Buddha’s Life

Buddha’s Life
Gautam Buddha was born as Siddhartha His father Shuddodhana was a leader of Shakya clan which was a republic with capital at Kapilvastu His mother Mahamaya was prices of another such principality called Devadaha His mother died soon after his birth and he wasraised by Prajapati Gautami
He was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BC and raised in Kapilavastu The main evidence that Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal is the Ashoka Pillar which is still at Lumbini
Buddha’s Birth is celebrated as Vesaka in some countries while in India, it is celebrated as Buddha Poornima, which falls in month of Vaishaka / April or May
He was married to Yashodhara at the age of 16 who gave birth to his son Rahula He left house at age of 29 years after encountering with human sufferings and due to the truth that human life is momentary and one has to suffer a lot The objective of leaving home was to overcome the sufferings due to old age, illness and death This leaving home is called the Great Departure or Mahaabhinashkramana
While wandering as ascetic he subjected himself to austerity But austerity did not bring him desired results He studied under two hermits Allara and Udaka to achieve knowledge, but that knowledge also did not satisfy him He did several experiments for five years Meanwhile, he concluded that neither the path of austerity nor the extreme luxury is correct way Finally, he started moving away from ascetics and imbibed himself into meditation
At the age of 35 years, while meditating under a Pipal tree on the bank of river Niranjana at Gaya, he came across the desired truth He now became Shakyamuni Buddha or the Buddha of Shakya Clan
His first followers were two merchants Tapussa and Bhallika With other followers he gave his first sermon dealing with Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path at Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi This first sermon was called Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta The four noble truths and Noble Eightfold Path became the core pillars of Buddhist teaching
Buddha and his teaching (Dhamma) along with the first union of his five disciples (Sanhga) formed the three gems (Triratna) of Buddhism
For rest of his life, Buddha travelled to many places and spread the Dhamma He spent most of his monastic life in Sravasti His parinirvāṇa happened at Kuśinagara at the age of 80 years