Sanskrit name: Siddhārtha Gautama

Pali name: Siddhattha Gotama

Other names: Shakyamuni ("Sage of the Shakyas")

Born: 563 BCE or 480 BCE

Lumbini, Shakya Republic (according to Buddhist tradition)

Died: 483 BCE or 400 BCE (aged 80)

Kushinagar, Malla Republic (according to Buddhist tradition)

Religion: Buddhism

Spouse: Yasodharā

Children: Rāhula

Parents: Śuddhodana (father)

Maya Devi (mother)

Predecessor: Kassapa Buddha

Successor: Maitreya

Gautama Buddha, popularly known as the Buddha (also known as Siddhattha Gotama or Siddhārtha Gautama or Buddha Shakyamuni), was a philosopher, mendicant, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader who lived in ancient Nepal and ancient India (c. 5th to 4th century BCE). He is revered as the founder of the world religion of Buddhism and recognized by most Buddhist schools as the Enlightened One who is believed to have transcended Karma and escaped the cycle of birth and rebirth. He taught for around 45 years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into duḥkha (typically translated as "suffering") and the end of duhkha—the state called Nibbāna or Nirvana.

Gautama Buddha.

The Buddha was born into an aristocratic family in the Shakya clan but eventually renounced lay life. According to Buddhist tradition, after several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth. The Buddha then traveled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a religious community. The Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Indian śramaṇa movement. He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as jhana and mindfulness. The Buddha also critiqued the practices of Brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice, caste system and belief in creator(God).

A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One". Gautama's teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Suttas, which contain his discourses, and the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice. 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 the Buddha, collections of stories about the Buddha's past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e. the Mahayana sutras.