Gautama Buddha - Biography
Gautama Buddha is known as the founder of Buddhism. He is
also known as Shakyamuni and Siddhartha Gautama.
Gautama Buddha was born in 563 BCE in Lumbini, Nepal. They
belong to Shakya clan. He was the son of the Shuddhodhana,
the king of Kapilavastu and his Queen Mayadevi. Some In
Hindu mythology Gautama is worship as the 9th avatar of
Vishnu. His birthday is celebrated as Buddha Purnima in
Indian subcontinent. The infant was given the name
Siddhartha. Mayadevi died seven days after the birth of
Siddhartha and so, he was brought up by his stepmother,
Gautami. He grew up in Kapilavastu. All scholars who read
the future, predicted that the prince would either become a
great king or a great holy man. So his father King
Shuddhodhana became extremely cautious as he wants his son
to become only a great king. He did not let Siddhartha even
move out of the palace to prevent him from knowledge of
human suffering. At the age of 16, his father arranged his
marriage to Yasodhara. She gave birth to a son, named
Rahula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a
prince in Kapilavastu.
At the age of 29, one day he
moved out of his palace in his charioot. For the first time,
he saw a very old man who could barely walk, a sick man who
was in a severe pain and a corpse. Before that he had no
prior knowledge about sickness, death and asceticism. His
charioteer explained him that pain and death are a part and
parcel of life. These depressed him, and he initially strove
to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of
an ascetic. These things changed the entire course of his
life.
At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace
and family to lead an ascetic life. Gautama initially went
to Rajagaha where he meets King Bimbisara. Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne of his
kingdom. But Siddhartha rejected the offer and promised to
visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining
enlightenment. Then Siddhartha reached Bodh Gaya and being
very exhausted, he took a seat under the shade of a peepal
tree and closed his eyes. This tress is now known as the
Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. He promised himself that he will
never move until he had found the truth. After 49 days of
meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained
Enlightenment and became known as the Buddha or "Awakened
One”. At the time of his enlightenment he gained complete
insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary
to eliminate it. He called these steps the "Four Noble
Truths". Buddha preached non-violence, peace and harmony.
Gautam Buddha shared his knowledge with five of his
followers who meditated with him. Together, they traveled
across the country teaching key principles of Buddhism. They
formed the first Buddhist sangha, the company of Buddhist
monks. For 45 years, Buddha spread his message of spiritual
life to all people. Gautam Buddha passed away in 483 BCE at
the age of 80 in Kushinagar.
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