Gautam Buddha

Light Of Asia

Gautam Buddha was a spiritual leader on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. This biography of Gautama Buddha provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.

Lord Buddha
Born in Lumbhini
NEPAL

Gautama Buddha was a spiritual leader on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived in eastern India/ Nepal during the 6th to 4th century B.C. Born as a prince, he spent his childhood in the lap of luxury. He lost his mother at an early age and his doting father tried his best to keep his young son away from the miseries of the world. When he was a little boy, some wise scholars predicted that he would become either a great king or a renowned spiritual leader. His father hoped that his son would one day become a great king. The prince was kept away from all forms of religious knowledge and had no idea about the concepts of old age, sickness and death. Once on a trip through the city on a chariot he witnessed an old man, a diseased person, and a corpse. This new knowledge about the sufferings in the world gave rise to several questions within his mind and the prince soon renounced all his worldly affairs in order to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Finally after years of rigorous contemplation and meditation, he found Enlightenment, and became the Buddha, meaning “awakened one" or "the enlightened one"

Several details regarding Gautama Buddha’s early life are shrouded in mystery. He is believed to 

have been born in Lumbini  in the 6th century B.C. His birth name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born as a prince. His father, King Suddhodana, was leader of a large clan called the Shakya and his mother was Queen Maya.

 His mother died shortly after his birth.

When Siddhartha was a little boy, learned seers prophesized that the boy would either be a great king 

or military leader or he would be a great spiritual leader. His father wanted Siddhartha to become a great king, so he raised him in the lap of luxury and shielded him from religious knowledge of any kind.

His father did not want Siddhartha to learn about human hardships and sufferings as he was afraid 

that such knowledge might propel the boy towards spirituality. So, he took great care to ensure that his son was raised in seclusion and kept away from knowledge of processes like aging and death.

Having spent all of his life confined to his palace, young Siddhartha grew curious and asked a 

charioteer to take him on a tour of the city. While travelling through the city he came across an old crippled man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy man with no home.

These sights shocked him as he had no prior knowledge about the concepts of sickness, old age, 

death, and asceticism. The charioteer explained to him that sickness, aging and death were a part and parcel of life, and that some people renounce their worldly life in order to seek answers to questions regarding human sufferings.

Siddhartha was very troubled after witnessing these sights. The opulence of palace life no longer 

interested him and he realized that he had to seek the ultimate truth.