Who is the Buddha? Guide to the Awakened One of the Jataka Tales

The Buddha is the awakened one, the historical teacher whose insights became the foundation of Buddhism - one of the world’s great religions and, in Asia, one of the most widely practiced. His name in Sanskrit is Buddha (literally “the awakened one”). His personal name was Siddhartha Gautama; his family name was Shakya, from which his epithet “Shakyamuni” (sage of the Shakyas) derives. He lived in the sixth to fifth century BCE in what is now the borderland of Nepal and India. His teachings are the Dhamma. The community he founded is the Sangha. This guide focuses particularly on his appearances in the Jataka tales - the traditional accounts of his previous lives that make up much of the Buddhist narrative tradition preserved on this site.

A note on sensitivity. The Buddha is a central figure of living Buddhist religion, honoured by hundreds of millions of people. This guide describes him respectfully within Buddhist tradition and does not offer specific meditation instructions or ritual practices that belong to trained monastic tradition.

Key Takeaways

• The Buddha (“the awakened one”) is the historical teacher whose insights became the foundation of Buddhism. His personal name was Siddhartha Gautama.
• He lived in the sixth to fifth century BCE in what is now the borderland of Nepal and India (his birthplace, Lumbini, is in modern Nepal; his enlightenment site, Bodh Gaya, is in modern India).
• His life is preserved in Buddhist tradition through detailed narratives of his birth, princely upbringing, four sights, renunciation, enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, first sermon at Sarnath, and forty-five years of teaching until his death (parinirvana) at Kushinagar.
• Most of the stories on this site labelled “Buddhist” are Jataka tales - accounts of the Buddha’s previous lives as various beings (deer, monkeys, kings, sages, gods, and others) in which he cultivated the virtues that would eventually lead to enlightenment.
• The Jataka collection contains 547 traditional stories in the Pali canon; many more Jataka-style tales exist in Sanskrit and other languages.
• In the Jataka tales, the future Buddha is called the Bodhisattva - a being on the path to enlightenment but not yet fully awakened.
• Buddhism is one of the world’s great religions, with over 500 million adherents across many traditions (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, and others).

Who is the Buddha?

The Buddha (“the awakened one”) is the historical teacher and founder of Buddhism. His personal name was Siddhartha Gautama. His family, the Shakyas, ruled a small state in what is now the Nepalese Terai and adjacent Indian border regions in the sixth to fifth century BCE.

Definition - the Buddha

The historical teacher whose insights became the foundation of Buddhism. Personal name Siddhartha Gautama, family name Shakya (from which “Shakyamuni,” “sage of the Shakyas,” derives). He lived in the sixth to fifth century BCE. His awakening at Bodh Gaya, his first teaching at Sarnath, his forty-five years of teaching, and his death (parinirvana) at Kushinagar form the arc of his life in Buddhist tradition.

The word “Buddha” is a title, not a personal name. It comes from Sanskrit buddha, past participle of budh (“to awaken, to know”). It means “the awakened one” or “the one who has awakened.” Buddhist tradition holds that there have been many Buddhas across time - Shakyamuni Gautama is only the most recent, and others will follow (in some traditions, the next Buddha will be Maitreya).

The tradition preserves detailed narratives of his life. He was born (in most accounts) around 563 BCE in Lumbini, a grove in what is now southern Nepal. His mother Queen Maya died shortly after his birth; he was raised by his aunt Mahaprajapati. He grew up as a prince, isolated from suffering by his father’s design. At around age twenty-nine, he encountered the “four sights” (an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a wandering ascetic) that revealed to him the reality of suffering and the possibility of a spiritual path. He left his family and became a wandering seeker. After six years of ascetic practice and study with various teachers, he sat beneath the Bodhi tree at what is now Bodh Gaya and vowed not to rise until he understood the cause of suffering. His awakening came after a night of meditation. He then taught for forty-five years, gathering the Sangha (community of monks and nuns) and establishing the Dhamma (the teaching). He died at around age eighty at Kushinagar, entering parinirvana - complete cessation.

The Jataka tales

Most of the stories on this site labelled “Buddhist” are Jataka tales - traditional accounts of the Buddha’s previous lives before his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama.

Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha’s awakening was not a sudden event but the culmination of an enormous number of previous lifetimes in which he progressively cultivated the paramitas (perfections): generosity, moral discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom (in the Theravada list; Mahayana traditions add additional perfections). In each life, the being who would eventually become the Buddha - called the Bodhisattva in that pre-Buddha state - developed one or more of these perfections through his actions.

The Jataka collection in the Pali canon contains 547 traditional stories. Many more Jataka-style tales exist in Sanskrit and in other Buddhist textual traditions. The tales cover an enormous range: some are set in royal courts, some in forest hermitages, some feature the Bodhisattva as a specific animal (an elephant, a monkey, a deer, a rabbit, a swan), some feature him as a god, a sage, a merchant, a king, or a common villager. In each case, the tale illustrates the specific virtue the Bodhisattva cultivated in that lifetime.

Well-known Jataka tales include the story of the hungry tigress (in which the Bodhisattva, as a prince, offers his own body to feed a starving tigress and her cubs), the story of the six-tusked elephant Chaddanta (in which the Bodhisattva as a great elephant sacrifices his tusks to save the hunter who has wounded him), and the story of the wise monkey king (in which the Bodhisattva as a monkey leader sacrifices himself to build a bridge with his own body so his troop can escape). Read the hungry tigress, Chaddanta elephant, the monkey king, and the great monkey.

The teachings of the Buddha

The Buddha’s teachings can be summarised in what tradition calls the Four Noble Truths: that life contains suffering (dukkha); that suffering has a cause (attachment or craving); that suffering can end; and that there is a path to that ending. The path is the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

The Buddha taught continuously for forty-five years. His teachings addressed monks and nuns of his growing community, but also kings, merchants, farmers, courtesans, and all who came to him. His teaching style was pragmatic and situational - he answered specific questions with specific responses rather than proposing a rigid system.

After his death, his teachings were preserved by his disciples through oral tradition and eventually written down in Pali (the Theravada canon), Sanskrit (much of the Mahayana canon), and various other languages. The Pali canon (the Tipitaka) is the earliest surviving complete Buddhist scriptural collection.

The three great Buddhist traditions

Buddhism developed after the Buddha’s death into three main branches, each with its own scriptures, practices, and regional character.

Theravada (“Teaching of the Elders”) is the oldest surviving branch, dominant in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. It preserves the Pali canon and emphasises monastic life and the historical Buddha’s original teachings.

Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) is the branch dominant in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. It preserves an expanded canon including many Sanskrit sutras, and emphasises the ideal of the Bodhisattva (a being who postpones final enlightenment to help others).

Vajrayana (“Diamond Vehicle”) is dominant in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, and parts of northern India and Russia. It preserves the Mahayana teachings and adds an extensive tradition of tantric practice and ritual.

All three traditions honour the historical Buddha and preserve versions of the Jataka tales, though with different emphases and additions.

Read the Jataka stories

Many Jataka tales are preserved on this site. Some entry points:

• The Hungry Tigress
• Chaddanta Elephant
• The Monkey King
• The Great Monkey
• The Wise Judge
• The Banyan Deer
• The Hare on the Moon

The Buddha is what Buddhist tradition kept as its foundational teacher - the human being who awakened, taught, and made available to others the path he had walked. His Jataka lives preserve his character over countless previous existences. His historical life at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar is honoured by pilgrims today. His teachings continue to guide the practice of hundreds of millions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the Buddha?

The Buddha (“the awakened one”) is the historical teacher whose insights became the foundation of Buddhism. His personal name was Siddhartha Gautama. He lived in the sixth to fifth century BCE in what is now the borderland of Nepal and India. Buddhism holds that many Buddhas have arisen in different eras; Shakyamuni Gautama is the most recent.

What are the Jataka tales?

The Jataka tales are traditional accounts of the Buddha’s previous lives before his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama. In each life, the being who would become the Buddha - called the Bodhisattva in that pre-Buddha state - progressively cultivated the paramitas (perfections) that would eventually lead to enlightenment. The Pali canon contains 547 Jataka tales. Many more exist in Sanskrit and other Buddhist textual traditions.

What is a Bodhisattva?

A Bodhisattva is a being on the path to Buddhahood. In the Jataka context, the term refers to the Buddha in his previous lives, before his final enlightenment. In Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the term expands: a Bodhisattva is a being who has developed enough wisdom to enter final nirvana but chooses to remain in the cycle of birth and death to help other beings. Mahayana traditions honour many Bodhisattvas, including Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Kshitigarbha.

What did the Buddha teach?

The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths: that life contains suffering (dukkha); that suffering has a cause (attachment or craving); that suffering can end; and that there is a path to that ending. The path is the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. His teachings, called the Dhamma, form the foundation of Buddhist practice.

Where are the sacred Buddhist sites?

Four sites are especially sacred, corresponding to key events in the Buddha’s life. Lumbini (in what is now Nepal) is his birthplace. Bodh Gaya (in the modern Indian state of Bihar) is where he achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Sarnath (near Varanasi in India) is where he delivered his first sermon after enlightenment. Kushinagar (in Uttar Pradesh, India) is where he died and entered parinirvana. These four sites remain major pilgrimage destinations for Buddhists worldwide.

Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?

Both, depending on how you define terms. Buddhism is a religion in the sense that it has scriptures, a monastic community, rituals, meditation practices, ethical guidelines, and hundreds of millions of adherents. It is a philosophy in the sense that it addresses fundamental questions about the nature of experience, suffering, mind, and reality. Different Buddhist traditions and different Buddhists emphasise different aspects. There is no single answer.