BIOGRAPHY
Many religious traditions develop elaborate narratives
about the life of the founding figure. Such sacred bi-
ographies often include accounts of mythic events and
miracles that underscore the virtues and attainments
of the founder. These narratives give shape to the his-
tory and legitimate the social institutions of emergent
religious traditions. Buddhism has elaborated and em-
bellished its biographical emphasis to create a sacred
biography not only of the Buddha’s final life but also
of his earlier lives, the lives of his disciples, the lives of
other enlightened beings, and ultimately the lives of all
SENTIENT BEINGSwho witness the Buddha’s teaching.
Biography may be understood as a core concept of the
Buddhist tradition; it is a cultural idiom that contin-
ues to engender religious meaning in practice, doc-
trine, and belief. The importance of the Buddha’s
biography lies in the ways in which it has shaped the
tradition in the centuries following his death (Rey-
nolds). Indeed, Buddhist concern with life stories has
generated biographical genres and modes of religious
behavior that are articulated in oral narratives, classi-
cal and vernacular texts, visual art, and ritual, as well
as in the cultural histories of Buddhist polities in much
of Asia. The remainder of this entry describes some of
the ways in which sacred biography has shaped the de-
velopment of Buddhism in diverse cultural contexts.
Each of the major branches of Buddhism offers a
different version of the life of the Buddha; these bi-
ographies are informed by doctrines specific to each
school or lineage. Themes in the biographies of Gau-
tama may illustrate not only his unique spiritual
achievements, but also characteristics attributed to
buddhas in general. In addition, biographical themes
in the life or lives of the Buddha are often incorpo-
rated into the biographical narratives of other re-
markable individuals, such as ARHATS, BODHISATTVAS,
or eminent monks.
There are differing versions of the Buddha’s biog-
raphy, and scholars cannot identify a single or “origi-
nal” source in Buddhist literature. After his death,
accounts of the Buddha’s life and teaching were trans-
mitted orally for several centuries. Gradually, the Bud-
dha’s message became codified and committed to
written texts that eventually came to be known as the
Buddhist CANON. Numerous passages in the Buddhist
sutras and VINAYArefer to events and episodes of the
Buddha’s life, and there are many texts throughout the
Buddhist tradition that describe mythic events and sa-
cred qualities of the Buddha. The biographies that
eventually emerged were initially not systematized or
even organized in temporal sequence. It took some five
centuries for the Buddha’s biographical accounts to be-
come standardized and formalized.The Buddha’s final life
Certain mythic episodes are salient in many accounts
of the Buddha’s life, despite the diversity in the stories
that make up the Buddha’s biography. According to
these accounts, Siddhartha’s conception was immacu-
late, as a white elephant entered his mother’s womb.
His birth was painless, and, taking his first strides, he
announced that this was his final and culminating life.
Brahmin astrologers whom his father had consulted
prophesied that the child would become either a world
conqueror (cakravartin) who rules over a social and
political universe, or a buddha who transcends ordi-
nary reality through spiritual enlightenment. Raised in
luxury and tutored in the seclusion of the palace, Sid-
dhartha eventually married Yas ́odharaand fathered a
son, RAHULA. Curious about life outside the palace,
Siddhartha encountered the inescapable human con-
dition of old age, sickness, and death. This insight led
him to discover that human existence is conditioned
by suffering. Having fulfilled his obligations as a house-
holder, he resolved to leave his indulgent life and re-
nounce society. He became a wandering mendicant
and apprenticed himself to several gurus. Eventually,
he realized that extreme asceticism does not lead to en-
lightenment, and he determined to follow a middle
path between indulgence and asceticism. Like other
buddhas before him, he resolved to meditate under a
bodhi tree until he achieved NIRVANA. While he was
seated in meditation, MARA, the Evil One, challenged
him in vain with the promise of unlimited power, with
attacks by his mighty army, and, finally, with his sen-
suous daughters. Rebuffing each offer, Gautama
gained three knowledges (traividya; Pali, tevijja) on his
path to enlightenment: He remembered all his past
lives, he came to understand that the nature of one’s
existence is the result of past action, and finally, he
gained complete knowledge of his liberation. The Bud-
dha hesitated to preach, however, until the interven-
tion of a god (deva) persuaded him to teach the
dharma and to reveal his model for practice and the
path to nirvana for others to follow.
In the course of a ministry that lasted more than
forty years, the Buddha established the monastic order
(SAN ̇GHA) and preached to a growing early Buddhist
community. A prominent lay supporter, King Bimbi-BIOGRAPHY