Gautama Buddha and the Rise of Buddhism

At a Glance

• Born Lumbini; Shakya clan (tradition 567 BC)
• Left home Age 29
• Enlightenment Age 35, Bodh-Gaya
• First sermon Sarnath
• Died Age 80, Kusinagara
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Religious Movements, Mahajanapadas and Foreign Invasions

Where Does It Fit?

This is the fourth topic of the category on religious movements. The previous topic covered Jainism, and this one covers the life of the Buddha. The next topic covers Buddhist doctrines and spread. Previous topic: Doctrines, Spread and Contribution of Jainism.

Who Was Gautama Buddha?

In short: a Shakya prince, contemporary of Mahavira, who renounced home and taught a way to end suffering.

Gautama Buddha, or Siddhartha, was a contemporary of Mahavira. According to tradition he was born in 567 BC in a Shakya kshatriya family in Lumbini in Nepal, near Kapilavastu, which is identified with Piprahwa in Basti district, close to the foothills of Nepal. His father seems to have been the elected ruler of Kapilavastu and headed the Shakya republican clan, and his mother was a princess from the Koshalan dynasty. Like Mahavira, Gautama belonged to a noble family, and born in a republic he inherited some egalitarian beliefs. From early childhood he showed a meditative bent. He married early but was not interested in married life, and was moved by the misery in the world.

How Did His Mission Unfold?

At the age of twenty-nine, like Mahavira, Gautama left home. He wandered for about seven years and then attained enlightenment at thirty-five at Bodh-Gaya under a pipal tree. From then he was called the Buddha, the enlightened one. He delivered his first sermon at Sarnath in Banaras. He undertook long journeys and carried his message far and wide. With a strong physique he could walk twenty to thirty km a day, and he kept wandering, preaching and meditating continually for forty years, resting only during the annual rainy season. During this long period he met staunch supporters of rival sects, including brahmanas, but defeated them in debates. His missionary activities did not discriminate between rich and poor, high and low, man and woman. He passed away at the age of eighty at Kusinagara, coterminous with the village of Kasia in Deoria district of eastern UP.

His acceptance by kings, merchants and republics owed much to the conditions described in Causes of the Rise of New Religious Movements in the Sixth Century BC. He taught in Pali, a form of Prakrit, a point developed in Doctrines and Features of Buddhism and Causes of its Spread.

What Made His Method Effective?

The Buddha was a practical teacher. He sought to fight evil by goodness and hatred by love and refused to be provoked by slander and abuse. He kept his poise and calm in difficult circumstances and met opponents with wit and presence of mind. A well-known story tells how an ignorant person abused him; the Buddha listened silently, then asked what happens to a present if the person to whom it is offered does not accept it. The man answered that it remains with the giver, and the Buddha replied that he did not accept the abuse. His style of debate rather than denunciation won over many opponents, including brahmanas, and his willingness to speak to everyone, rich or poor, and to admit women into the order, made the movement broad. The use of Pali, a form of Prakrit that began around 500 BC, meant that ordinary people understood him without a priest as intermediary.

Three features of his background also matter. He was a kshatriya, so he could address rulers as equals. He was born in a republic, so egalitarian ideas were part of his upbringing. And he lived in the region of Magadha, Koshala and Kaushambi where iron-based farming, cities and trade were growing, as noted in Second Urbanisation and Rural Economy in the Age of the Buddha.

What Is the Dating Problem?

As with Mahavira, the existence of the Buddha in the sixth century BC is not supported by archaeological evidence, because the cities he visited, Kaushambi, Shravasti, Varanasi, Vaishali and Rajgriha, did not assume any urban character until the fifth century BC. The traditional dates 567 BC to 487 BC are therefore a matter of tradition. The same objection appears in Vardhamana Mahavira and Jainism. The Buddha’s association with the kingdoms of Magadha, Koshala and Kaushambi appears in Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire. As an analytical point, a candidate who states the traditional dates but notes the archaeological caution gains marks for critical thinking.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Key person Founder of Buddhism
• Places Four sacred sites
• Dates Tradition versus evidence

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Buddhist doctrines and the causes of the spread of Buddhism. Next topic: Doctrines and Features of Buddhism and Causes of its Spread.

Key People and Terms

• Siddhartha Personal name
• Buddha Enlightened one
• Shakya Clan of the Buddha
• Kapilavastu Shakya capital
• Sarnath First sermon
• Kusinagara Place of death

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for life events and dating. These points add depth.

• Background Noble, republican
• Method Debate and travel
• Evidence Dating issue