It is a well-known fact that many citizens of early India adhered to Buddhist religion at the time of its birth. Many people became followers of Buddhism during the Buddha’s lifetime, instead of the traditional Vedic religion commonly practiced before Buddhism came into existence. The reason for this, however, is less obvious to historians. There were, no doubt, many factors that drew people to Buddhism. This paper will examine some of these factors, looking at the nature of Buddhist and Vedic religion and Indian society before the Buddha’s life.
Before going into detail about Buddhist religion, a short background of the religious situation of India before the Buddha’s time is needed. At the time of the Buddha’s birth (5th century BCE), India’s state religion was Brahmanism, or “Vedism”, which was a religion based on the teachings of the Vedas (literally
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He lived a sheltered life until one day he went out into the city and saw four things that changed his life: an old man, a sick man, and a dead man, which taught him the inevitability of decay. The fourth sign was a poor man, dressed in rags, but who looked happy and at peace. This showed Siddhartha that even though suffering was a natural part of life, liberation could be achieved. The Buddha then set out on a search for enlightenment that involved listening to the teachings of the Upanishads and later joining a band of ascetics in a life of strict deprivation, neither of which proved satisfactory. He finally achieved enlightenment by meditating for 49 days, and devoted the rest of his life to teaching others what he had discovered. The basics of the Buddha’s teachings were that to live is to suffer inevitably, but the cessation of suffering can occur through the cessation of desire. Until one achieves liberation from worldly desires, one’s soul will be reborn again and again into a new