The Buddha

The book, Buddhism: Path To Nirvana by K. N. Upadhyaya, is a biographical nonfiction book about Prince Siddhartha Gautama who later came to be known as the Buddha. Siddhartha’s life was filled with many big events which influenced his life. One big event occurred when he went to the marketplace. His father had forbidden him from going there, because Siddhartha’s father had placed all of the sickly, dying, and crippled people there. He had done that so as not to distress the prince. Siddhartha’s horoscope was read when he was born, and it had said to keep him away from distress and sorrow, or else he will become a sanyasi, or ascetic. Despite it being a good thing, Siddhartha’s father did not want his son to become an ascetic. he wanted his son to become a great leader. But when Siddhartha broke his father’s rules and went to the marketplace, he was greatly affected by the sorrow. Never in his life had he seen crippled, sickly, or dying people. Feeling depressed, Siddhartha tried to find a way to rid of this sadness so he would never have to feel all of those things the struggling people were feeling, ever in any of his other future lives. He decided to became an ascetic, just as the horoscope had read. He finally attained nirvana and was free from all pains. Siddhartha came to be known as the Buddha, or “wise one”. The Buddha taught what he learned to everybody, and it got passed down from generation to generation until it was written down. The Buddha passed away at the age of 80. The Buddha was a very wise person, and had a lot of intelligent quotes. “I shall be a Buddha endowed with great spiritual power and my sound shall resound in all the ten directions of the world.” This is a very famous quote said by the Buddha. At one point in his teaching, the Buddha’s wife and mother also wanted to become ascetics and learn about the supreme truth. However, he refused to teach women. The Buddha’s mother finally convinced him to let women learn as well. Because of the Buddha, many people learned about karma and started to lead more clean lives. Faith in humanity was restored.