Siddhartha
Gautama (Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual
teacher from ancient India and the founder of Buddhism.
He is generally recognized by Buddhists as the Supreme
Buddha (Sammasambuddha) of our age. The time of his
birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century
historians date his lifetime from c. 563 BCE to 483
BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium
on this question, the majority of those scholars who
presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years
either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with
others supporting earlier or later dates.
Gautama, also known as Sakyamuni or Shakyamuni ("sage
of the Shakyas"), is the key figure in Buddhism,
and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules
were said to have been summarized after his death and
memorized by the sangha. Passed down by oral tradition,
the Tripitaka, the collection of teachings attributed
to Gautama by the Theravada, was committed to writing
about 400 years later. "Scholars are increasingly
reluctant to make unqualified claims about the historical
facts of the Buddha's life and teachings."
The
prime sources of information regarding Siddhartha Gautama's
life are the Buddhist texts. The Buddha and his monks
spent four months each year discussing and rehearsing
his teachings, and after his death his monks set about
preserving them. A council was held shortly after his
death, and another was held a century later. At these
councils the monks attempted to establish and authenticate
the extant accounts of the life and teachings of the
Buddha following systematic rules. They divided the
teachings into distinct but overlapping bodies of material,
and assigned specific monks to preserve each one. From
then on, the teachings were transmitted orally. From
internal evidence it seems clear that the oldest texts
crystallized into their current form by the time of
the second council or shortly after it. The scriptures
were not written down until three or four hundred years
after the Buddha's death. By this point, the monks had
added or altered some material themselves, in particular
magnifying the figure of the Buddha.
The
ancient Indians were not concerned with chronologies,
being far more focused on philosophy. The Buddhist texts
reflect this tendency, and we have a much clearer picture
of what the Buddha thought 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 substantial accounts exist. According to Michael
Carrithers, there are good reasons to doubt the traditional
account, though the outline of "birth, maturity,
renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching,
death" must be true. |
