it was into this world of religious and cultural transition that siddhartha Gautama was born.
The exact date Of his birth is a matter of contention among Scholars
Different Buddhist sources Claim that gautama died either 100years or 218 yéars before the consecration of king Asoka. since that consecration
since that consecration can be plausibly" dated. anyWhere between ’ 280 and 267 B.C.E. and since
Gautama is said in all Buddhist sources to have lived for eighty years.thr date
of'his birth using these sources, could‘ be put between 578 and447 b.C.E.
on the other hand, scholars point out that the 100-: and 218 years figures can
also be seen as ideal numbers, hence the lack'of consensus.until recently
most modern scholars have accepted the earlier dating for gautama is life
.‘ But today, many scholars place his life fully in the fifty century B.E.C.
Scholars also point out that not only the date of gautama is birth but also
stories about his life must be questioned‘in terms of historical accuracy the Complete biographies of Gautama’s life were . written hundreds of years after
his death and include legends not found in earlier texts.these later biographies include the Mahavastu ("Great Story‘l') from the first century C.E.
the Lalitavistara ("Graceful Description”),also. from the first century C.E and
the famous Buddhacarita ("Acts of the buddha) written by asvaghosa in the second century C.E the older section of buddhist scriptures .called the nikayas or. Agamas .do not contain a full biography of his life .but only fragmentary references. Also, scholars point out that we have no historical evidence concerning the Buddha’s life to usein order to judge the value of even
these earlier writings. However, it seems reasonable at least o tell the story
of the Buddha’s life based on the earlier writting .with occsional mention of
the more popular legends that appear in the later biographies .for sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha,