Various places are proposed as the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. Traditionally Gautama's birthplace is thought to be situated in present-day Nepal,
Kapilavastu, present-day Nepal
Kapilavastu, present-day Nepal, lies near to the border of present-day India.
Written sources
Most written sources agree on Kapilavastu, present-day Nepal, to be the birthplace of the Buddha.
A.K. Warder 2000 (first edition 1970, third revised edition 2000)
According to Warder " The Buddha [...] was born in the Sakya Republic, which was the city state of Kapilavastu, a very small state just inside the modern state boundary of Nepal against the Indian frontier."
Hans Wolfgang Schumann, 1998 (first print 1982)
According to Schumann " Kapilavatthu, de vaderstad van de Boeddha, waarin hij de eerste 29 jaar van zijn leven doorbracht, ligt niet ver van de grens die tegenwoordig het koninkrijk Nepal van het staatsgebied van de republiek India scheidt. De vader van de Boeddha heette Suddhodana 'Die zuivere rijst verbouwt' en behoorde tot de stam de Sakiya's. De Sakiya's waren khattiya's en behoorden dus tot de (toen nog) hoogste kaste, de krijgs- of beter: ambtsadel, die het bestuur en de rechtshandhaving van de Sakiya-republiek tot taak had. Uit hun midden werd, indien nodig, de nieuwe raja gekozen, de president der republiek en voorzitter van de raadsvergadering. In het midden van de zesde eeuw v. Chr. was het Suddhodana die het raja-ambt vervulde."
In translation (Google translate, in brackets adaptations):
Kapilavatthu, the home town of the Buddha, [where] he [lived the] first 29 years of his life, is not far from the border that now [separates] the kingdom of Nepal [from] the area of the Republic of India. The father of the Buddha [was called] Suddhodana "Who grows pure rice" and belonged to the tribe [of the] Sakiya. The Sakiya's were Khattiya's and thus belonged to the (then) highest caste, the martial-or better: nobility of office, which [had the task of] the administration and enforcement of the Sakiya republic. From their midst was, if necessary, [elected] the newraja, the president of the republic and president of the council. In the middle of the sixth century BC. [it] was Suddhodana [who fulfilled] the raja-office.
Maurice Walsh, 1995
According to Walsh " He belonged to the Sakya clan dwelling on the edge of the Himalayas, his actual birthplace being a few miles north of the present-day Indian border, in Nepal. His father was in fact an elected chief of the clan rather than the king he was later made out to be, though his title was raja - a term which only partly corresponds to our word 'king'. Some of the states of North India at that time were kingdoms and others republics, and the Sakyan republic was subject to the powerful king of neighbouring Kosala, which lay to the south."
Peter Harvey, 1990 (first publication, reprint 1995)
Harvey writes:
We know that Gotama was born in the small republic of the Sakka (Skt Sākya) people, which straddles the present border with Nepal and had Kapilavatthu as its capital.
Harvey adds that:
In the early Buddhist texts, there is no continuous life of the Buddha, as these concentrated on his teachings. Only later, between 200 BC and 200 AD, did a growing interest in the Buddha's person lead to various schools producing continuous 'biographies', which drew on scattered accounts in the existing Sutta and Vinaya collections, and floating oral traditions. These 'biographies' include the sarvastivadins' Lalitavistara, the Theravadins' Nidanakatha, and Asvaghosa's poem, theBuddhacarita. The details of these are in general agreement, but while they must clearly be based around historical facts, they also contain legendary and mythological embellisgments, and it is often not possible to sort out one from the other. While the bare historical basis of the traditional biography will never be known, as it stands it gives a great insight into Buddhism by enabling as to see what the meaning of the Buddha's life is to the Buddhists: what lessons it is held to contain.
Lumbini, present-day Nepal
Lumbini is a small place close to the administrative boundary of Kapilvastu. The most recent administrative division of districts in Nepal kept Lumbini just outside of Kapilvastu district, but it is still in Lumbini zone.
Lumbini is regarded to be the birthplace of the Buddha in Buddhist narratives. It was discovered in 1896 by archaeologists. One of the objects found was a 6,5 meters high pillar, erected by King Ashoka in 245 BCE, containing the following inscription:
King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan having been born here, Lumbini village was taxed reduced and entitled to the eight part (only).
Written sources
The Nidanakatha, the introductory to the Jataka tales, the stories of the former lives of the Buddha, narrates the story of the Buddha's conception and birth:
Situated in southwestern Nepal, approximately 250 kilometers from Kathmandu is the sacred gardens of Lumbiniwhere it is said that the Buddha was born either in 623 or 642 BCE, over 2600 years ago. According to Buddhist tradition, Maya Devi was on her way to her parent's home in Devadaha one May day when she stopped to rest under a seal tree. After bathing in a nearby pool, known as Puskarni, Maya Devi - a virgin, became impregnated and immediately fell into labor and gave birth to Prince Siddharta Gautam - the future Buddha.
Lumbini was visited by Emperor Asoka in ca. 260 BCE and ca. 249 BCE. After this second visit a stone pillar was erected to commemorate the vent.
Adopted from wikipedia
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