Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Buddha explained
This chapter describes the life and teachings of Buddha (Gautama), a mortal sage born about 1000 BCE, son of a king, who renounced his royal life to meditate and later taught at Benares.
What happens
This chapter describes the life and teachings of Buddha (Gautama), a mortal sage born about 1000 BCE, son of a king, who renounced his royal life to meditate and later taught at Benares. His doctrines spread across India and beyond, rejecting the Vedas, caste distinctions, and bloody sacrifices, while establishing a priesthood that begged for maintenance. Despite initial tolerance, Buddhism was later persecuted in India but spread to China, Corea, Japan, and Java.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Transmission and Education
Buddha's teachings spread rapidly across India and later to China, Corea, Japan, and Java, illustrating the transmission of religious and cultural ideas.
Characters to notice
- Buddha
The mortal sage Gautama, also called Sakyasinha and Buddha, who renounced his royal life to meditate and teach.
Key passages
“Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, is said by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose name was Gautama, called also by the complimentary epithets of Sakyasinha, the Lion, and Buddha, the Sage.”
According to his followers, Buddha was a human sage named Gautama, also honored as Sakyasinha (the Lion) and Buddha (the Sage), though the Vedas describe him as a deceptive incarnation of Vishnu.
Introduces Buddha's identity and dual perception.
“He was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of the country he was, a few days after his birth, presented before the altar of a deity, the image is said to have inclined its head as a presage of the future greatness of the newborn prophet.”
Born a prince, shortly after birth he was brought to a deity's altar, and the statue reportedly bowed its head, foreshadowing his future importance.
Describes a miraculous sign at Buddha's birth.
“The Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the religious observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus. They also reject the distinction of castes, and prohibit all bloody sacrifices, and allow animal food.”
Buddhists completely deny the Vedas' authority and Hindu rituals, reject caste divisions, forbid blood sacrifices, but permit eating meat.
Highlights key doctrinal differences from Hinduism.