For other uses see: Gotama

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Gautama Maharishi (Hindi: गौतम महर्षि, Malay: Kutama Maharisi, Tamil : Kautaman, Telugu: గౌతమ మహర్షి, Thai: โคตมะ) is one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi of the current Manvantara (seventh).^[1] He was one of the Maharishis of Vedic times, known to have been the discoverer of Mantras -- 'Mantra-drashtaa', in Sanskrit. The Rig Veda has several suktas (Sanskrit: 'hymns') that go with his name. He was the son of Rahugana, belonging to the line of Angiras. The Devi Bhagavatam says that the river Godavari is so named because of its association with Gautama. He had two sons by name Vamadeva and Nodhas, both themselves discoverers of Mantras. There is a hymn called Bhadra in the Sama Veda which again is ascribed to Gautama Maharishi.

Personal life[link]

His wife is Ahalya, herself the 'mind born daughter' (Sanskrit: manasa putri) of Creator Brahma. The Puranas speak of the story wherein it is described how Gautama won the hand of Ahalya by circumambulating the divine cow in order to fulfill the stipulation of Brahma that whoever first goes round the whole Earth will win the hand of Ahalya. The 'chief priest' (Sanskrit: Purohita) of King Janaka of Mithila, by name Shatananda, was the son of Gautama and Ahalya. Gautama's sixty-year long penance is mentioned in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. The Narada purana describes the story of the 12-year famine during which Gautama fed all the Rishis and saved them.

Gautama was one of the famous seven rishis termed Saptarshi. He was the progenitor of the Gautama gotra. He was the son of Rahugana.

With Bharadvaja, Gautama shares a common ancestry as they are both descended from Angirasa, and sometimes they are both bracketed together under the name Angirasa.

The sons of Gautama are Vamadeva and Nodha. The 4th book of the Rigveda is that of the Vamadeva Gautama family.

Legends[link]

Gautama is Relieved to Find That His Son Chirakarin Has Not Carried Out His Impulsive Order to Execute Ahalya-from Razmanama

The descent of Lord Shiva as Trimbakeshvar, that constitutes the source of the Jyotirlinga nearby, happened for the sake of Gautama. The Brahmanda Purana mentions that one of the sub-branches of the Raanaayani branch of Sama Veda was initiated by this Gautama. Some famous disciples of Gautama were Praachina-yogya, Shaandilya, Gaargya, and Bharadwaja.

According to the Ramayana, Rishi Gautama once went to take bath in the river Ganges early morning. The king of the Devas, Indra, was fascinated with Gautam's wife, Ahalya. Indra came in the form of Gautam and made love to Ahalya. As he was escaping, he was caught by Rishi Gautama who was returning to the Ashrama from his bath. Gautam cursed Ahalya and Indra both for this act. Ahalya was converted to stone, while Indra was cursed with one thousand female genitals (Sahasrayoni). Later, taking pity on both, Gautama converted both these curses to boons. Indra's female genitals (yonis) became eyes, and he came to be known as Sahasraaksha. As for Ahalya, Gautama granted her the boon that she would be brought back to human form by the touch of the feet of Lord Rama and would reunite with him.

Author of the earliest Dharma-sutra[link]

Gautama was also the author of Dharma-sutra known as Gautama Dharma sutra^[2][3] It is in fact the earliest Dharma Sutra. It contains 28 chapters with 1000 aphorisms. Almost every aspect of the observances of Hindu dharma - including the rules for the four Ashramas, the forty sanskāras, the four varnas, kingly duties, the punishments for various offences, the obsequies for the dead, do's and don'ts of food consumption, the dharmas of women, the rules for Praayaschitta (atonement for sins), and the rules of succession of property. In this sense Gautama's Dharma Shastra may perhaps be considered the oldest law book of the world.

Akṣapāda Gotama, the 2nd century CE founder of the school of philosophy that goes by the name of 'Nyaya' (Logic), is not to be confused with Gautama Maharishi.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Collection of stories on Gautama Maharshi: 1, 2, 3
• Gauthama Maharshi

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Gautama Buddha
A statue of the Buddha from Sarnath, 4th century CE
Born	c. 563 BCE [1] Lumbini (today in Nepal)
Died	c. 483 BCE (aged 80) or 411 and 400 BCE Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh (today in India)
Ethnicity	Shakya
Known for	Founder of Buddhism
Predecessor	Kassapa Buddha
Successor	Maitreya Buddha

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Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.^[2] The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." ^{[note 1]} Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि "Sage of the Śākyas"). The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.^[3]

The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE,^[4] but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE.^[5][6] UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha.^[1][7] There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapileswara, Orissa^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]} or Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.^[16][17]

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Biography[link]

Traditional biographies[link]

The primary sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are in a variety of different and sometimes conflicting traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā.^[18] Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE.^[18] The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.^[19] The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda sect is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.^[19] The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. Lastly, the Nidānakathā is from the Theravāda sect in Sri Lanka, composed in the 5th century CE by Buddhaghoṣa.^[20]

From canonical sources, the Jātaka tales, Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātaka tales retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts.^[21] The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Acchariyaabbhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".^[22] Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist.^{[23][Full citation needed]} British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure.^[24] Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.^[25]

Conception and birth[link]

Exact birthplace of Gautama Buddha in Lumbini.^[1] This is a holy shrine also for Hindus, who believe Buddha is the 9th of 10 Dashavataras of Vishnu^[26]

Various sites have been identified as possible places of Gautama Buddha's birth. UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha. There are other claims of Buddha's birth in Piprahwa in Uttar Pradesh, India; or Kapileswara in Orissa, India.^{[8][9][10][12][27][13][14][15]}and raised in the small kingdom or principality of Kapilavastu.^[28] According to the most traditional biography,^[which?] the Buddha's father was King Śuddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime; Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side,^[29] and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.^[30] Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.^[31] By traditional account,^[which?] this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.^[31] Kaundinya (Pali: Kondañña), the youngest, and later to be the first arahant other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.^[32]

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.^[33] At the time, many small city-states existed in Ancient India, called Janapadas. Republics and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as gana-sanghas.^[34] The Buddha's community does not seem to have had a caste system. It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.^[35] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the Shramana-type Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.^[36]