The Buddha is believed to be the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu because of His greatness, wisdom and compassion for all human beings.The birth of Pince Siddharth was a significant event in the history of mankind. He was born in 563 B.C. to King Suddhodana and Queen Maya in the royal grove of Lumbini between Devadaha and Kapilavastu.
He belonged to the Sakya clan of the Kshatriya caste of the solar race.. On the full moon day of Vaishakh 544 BC, Queen Mahamaya was journeying from the capital Kapilavastu to her parents in Devdaha. She stopped under the shade of two sal trees at Lumbini and gave birth to Buddha. Their kingdom Kapilvastu lay between the Nepalese foothills and the river Raptu.
The child was named Siddhartha. But even after enlightenment he was better known by his clan name— Gautam the Buddha. He was brought up by his mother’s sister, also his stepmother as his mother died soon giving him birth.
Gautam was a serious-minded child who instead of playing with other children often sat alone, lost in his own thoughts. Though Prince Gautam was a Kshatriya, he never hunted and instead tried to protect animals and birds. The King provided his son with all possible luxuries along with the best of education, taking care to protect him from any negative sight. In his youth, Prince Siddhartha married Princess Yasodhara who bore him a son, named Rahul. The king, had three palaces built for him, and at the age of sixteen gifted him forty thousand dancing girls. Yet thirteen years later Gautama left the mundane world in quest of, "The incomparable security of Nirvana free from birth and endless reincarnation."
During one of his excursions, Siddhartha sighted four incidences which made him aware of the harsh sufferings of life. He saw a frail man weary from age, a diseased man, a starving beggar and a dead body. The events forced him to search for the ultimate truth that eventually changed his life.
At the age of twenty-nine, he abandoned his home in search of the answers to his questions, leaving behind his wife and son, his father and a crown of power and glory. After leaving his homeland, Siddhartha made his way to the hermitage of renowned sages of that time. But found these teachers' range of knowledge was insufficient. He followed the path of self-mortification for six years but could not attain his desired goal.
Soon realizing the futility of such an endeavor which had weakened him, he took nourishing food. A woman Sujata offered him kheer and a grass cutter gave him a stack of grass to sleep on. Then he began intense meditation until he came to know the absolute truth. He meditated under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya at the edge of the river Niranjana, in the present state of Bihar in India.
At the end, in just one night of Vaishakh(C. 528 B.C.), Siddhartha came to know about his previous lives, the cycle of birth and rebirth and how to end infinite sorrow. Siddhartha became Buddha or the Enlightened One on his thirty-fifth birthday. He then spread the message of practicing ahimsa or non-violence and detachment from worldly desires, for attaining inner-peace and true knowledge for the next forty-five years. He taught as the Buddha or Shakyamuni (the sage of the Shakaya).
His teachings formed the basis of the Buddhism religion. At a time when people were losing faith in humanity and religion while sinning along with violence and greed was commonplace, Buddha brought with him peace for mankind. This incarnation reflects the intellectual and spiritual progress of human civilization.
From Gaya, the Buddha proceeded to Sarnath near Varanasi. Here five men became his disciples. Teaching them the truths he had discovered, he formed the first sangha or order of monks. Thereafter, he journeyed extensively, preaching truth and gained a large following comprising of scholars, sanyasis, kings and ministers. His day was divided between itinerant preaching in the morning and receiving visitors for discussion at night, with the afternoons reserved for private meditation.
He also went home as a bhikshuor monk. His father, stepmother, wife and son joined his sangha. In 483 BC, on the same day that he was born, and had attained enlightenment, the Buddha attained Nirvana, as he was freed from birth and endless reincarnation. His death or parinibbana occurred around the age of eighty
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