Artist : khushi chandra
Gautam Buddha was a contemporary of Mahavira. Gautam Buddha's royal name was Suddhartha. He was the son of Suddhodhana, the Chies of Sakya clan of Kapilvastu in the Nepal Tarai Area. He was born in 566 B.C. in the village of Lumbini a fee miles from Kapilvastu. He spent most of his time meditating over the various human problems. He concentrated on problems of birth, old age, sickness, sorrow and impurity. He gave up penance and took bowl of milk offered to him by village girl. He then sat under pipal tree and said " Let my skin, my nerves and bones waste away, let my life hood dry up, I will not leave this posture until I have perfect attainment."
He remained in meditation for seven days and seven nights and was ultimately enlightened on the eight day. On the day of enlightenment he came to known as Buddha or Tathagat. Siddhartha discovered the Law of Causation, a cycle of twelve causes and effects conditioning the universe. This Law had not been thought of by any philosopher before him.
After his enlightenment Gautama decided to preach the knowledge to the people for their benefits. First of all, he went to Banaras and Sarnath which were great centres of learning in those days. At Sarnath he preached to the five Monks who had left in despair. These five Monks were greatly impressed by his teachings and became his disciples again. Thus, the foundation of the Buddha Sangha was laid. Then Buddha visited Rajgriha, where he was accorded a warm welcome by the King Bimbsara. From here he moved to Saravasti, the capital of Kosala. At kosala, King Prasenjit became his disciple. Then Gautam proceeded to Kapilvastu where large number of people became his disciples, including his wife, Yashodhara and his son Rahul. Buddha concentrated his activities in Magadha and preached his message to a large number of people.
The other places where his message was received with great admiration were Kashi, Kosala, Vajji, Avanti etc. Buddha continued to preach hi message till his death in 487 B.C. His last words were " Now, Monks I have nothing more to tell you but that all that is composed is liable to decay, strive after salvation energetically."
