Buddha

Buddha, (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”) was an ascetic and spiritual teacher who lived in the sixth or fifth centuries BCE. He is revered by Buddhists as a fully enlightened being who taught a path to Nirvana, or freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His disciples, known as Buddhists, spread the religion that is now known as Buddhism. The title buddha was used by a variety of religious groups in ancient India and had a variety of meanings, but it came to be most strongly associated with the Buddhist tradition and to mean an enlightened being, one who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering.