The Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama,[lower-alpha 5] most commonly referred to as the Buddha ('the awakened'),[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 7] was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE[4][5][6][lower-alpha 3] and founded Buddhism.

Quick facts: The Buddha, Personal, Born, Died, Resting pla... ▼

The Buddha
Statue of the Buddha, preaching his first sermon at Sarnath. Gupta period, c. 5th century CE. Archaeological Museum Sarnath (B(b) 181).[lower-alpha 1]
Personal
Born	Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 BCE or 480 BCE Lumbini, Shakya Republic (according to Buddhist tradition)[lower-alpha 2]
Died	c. 483 BCE or 400 BCE (aged 80)[1][2][3][lower-alpha 3] Kushinagar, Malla republic (according to Buddhist tradition)[lower-alpha 4]
Resting place	Cremated; ashes divided among followers
Spouse	Yashodhara
Children	Rāhula
Parents	Śuddhodana (father) Maya (mother)
Known for	Founding Buddhism
Other names	Gautama Buddha Shakyamuni ("Sage of the Shakyas")
Senior posting
Predecessor	Kassapa Buddha
Successor	Maitreya
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	Siddhārtha Gautama
Pali name
Pali	Siddhattha Gotama

Part of a series on
Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering Not-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist Paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddha Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
Religion portal
v t e

According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal,[lower-alpha 2] to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic (Sanskrit: śramaṇa).[7][lower-alpha 8] After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism,[8] leading to Nirvana,[lower-alpha 9] that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes ethical training and meditative practices such as sense restraint, kindness toward others, mindfulness, and jhana/dhyana (meditation proper). He died in Kushinagar, attaining parinirvana.[lower-alpha 4] The Buddha has since been venerated by numerous religions and communities across Asia.

A couple of centuries after his death, he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'.[9] His teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice, and the Sutta Piṭaka, a compilation of teachings based on his discourses. These were passed down in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects through an oral tradition.[10][11] Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma, biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahayana sutras.[12][13]