and concentrating on
meditation and
anapanasati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the
Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of
self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted a little milk and rice pudding from a village girl named
Sujata, who wrongly believed him to be the spirit that had granted her a wish, such was his emaciated appearance. Then, sitting under a
pipal tree, now known as the
Bodhi tree in
Bodh Gaya, he vowed never to arise until he'd found the Truth.
Kaundinya and the other four companions, believing that he'd abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained
Enlightenment; according to some traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama, from then on, was known as the
Buddha or "Awakened One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One." Often, he's referred to in Buddhism as
Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."
At this point, he realized complete awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. These truths were then categorized into the
Four Noble Truths; the state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called
Nirvana. He then came to possess the
Nine Characteristics, which are said to belong to every Buddha.
According to one of the stories in the
Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the
Pāli and other, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach the
Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they wouldn't be able to see the true
dharma, which was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, a divine spirit,
Brahmā Sahampati, interceded and asked that he teach the
dharma to the world, as "there will be those who will understand the
Dharma". With his great compassion to all beings in the universe, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
Formation of the sangha
After becoming enlightened, two merchants whom the Buddha met, named
Tapussa and
Bhallika became the first lay disciples. They are given some hairs from the Buddha's head, which are believed to now be enshrined in the
Shwe Dagon Temple in
Rangoon,
Burma. The Buddha intended to visit
Asita, and his former teachers,
Alara Kalama and
Uddaka Ramaputta to explain his findings, but they'd already died.
The Buddha thus journeyed to Deer Park near [[Varanasi|]] (Benares) in northern India, he set in motion the
Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he'd previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first [[Sangha|]], the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of
Triple Gem (Buddha,
Dharma and
Sangha) was completed, with
Kaundinya becoming the first
stream-enterer. All five soon become arahants, and with the conversion of
Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of arahants swelled to 60 within the first two months. The conversion of the three Kassapa brothers and their 200, 300 and 500 disciples swelled the sangha over 1000, and they were dispatched to explain the dharma to the populace.
Ministry
For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the
Gangetic Plain, in what is now
Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and southern
Nepal, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people— from nobles to
outcaste street sweepers, mass murderers such as
Angulimala and cannibals such as
Alavaka. This extended to many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the
Sangha) to continue the dispensation after his
Parinirvāna (
Pāli: Parinibbāna) or "complete Nirvāna", and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no
caste structure. He was also subject to attack from opposition religious groups, including attempted murders and framings.
The sangha travelled from place to place in India, expounding the dharma. This occurred throughout the year, except during the four months of the
vassana rainy season. Due to the heavy amount of flooding, travelling was difficult, and ascetics of all religions in that time didn't travel, since it was more difficult to do so without stepping on submerged animal life, unwittingly killing them. During this period, the sangha would retreat to a monastery, public park or a forest and people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at
Varanasi when the sangha was first formed. After this, he travelled to
Rajagaha, the capital of
Magadha to visit King
Bimbisara, in accordance with his promise after enlightenment. It was during this visit that
Sariputta and
Mahamoggallana were converted by
Assaji, one of the first five disciples; they were to become the Buddha's two foremost disciples. The Buddha then spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in
Rajagaha, the capital of
Magadha. The monastery, which was of a moderate distance from the city centre was donated by Bimbisara.
Upon hearing of the enlightenment, Suddhodana dispatched royal delegations to ask the Buddha to return to
Kapilavastu. Nine delegations were sent in all, but the delegates joined the sangha and became arahants. Neglecting worldly matters, they didn't convey their message. The tenth delegation, lead by
Kaludayi, a childhood friend, resulted in the message being successfully conveyed as well as becoming an arahant. Since it wasn't the vassana, the Buddha agreed, and two years after his enlightenment, took a two month journey to Kapilavastu by foot, preaching the dharma along the way. Upon his return, the royal palace had prepared the midday meal, but since no specific invitation had come, the sangha went for an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana hastened to approach the Buddha, stating "Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms", to which the Buddha replied
Suddhodana invited the sangha back to the royal palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk, after which he became a
sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the
sangha. His cousins
Ananda and
Anuruddha were to become two of his five chief disciples. His son
Rahula also joined the sangha at the age of seven, and was one of the ten chief disciples. His half-brother
Nanda also joined the sangha and became an arahant. Another cousin
Devadatta also became a monk although he later became an enemy and tried to kill the Buddha on multiple occasions.
Of his disciples,
Sariputta,
Mahamoggallana,
Mahakasyapa,
Ananda and
Anuruddha comprised the five chief disciples. His ten foremost disciples were completed by the quintet of
Upali,
Subhoti,
Rahula,
Mahakaccana and
Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near
Vesali. Hearing of the impending death of Suddhodana, the Buddha went to his father and preached the dharma, and Suddhodana became an arahant prior to death. The death and cremation led to the creation of the order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns. His foster mother
Maha Pajapati approached him asking to join the sangha, but the Buddha refused, and began the journey from Kapilavastu back to Rajagaha. Maha Pajapati was so intent on renouncing the world that she lead a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, following the sangha to Rajagaha. The Buddha eventually accepted them five years after the formation of the
Sangha on the grounds that their capacity for enlightenment was equal to that of men, but he gave them certain additional rules (
Vinaya) to follow. This occurred after
Ananda interceded on their behalf.
Yasodhara also became a nun, with both becoming
arahants.
During his ministry,
Devadatta (who wasn't an arahant) frequently tried to undermine the Buddha. At one point Devadatta asked the Buddha to stand aside to let him lead the sangha. The Buddha declined, and stated that Devadatta's actions didn't reflect on the
Triple Gem, but on him alone. Devadatta conspired with Prince
Ajatasattu, son of Bimbisara, so that they'd kill and usurp the Buddha and Bimbisara respectively. Devadatta attempted three times to kill the Buddha. The first attempt involved the hiring of a group of archers, whom upon meeting the Buddha became disciples. A second attempt followed when Devadatta attempted to roll a large boulder down a hill. It hit another rock and splintered, only grazing the Buddha in the foot. A final attempt by plying an elephant with alcohol and setting it loose again failed. Failing this, Devadatta attempted to cause a schism in the sangha, by proposing extra restrictions on the
vinaya. When the Buddha declined, Devadatta started a breakaway order, criticising the Buddha's laxity. At first, he managed to convert some of the bhikkhus, but Sariputta and Mahamoggallana expounded the dharma to them and succeeded in winning them back.
When the Buddha reached the age of 55, he made Ananda his chief attendant.
Death
According to the
Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he'd soon enter
Parinirvana or the final deathless state abandoning the earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which, according to different translations, was either a mushroom delicacy or soft pork, which he'd received as an offering from a blacksmith named
Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant
Ānanda to convince
Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.
The Mahayana
Vimalakirti Sutra explains, in Chapter 3, that the Buddha doesn't really become ill or old but purposely presents such an appearance only to teach those born during the five defilements the impermanence and pain of defiled worlds and to strive for Nirvana.
"'Reverend Ánanda, the Tathágatas have the body of the Dharma - not a body that's sustained by material food. The Tathágatas have a transcendental body that has transcended all mundane qualities. There is no injury to the body of a Tathágata, as it's rid of all defilements. The body of a Tathágata is uncompounded and free of all formative activity. Reverend Ánanda, to believe there can be illness in such a body is irrational and unseemly!' Nevertheless, since the Buddha has appeared during the time of the five corruptions, he disciplines living beings by acting lowly and humble."[14]
Ananda protested Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of
Kuśināra (Pāli: Kusināra) of the
Mallas. Buddha, however, reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:
Bhikshus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. He then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." The Buddha's body was cremated and the
relics were placed in monuments or
stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The
Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in
Sri Lanka is the place where the
relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the [[Dipavamsa|]] and [[Mahavansa|]], the coronation of
Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to one Mahayana record in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.
At his death, the Buddha told his disciples to follow no leader, but to follow his teachings (
dharma). However, at the
First Buddhist Council,
Mahakasyapa was held by the sangha as their leader, with the two chief disciples
Mahamoggallana and
Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
Physical characteristics
Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we've mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics. A
kshatriya by birth, he'd military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "
the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he's by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an Arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that Buddha has to tell him to stop and reminded Vakkali to know Buddha through the Dhamma and not physical appearances.
Although the Buddha wasn't represented in human form until around the
1st century CE (see
Buddhist art), the physical characteristics of fully-enlightened Buddhas are described by the Buddha in the
Digha Nikaya's (D,I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by
Yasodhara to their son
Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn,
Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").
Teachings
Certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout the early texts, so most scholars conclude that the Buddha must at least have taught something of the kind:
Some scholars disagree, and have proposed many other theories.
Different Buddhist traditions attribute a variety of texts and teachings to the Buddha. See
Buddhist texts.
Language
It is unknown what language or languages the Buddha spoke, and no conclusive documentation has been made at this point. However, some modern scholars, primarily
philologists, believe it's most likely that the Buddha spoke some form or forms of a vulgate then current in eastern India,
Mâgadhî Prakrit.
The Buddha and Hinduism
Modern day
Hinduism didn't exist as such during Buddha's time. Various sects such as the
Vaishnavas,
Shaivas and
Shaktas held sway in different parts of India. The Buddha's teachings attracted a large number of people. These people didn't accept the strictures laid down by the various sects which would later group as Hinduism. Under Ashoka's patronage Buddhism reached almost every part of India and beyond.
Later in an attempt to check Buddhism's growth, the Buddha was cited as an incarnation of
Lord Vishnu in the
Dashavatara or the Ten Incarnations. Buddha is the ninth and the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu in
Kali Yuga. This inclusion affected the philosophy of many forms of Vaishnavite
philosophy,
literature,
art and
architecture, particularly in Orissa.
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