Besides "Buddha" and the name Siddhārtha Gautama (Pali: Siddhattha Gotama), he was also known by other names and titles, such as Shakyamuni ("Sage of the
Shakyas").
[note 5]
In the early texts, the Buddha also often refers to himself as
Tathāgata (Sanskrit: [tɐˈtʰaːɡɐtɐ]). The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (tathā-gata) or "one who has thus come" (tathā-āgata), possibly referring to the transcendental nature of the Buddha's spiritual attainment.
[17]
A common list of epithets are commonly seen together in the canonical texts, and depict some of his spiritual qualities:
[18]
- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.
- Lokavidu – Knower of the many worlds.
- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one
- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."
The Pali Canon also contains numerous other titles and epithets for the Buddha, including: All-seeing, All-transcending sage, Bull among men, The Caravan leader, Dispeller of darkness, The Eye, Foremost of charioteers, Foremost of those who can cross, King of the Dharma (
Dharmaraja), Kinsman of the Sun, Helper of the World (
Lokanatha), Lion (
Siha), Lord of the Dhamma, Of excellent wisdom (
Varapañña), Radiant One, Torchbearer of mankind, Unsurpassed doctor and surgeon, Victor in battle, and Wielder of power.
[19]
Historical person
Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most people accept that the Buddha lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during the
Mahajanapada era during the reign of
Bimbisara (
c. 558 – c.
491 BCE, or c. 400 BCE),
[20][21][22] the ruler of the
Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of
Ajatasatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of
Mahavira, the Jain
tirthankara. While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted, there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.
The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.
[note 4] These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.
[note 6]
Historical context
Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE)
According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in
Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in Kapilvastu, which may have been either in what is present-day
Tilaurakot, Nepal or
Piprahwa, India.
[note 1] According to Buddhist tradition, he obtained his enlightenment in
Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in
Sarnath, and died in
Kushinagar.
One of Gautama's usual names was "Sakamuni" or "Sakyamunī" ("Sage of the Shakyas"). This and the evidence of the early texts suggests that he was born into the
Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. The community was either a small republic, or an
oligarchy. His father was an elected chieftain, or oligarch. Bronkhorst calls this eastern culture "Greater Magadha" and notes that "Buddhism and Jainism arose in a culture which was recognized as being non-Vedic".
[60]
The Shakyas were an eastern sub-Himalayan ethnic group who were considered outside of the
Āryāvarta and of ‘mixed origin’ (
saṃkīrṇa-yonayaḥ, possibly part Aryan and part indigenous). The
laws of Manu treats them as being non
Aryan. As noted by Levman, "The
Baudhāyana-dharmaśāstra (1.1.2.13–4) lists all the tribes of Magadha as being outside the pale of the Āryāvarta; and just visiting them required a purificatory sacrifice as expiation" (In Manu 10.11, 22).
[61] This is confirmed by the
Ambaṭṭha Sutta, where the Sakyans are said to be "rough-spoken", "of menial origin" and criticised because "they do not honour, respect, esteem, revere or pay homage to Brahmans."
[62] Some of the non-Vedic practices of this tribe included incest (marrying their sisters), the worship of trees, tree spirits and nagas.
[63] According to Levman "while the Sakyans’ rough speech and Munda ancestors do not prove that they spoke a non-[Indo-Aryan] language, there is a lot of other evidence suggesting that they were indeed a separate ethnic (and probably linguistic) group."
[64] Christopher I. Beckwith identifies the Shakyas as
Scythians.
[65]
Apart from the
Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential
Śramaṇa schools of thought like
Ājīvika,
Cārvāka,
Jainism, and
Ajñana.
Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought. In this context, a śramaṇa refers to one who labors, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose). It was also the age of influential thinkers like
Mahavira,
[67] Pūraṇa Kassapa,
Makkhali Gosāla,
Ajita Kesakambalī,
Pakudha Kaccāyana, and
Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, as recorded in
Samaññaphala Sutta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with.
[note 8] Indeed,
Sariputta and
Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the sceptic; and the Pali canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought. There is also philological evidence to suggest that the two masters,
Alara Kalama and
Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. Thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. In an era where holiness of person was judged by their level of asceticism, Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism.
Historically, the life of the Buddha also coincided with the
Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley during the rule of
Darius I from about 517/516 BCE.
[76] This
Achaemenid occupation of the areas of
Gandhara and
Sindh, which was to last for about two centuries, was accompanied by the introduction of Achaemenid religions, reformed
Mazdaism or early
Zoroastrianism, to which Buddhism might have in part reacted.
[76] In particular, the ideas of the Buddha may have partly consisted of a rejection of the "absolutist" or "perfectionist" ideas contained in these Achaemenid religions.
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