Gautama Buddha, one of the most exceptional of free thinkers and religious leaders, was born as prince Siddhartha, and was surrounded by beauty, luxury and happiness. Years later, Siddhartha set out to explore his kingdom and was greatly moved y the state of human suffering. One day, he renounced the world and began a life of severe asceticism to seek the ultimate truth. His search led him to enlightenment that liberated and illuminated him as he pondered under a bodhi tree. He became the Buddha at the age of 35. He returned to preach what he had learnt and experienced, and did it with compassion of his fellow beings.

The path he advocated was the now well-known eight-fold path – right speech, right action, right means of livelihood to achieve control on the physical plane; right exertion, right-mindedness, right meditation to achieve mental strength; right resolution and right point of view for intellectual development. When these guidelines are adhered to, they bring about peace of mind. And this is borne out by the Buddhist tales that have come down to us over the year.

This Amar Chitra katha comprises of multiple stories. The first, ‘The Acrobat’, is about Ugrasena’s transformation from the royal treasurer’s son to an acrobat to a follower of Buddha. In the second story, ‘The Harvest’, Buddha teaches a farmer about the benefits of detachment. Buddha explains the ills of desire to the young Prince Kumara in the third story, ‘The Golden Maiden’. And finally, ‘Buddha and Krisha Gautami’ is one of the more famous stories, wherein Buddha teaches the distraught Gautami about the inevitability of death.