Gautam Buddha or Siddhartha Gautam means ‘the awakened’. He was born in Lumbini, which is now in Nepal, to a royal family.⁠It is believed that Siddhartha Gautam’s mother, Maya Devi conceived him when she dreamt of a white elephant entering her right side.

As soon as the prince was born, the holy saints and scholars predicted that he would be a great religious teacher. Hence his father kept him away from the real world to prevent him from becoming an ascetic. Prince Gautam grew up in luxury, not aware of the harsh world outside his palace, until one day, in the streets of Kapilavastu, he encountered a sick man, an old man and a dead man. This is when he realised the real world is different from his world and understood more details from his charioteer. When he returned to his palace, he had made his mind up and that night, he left the palace in search for answers to life’s realities and became a sage. He attained salvation in Bodh Gaya, India. He quit all the worldly pleasures as a prince to lead the life as a monk. He left his wife Yashodhara and his son Rahul in the palace as he did not want them to go through any hardship. It is believed that Yashodhra continued to stay in the palace but lived a lifestyle of a monk and living modestly.

It is said that for six years, Lord Buddha along-with his five companions searched for the true meaning of life. His first sermon was at Sarnath. After some years, he was alone in his quest for truth until he attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.

Lord Buddha founded Buddhism which says that human cycle is a continuous cycle of suffering and birth and only by achieving Nirvana (enlightenment) can one escape this cycle. It believes in the law of Karma. The Jataka stories have the most relevant stories of Buddhist preachings.

The Buddha avataar is also said to be one of the Dashaavataars of Lord Vishnu in some mythological texts. Lord Buddha talked of the four truths which was called Arya Satya. This avataar promoted non-violence and was against sacrificing animals in Yagnas.