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90-518: [REDACTED] Look up sa:महानामन् in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Mahanama may refer to Mahanama (arhat) , with Kaundinya , an early follower of Gautama Buddha Mahanama, father of Amrapali ( c.  6th-century BC ), the ancient Indian courtesan and follower of Gautama Buddha Mahanama of Anuradhapura (fl. 412–434), King of Anuradhapura Mahānāma, fifth century CE, author of

180-522: A Chakravarti (supreme king) or would renounce the world and become a supreme religious leader. Kaundinya was the only one that explicitly predicted that Siddhartha would renounce the world to become a Buddha, raising one finger and stating his prediction. Kaundinya thereafter vowed that he would follow when Siddhartha became an ascetic to learn from the future Buddha's findings. In the meantime, Suddhodana attempted to foil Kaundinya's prediction because he wanted his son to succeed him in ruling and expanding

270-614: A white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. Her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree . The earliest Buddhist sources state that the Buddha was born to an aristocratic Kshatriya (Pali: khattiya ) family called Gotama (Sanskrit: Gautama), who were part of

360-596: A Buddha that appealed to them, by eliding one that did not". The dates of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Within the Eastern Buddhist tradition of China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the traditional date for Buddha's death was 949 BCE, but according to the Ka-tan system of the Kalachakra tradition, Buddha's death was about 833 BCE. Buddhist texts present two chronologies which have been used to date

450-494: A claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" ( abhijñā ). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher. Traditional biographies of Gautama often include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of

540-634: 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. 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

630-513: A dramatic narrative about the life of the young Gotama as a prince and his existential troubles. They depict his father Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka). This is unlikely, as many scholars think that Śuddhodana was merely a Shakya aristocrat ( khattiya ), and that the Shakya republic was not a hereditary monarchy. The more egalitarian gaṇasaṅgha form of government, as

720-428: A flower)", "one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge". It is not a personal name, but a title for those who have attained bodhi (awakening, enlightenment). Buddhi , the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand", is the faculty which discerns truth ( satya ) from falsehood. The name of his clan

810-593: A historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes further, stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true. Legendary biographies like the Pali Buddhavaṃsa and the Sanskrit Jātakamālā depict the Buddha's (referred to as " bodhisattva " before his awakening) career as spanning hundreds of lifetimes before his last birth as Gautama. Many of these previous lives are narrated in

900-532: A political alternative to Indian monarchies, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas , where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism . The day of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak and the day he got conceived as Poson . Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he

990-554: A previous birth in which Kaundinya was a seafaring merchant who had lost all his wealth after a mid-ocean shipwreck . Kaundinya then went in search of the king of Kosala , who had a widely known reputation for philanthropy . However, the Kosalan monarch had left his kingdom and surrendered his kingdom to the neighbouring Kasi king. The king of Kosala had done so to avert bloodshed, since the Kasi king had threatened to invade. Nevertheless,

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1080-668: A seat on the ground. However, the ascetics were soon won over when they sensed that the Buddha had changed since they left him. The Buddha preached the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta , which deals with the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path , the core pillars of Buddhist teaching regarding the intrinsic suffering of existence and how to deal with it. Kaundinya reached the sotāpanna stage of arahanthood upon hearing this, becoming

1170-494: A silver stupa . In line with the Buddhist doctrine of rebirth , the previous existences of Kaundinya are described in Buddhist texts. They repeatedly show a theme of Kaundinya having displayed religious inclinations in previous rebirths, many of which involve experiences with previous rebirths of the Buddha and his other leading disciplines. This is a common theme among the leading disciples, all of whom had many encounters with

1260-548: A variant on this reincarnation. It states that Kaundinya was the first person to offer a meal to Padumuttara and became a deva in the Tusita world. It further says and that during the time of Vipassī Buddha , Kaundinya was a householder named Mahakala who offered the Buddha the first fruits of his field in their nine stages of production. The Mahavastu gives another account explaining the origin of Kaundinya's vow to attain arahanthood in his final rebirth. This account asserts that he

1350-664: Is attributed was to spend more quiet time in religious practice, which was rendered difficult due to the attention that the sangha gained from the public. According to the Samyutta Nikaya , Kaundinya retired to the banks of the Mandakini Lake in the Chaddanta forest, said to be the abode of the paccekabuddhas . It was said that the 8000 elephants in the forest took turns to catering for his needs. Kaundinya only left once, to farewell Gautama Buddha. Kaundinya kissed

1440-443: Is believed to have been born on a full moon day. According to later biographical legends, during the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode, analyzed the child for the "32 marks of a great man" and then announced that he would either become a great king ( chakravartin ) or a great religious leader. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read

1530-513: Is commonly seen together in canonical texts and depicts some of his perfected qualities: 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

1620-671: Is more prominent in Southeast and East Asia. According to Donald Lopez Jr., "... he tended to be known as either Buddha or Sakyamuni in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, and as either Gotama Buddha or Samana Gotama ('the ascetic Gotama') in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia." Buddha , "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One", is the masculine form of budh (बुध् ), "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again", "to awaken" " 'to open up' (as does

1710-577: Is now Bihar (the location of Pataliputra )". The Ganges basin was densely forested, and the population grew when new areas were deforestated and cultivated. The society of the middle Ganges basin lay on "the outer fringe of Aryan cultural influence", and differed significantly from the Aryan society of the western Ganges basin. According to Stein and Burton, "[t]he gods of the brahmanical sacrificial cult were not rejected so much as ignored by Buddhists and their contemporaries." Jainism and Buddhism opposed

1800-517: Is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa , Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India, or Tilaurakot , in present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 24 kilometres (15 mi) apart. In the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: "...this is where

1890-560: The Mahāvaṃsa Bibiladeniye Mahanama (born 1989), Buddhist monk and composer Roshan Mahanama (born 1966), Sri Lankan cricketer Shantha Bandara (1951–1990), alias Mahanama, Sri Lankan politician Mahanama College in Colombo See also [ edit ] " Mah Nà Mah Nà ", a popular song Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

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1980-467: The Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra , and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa . Scholars are hesitant to make claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most of them accept that the Buddha lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during

2070-866: The Ariyapariyesana Sutta ( MN 26), the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta ( DN 16), the Mahāsaccaka-sutta (MN 36), the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123), which 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. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as

2160-693: The Bodhi tree , with the inscription Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho ("The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni"). The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts , found in Gandhara (corresponding to modern northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) and written in Gāndhārī , they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. Early canonical sources include

2250-597: The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path , a training of the mind that includes ethical training and kindness toward others , and meditative practices such as sense restraint , mindfulness , dhyana (meditation proper). Another key element of his teachings are the concepts of the five skandhas and dependent origination , describing how all dharmas (both mental states and concrete 'things') come into being, and cease to be, depending on other dharmas , lacking an existence on their own svabhava ). A couple of centuries after his death, he came to be known by

2340-595: The Gangetic plains area of what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to spread the Dhamma . Kaundinya helped to convert many followers to the Buddha's Dispensation , the foremost being his nephew Punna , born to his sister Mantani . This occurred while the Buddha was at Rajagaha , where he had immediately gone after first communicating his Realisation in order to honour his promise to show his teachings to King Bimbisara . In

2430-737: The Jatakas , which consists of 547 stories. The format of a Jataka typically begins by telling a story in the present which is then explained by a story of someone's previous life. Besides imbuing the pre-Buddhist past with a deep karmic history, the Jatakas also serve to explain the bodhisattva's (the Buddha-to-be) path to Buddhahood. In biographies like the Buddhavaṃsa , this path is described as long and arduous, taking "four incalculable ages" ( asamkheyyas ). In these legendary biographies,

2520-628: The Mahajanapada , and during the reign of Bimbisara (his friend, protector, and ruler of the Magadha empire); and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatashatru (who was the successor of Bimbisara), thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira , the Jain tirthankara . There is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies, as "Buddhist scholars [...] have mostly given up trying to understand

2610-582: The Pāli Canon . The exact meaning of the term is unknown, but it is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" ( tathā-gata ), "one who has thus come" ( tathā-āgata ), or sometimes "one who has thus not gone" ( tathā-agata ). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena . A tathāgata is "immeasurable", "inscrutable", "hard to fathom", and "not apprehended". A list of other epithets

2700-607: The Sakyas in Kapilavastu . There Kaundinya was the only scholar who unequivocally predicted upon the birth of Prince Siddhartha that the prince would become an enlightened Buddha , and vowed to become his disciple. Kaundinya and four colleagues followed Siddhartha in six years of ascetic practice, but abandoned him in disgust after Siddhartha gave up the practice of self-mortification. Upon enlightenment, Siddhartha gave his first Dhamma talk or sermon to Kaundinya's group. Kaundinya

2790-524: The Shakyas , a tribe of rice-farmers living near the modern border of India and Nepal. His father Śuddhodana was "an elected chief of the Shakya clan ", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. The early Buddhist texts contain very little information about the birth and youth of Gotama Buddha. Later biographies developed

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2880-536: The Theragatha is attributed to him. The first of these is said to have been recited by Sacca in praise of Kaundinya, after Kaundinya had preached the Four Noble Truths to Sacca. In other verses, Kaundinya is shown admonishing monks who had fallen into ways contrary to Buddhist teaching. Kaundinya also acknowledged his own struggles against Mara , the demon who attempted to prevent the enlightenment of

2970-457: The 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism . According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini , in what is now Nepal , to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy , asceticism , and meditation, he attained nirvana at Bodh Gaya in what is now India . The Buddha then wandered through

3060-416: The Buddha and the sangha and wished that he was to be the first disciple of a future Buddha. Padumuttara is said to have prophesied the fulfilment of this in the era of Gautama Buddha, 1000 aeons into the future. After the passing of Padmuttara Buddha, Kaundinya constructed a jewelled chamber inside the cetiya in which the relics were stored and also made an offering of jewel festoons. The Apadana offers

3150-475: 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

3240-556: The Buddha's birthplace, calling him the Buddha Shakyamuni ‍ ( Brahmi script : 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī , "Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas"). Śākyamuni, Sakyamuni, or Shakyamuni ( Sanskrit : शाक्यमुनि , [ɕaːkjɐmʊnɪ] ) means "Sage of the Shakyas ". Tathāgata ( Pali ; Pali: [tɐˈtʰaːɡɐtɐ] ) is a term the Buddha commonly used when referring to himself or other Buddhas in

3330-441: The Buddha's feet and stroked them with his hands. He advised his disciples not to mourn him before returning to the forest to pass away the following morning. He was cremated on a large sandalwood pyre which was constructed with the help of the elephants, and the ceremony was presided over by Anuruddha , one of the ten chief disciples and five hundred other monks. The ashes were later taken to Veluvana , where they were enshrined in

3420-415: The Buddha's lifespan even later as 448 – 368 BCE. Most historians in the early 20th century use the earlier dates of 563 – 483 BCE, differing from the long chronology based on Greek evidence by just three years. More recently, there are attempts to put his death midway between the long chronology's 480s BCE and the short chronology's 360s BCE, so circa 410 BCE. At a symposium on this question held in 1988,

3510-638: The Buddha's lifetime is accepted (but he also points out that such a text was originally intended more as hagiography than as an exact historical record of events). John S. Strong sees certain biographical fragments in the canonical texts preserved in Pāli, as well as Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit as the earliest material. These include texts such as the "Discourse on the Noble Quest" ( Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ) and its parallels in other languages. No written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or from

3600-623: The Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu . In the Sandaka Sutta , the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made

3690-498: The Buddha's teachings were "also a response to the historical changes of the time, among which were the emergence of the state and the growth of urban centres". While the Buddhist mendicants renounced society, they lived close to the villages and cities, depending for alms-givings on lay supporters. According to Dyson, the Ganges basin was settled from the north-west and the south-east, as well as from within, "[coming] together in what

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3780-527: The Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as Jataka tales , and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahayana sutras . Buddhism spread beyond the Indian subcontinent, evolving into a variety of traditions and practices, represented by Theravada and Mahayana. While Buddhism declined in India, and mostly disappeared after the 8th century CE due to a lack of popular and economic support, Buddhism

3870-648: The Buddha, sage of the Śākyas ( Śākyamuni ), was born." According to later biographies such as the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara , his mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a princess from Devdaha , the ancient capital of the Koliya Kingdom (what is now the Rupandehi District of Nepal ). Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that

3960-428: The Buddha. Kaundinya's previous rebirths are described in many accounts in Buddhist literature. These accounts show that he had vowed in previous existences to be the first to comprehend the dharma when it was to be proclaimed by an enlightened Buddha. They also document that the seeds of his relationship with Gautama Buddha as the first arahant were sown in previous existences in which they had crossed paths. Kaundinya

4050-540: The Buddha. Kaundinya was also praised in the Udana by the Buddha, who observed his deliverance from the destructiveness of craving. After a period within the sangha , Kaundinya retired to the Himalayas for the last twelve years of his life. This is attributed to two reasons in Buddhist literature. The first reason was that Kaundinya considered his presence to be a source of inconvenience for Sariputra and Moggallana ,

4140-464: The Kasi king wanted to capture the Kosalan king and decreed a large reward for it. The Kosalan king (Gautama Buddha in a previous rebirth) tied himself and asked the merchant to deliver him to Kasi so that the merchant would no longer be in poverty. However, when the Kasi king heard this, he withdrew his army and restored the Kosalan monarchy. The Kosalan king subsequently bestowed wealth on the merchant. Gautama Buddha cited this occurrence to illustrate how

4230-645: The Pali Jataka Commentary ( Jātakaṭṭhakathā ) and the Sanskrit Jātakamālā is how the Buddha-to-be had to practice several "perfections" ( pāramitā ) to reach Buddhahood. The Jatakas also sometimes depict negative actions done in previous lives by the bodhisattva, which explain difficulties he experienced in his final life as Gautama. According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini , now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in Kapilavastu . The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu

4320-551: The Pāli suttas have retained very archaic place-names, syntax, and historical data from close to the Buddha's lifetime, including the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta which contains a detailed account of the Buddha's final days. Hinüber proposes a composition date of no later than 350–320 BCE for this text, which would allow for a "true historical memory" of the events approximately 60 years prior if the Short Chronology for

4410-569: The Shakyas"). Another one of his edicts ( Minor Rock Edict No. 3 ) mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts (in Buddhism, "dhamma" is another word for "dharma"), establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era . These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon . "Sakamuni" is also mentioned in a relief of Bharhut , dated to c.  100 BCE , in relation with his illumination and

4500-552: 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. Another epithet, used at inscriptions throughout South and Southeast Asia, is Maha sramana , "great sramana " (ascetic, renunciate). On the basis of philological evidence, Indologist and Pāli expert Oskar von Hinüber says that some of

4590-431: The ascetic life, with the approval of Suddhodana, who was worried about Siddhartha's safety. They were known as "the group of five" or "the group of five fortunate ones". After Siddhartha had mastered all the teachings of Āḷāra Kālāma and then Uddaka Rāmaputta , he left and began practicing self mortification along with Kaundinya and his four colleagues at Uruvela . Kaundinya and his colleagues attended to Siddhartha in

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4680-429: The bodhisattva goes through many different births (animal and human), is inspired by his meeting of past Buddhas , and then makes a series of resolves or vows ( pranidhana ) to become a Buddha himself. Then he begins to receive predictions by past Buddhas. One of the most popular of these stories is his meeting with Dipankara Buddha , who gives the bodhisattva a prediction of future Buddhahood. Another theme found in

4770-667: The bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb. The sources which present a complete picture of the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies from a later date. These include the Buddhacarita , Lalitavistara Sūtra , Mahāvastu , and the Nidānakathā . Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by

4860-605: The differences in the accounts, all of them agree on his words when announcing his vow: By the merit I have acquired by doing this service of attending on you, may I be the first of all to realise the dharma when proclaimed by an Exalted One. May I not crave for gain and honour. May I wish only for a solitary bed and begging bowl. May I lay aside my body among the cascades and forest glades, dying all alone. Numerous previous rebirths in which Kaundinya and Gautama Buddha crossed paths are also noted in Pali literature. The Mahavastu cites

4950-403: The enlightened Gautama Buddha, he sought to find his former teachers Arada Kalama and Uddaka Rāmaputta in order to teach them. Realising that they had died, the Buddha decided to find Kaundinya and his colleagues to share his teachings. Kaundinya and his companions were skeptical of Gautama Buddha after his abandonment of asceticism, and initially refused to acknowledge his presence, except to offer

5040-401: The first human to comprehend the teachings. The Buddha acknowledged this by remarking "annasi vata bho Kondanno (meaning "you have realised, Kondanna"). Five days later, hearing the subsequent Anattalakkhana Sutta regarding anatta , Kaundinya gained full arahantship. Kaundinya thus became the first arahant. Having realised arahanthood, he requested the Buddha for permission to retire from

5130-419: The flourish of Brahminism, as Greater Magadha . The Buddha's tribe of origin, the Shakyas, seems to have had non-Vedic religious practices which persist in Buddhism, such as the veneration of trees and sacred groves, and the worship of tree spirits (yakkhas) and serpent beings (nagas). They also seem to have built burial mounds called stupas. Tree veneration remains important in Buddhism today, particularly in

5220-444: The future Gautama Buddha in previous lives, and is consistent with the Buddhist concepts of cause and effect and karma . In Pali language Theravada literature, Kaundinya is said to have begun striving for enlightenment in the time of Padumuttara Buddha , the 13th Buddha . The son of a wealthy householder at Hamsavati , Kaundinya saw the monk who was the first disciple of Padmuttara Buddha. Kaundinya's previous rebirth bestowed on

5310-423: The group of scholars who were invited to the royal court to predict the destiny of Crown Prince Siddhartha at his naming ceremony. Siddhartha was the first child born to Suddhodana and Queen Maya in twenty years of marriage and much interest surrounded the infant from royal society and the public alike. All the other scholars raised two fingers and offered a twofold prediction: That Siddhartha would either become

5400-479: The historical person." The earliest versions of Buddhist biographical texts that we have already contain many supernatural, mythical, or legendary elements. In the 19th century, some scholars simply omitted these from their accounts of the life, so that "the image projected was of a Buddha who was a rational, socratic teacher—a great person perhaps, but a more or less ordinary human being". More recent scholars tend to see such demythologisers as remythologisers, "creating

5490-441: The hope that he would become enlightened through self-mortification. These involved self-deprivation of food and water, and exposing themselves to the elements to near-death for six years, at which point Siddhartha rejected self-mortification. Kaundinya and his colleagues became disillusioned, believing Siddhartha to have become a glutton and moved away to Sarnath near Varanasi to continue their practices. After Siddhartha became

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5580-485: The kingdom. Suddhodana made intricate arrangements to shield Siddhartha from all worldly suffering in order to steer his mind away from spiritual matters, pampering him with all the material luxury and sense pleasures that he could find. However, Siddhartha finally persuaded his father to allow him out of the palace to meet his subjects. Suddhodana agreed, but attempted to present a sanitised image of human existence by ordering beggars, old people and sick people to be kept from

5670-438: The lifetime of the Buddha. The "long chronology", from Sri Lankese chronicles, states the Buddha was born 298 years before Asoka 's coronation and died 218 years before the coronation, thus a lifespan of about 80 years. According to these chronicles, Asoka was crowned in 326 BCE, which gives Buddha's lifespan as 624 – 544 BCE, and are the accepted dates in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. Alternatively, most scholars who also accept

5760-492: The long chronology but date Asoka's coronation around 268 BCE (based on Greek evidence) put the Buddha's lifespan later at 566 – 486 BCE. However, the "short chronology", from Indian sources and their Chinese and Tibetan translations, place the Buddha's birth at 180 years before Asoka's coronation and death 100 years before the coronation, still about 80 years. Following the Greek sources of Asoka's coronation as 268 BCE, this dates

5850-489: The lower Indo-Gangetic Plain , teaching and building a monastic order . Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached parinirvana ("final release from conditioned existence"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to freedom from ignorance , craving , rebirth, and suffering . His core teachings are summarized in

5940-473: The majority of those who presented gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians. The dating of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru also depends on the long or short chronology. In the long chrononology, Bimbisara reigned c.  558  – c.  492 BCE , and died 492 BCE, while Ajatashatru reigned c.  492  – c.  460 BCE . In

6030-425: The meantime, Kaundinya returned to his home town of Kapilavastu and ordained Punna. Punna attained arahantship and 500 of his clansmen become monks. Punna was later acknowledged by the Buddha as the foremost of the disciples in preaching skills. As one of the senior monks of Gautama Buddha, some of Kaundinya's writings and discourses to other monks are recorded in the literature. A poem consisting of sixteen verses in

6120-567: The names of their house priests. While the term Buddha is used in the Agamas and the Pali Canon, the oldest surviving written records of the term Buddha is from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, when several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned c.  269 –232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism. Ashoka 's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as

6210-424: The one or two centuries thereafter. But from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned c. 268 to 232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism. Particularly, Ashoka 's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the Buddha Shakyamuni ( Brahmi script : 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī , "Buddha, Sage of

6300-477: The poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna / Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled

6390-490: The practice of venerating Bodhi trees. Likewise, yakkas and nagas have remained important figures in Buddhist religious practices and mythology. The Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential śramaṇa schools of thought like Ājīvika , Cārvāka , Jainism , and Ajñana . The Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought. In this context, a śramaṇa refers to one who labours, toils or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose). It

6480-441: The sceptic. The Pāli canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought. There is philological evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Rāmaputta , were 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

6570-423: The short chronology Bimbisara reigned c.  400 BCE , while Ajatashatru died between c.  380 BCE and 330 BCE. According to historian K. T. S. Sarao , a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was c.477–397 BCE, it can be estimated that Bimbisara was reigning c.457–405 BCE, and Ajatashatru was reigning c.405–373 BCE. According to the Buddhist tradition, Shakyamuni Buddha

6660-495: The social stratification of Brahmanism, and their egalitarism prevailed in the cities of the middle Ganges basin. This "allowed Jains and Buddhists to engage in trade more easily than Brahmans, who were forced to follow strict caste prohibitions." In the earliest Buddhist texts, the nikāyas and āgamas , the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience ( sabbaññu ) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent ( lokottara ) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo , ideas of

6750-402: The streets. Despite this, Siddhartha saw the four sights which prompted him to reevaluate his view of the world. When Siddhartha was aged 29, he renounced the world to become a samaṇa (ascetic). Kaundinya, along with Bhaddiya , Vappa , Mahanama and Assaji , variously described as four of the other scholars who had read Siddhartha's future or the sons of those scholars, followed him into

6840-464: The ties between living beings extended into their previous existences. In another rebirth described in the Mahavastu, Kaundinya and his four colleagues who were to become the first bhikkhus were seafaring merchants under the command of the future Gautama Buddha. The future Buddha sacrificed himself to save them from an ocean death. The Divyavadana describes two further rebirths of Kaundinya. In one he

6930-622: The title Buddha , which means 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'. 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 . Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma , biographies of

7020-531: The title Mahanama . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahanama&oldid=1192961332 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Kaundinya Kaundinya first came to prominence Kaundinya .l court scholar of King Suddhodana of

7110-406: The two chief disciples of The Buddha. As the seniormost member of the sangha, Kaundinya lead the monks on the alms-round, but during Dhamma talks, the two chief disciples sat on either side of the Buddha and Kaundinya behind them. The two chief disciples were uncomfortable sitting in front of Kaundinya, so he decided to solve the problem by absenting himself. The other reason to which Kaundinya's leave

7200-469: The world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma". As noted by Andrew Skilton, the Buddha was often described as being superhuman, including descriptions of him having the 32 major and 80 minor marks of a "great man", and the idea that the Buddha could live for as long as an aeon if he wished (see DN 16). The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing

7290-401: The world, which was granted with the words "ehi bhikkhu". Kaundinya thus became the first bhikkhu (monk) in the Buddha's dispensation, known as the sangha . Later, the assembly at Jetavana declared him to be the foremost among the first bhikkhus and the disciples of long standing. Following the emergence of the sangha, Kaundinya and the other monks travelled with the Buddha on foot through

7380-688: Was Gautama (Pali: Gotama). His given name, "Siddhārtha" (the Sanskrit form; the Pali rendering is "Siddhattha"; in Tibetan it is "Don grub"; in Chinese "Xidaduo"; in Japanese "Shiddatta/Shittatta"; in Korean "Siltalta") means "He Who Achieves His Goal". The clan name of Gautama means "descendant of Gotama", "Gotama" meaning "one who has the most light", and comes from the fact that Kshatriya clans adopted

7470-670: Was a Shakya , a sub-Himalayan ethnicity and clan of north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The Shakya community was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. The community, though describable as a small republic, was probably an oligarchy , with his father as the elected chieftain or oligarch. The Shakyas were widely considered to be non- Vedic (and, hence impure) in Brahminic texts; their origins remain speculative and debated. Bronkhorst terms this culture, which grew alongside Aryavarta without being affected by

7560-528: Was a bird named Uccangama. In another, he was a tigress and Gautama Buddha another tiger. The future Buddha sacrificed his own life by offering himself as meat to the hungry tigress so that it would not eat its own cubs. The "Five Hundred Disciples" (eighth) chapter of the Mahayana Lotus Sutra predicts that in the future he will become a Buddha named Universal Brightness. A hand-balancing asana in modern yoga as exercise , Koundinyasana ,

7650-420: Was a potter at Rajagaha in a previous existence. A Paccekabuddha who was suffering from biliousness sought shelter in the potter's hut and was cured. In time, several more Paccekabuddhas came to visit the hut to inquire about their colleagues health status. The potter asked which of them had realised the dharma first, to which the patient answered in the affirmative. Thereupon the potter made his vow. Despite

7740-474: Was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira , Pūraṇa Kassapa , Makkhali Gosāla , Ajita Kesakambalī , Pakudha Kaccāyana , and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta , as recorded in Samaññaphala Sutta , with whose viewpoints the Buddha must have been acquainted. Śāriputra and Moggallāna , two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta,

7830-458: Was born before the time of Siddhartha to a wealthy family in a town named in hassan, near Kapilavastu , and was known by his family name. When he was growing up, he mastered the three Vedas at a young age and excelled in the science of physiognomy (lakhana-manta). Kaundinya became a young vishwakarma Brahmin scholar in Kapilavastu in the Sakya kingdom of King Suddhodana . He was one among

7920-589: Was judged by their level of asceticism, Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism. Coningham and Young note that both Jains and Buddhists used stupas, while tree shrines can be found in both Buddhism and Hinduism. The rise of Buddhism coincided with the Second Urbanisation , in which the Ganges Basin was settled and cities grew, in which egalitarianism prevailed. According to Thapar,

8010-539: Was named for him. It is recorded in the 20th century among the asanas taught by Pattabhi Jois in Mysore in his Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and B. K. S. Iyengar in his 1966 book Light on Yoga . Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama , most commonly referred to as the Buddha ( lit.   ' the awakened one ' ), was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia , during

8100-415: Was the first to comprehend the teaching and thus became the first bhikkhu and arahant . Kaundinya was aware as the foremost of the five initial disciples of the Buddha and later travelled around India spreading the dharma. Among his notable converts was his nephew Puṇṇa , who the Buddha acknowledged as the foremost preacher of the Dhamma. In his final years, he retreated to the Himalayas and predeceased

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