Notable Buddhist Figures
Disciples, scholars, monarchs, and masters who shaped the development and transmission of Buddhism.
Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha)
Siddhattha Gotama
The historical founder of Buddhism who attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya and spent 45 years teaching the path to liberation from sufferin...
Ananda
Ānanda
The devoted attendant and cousin of the Buddha who memorised all the discourses and recited them at the First Buddhist Council, preserving the Pali Canon....
Mahakasyapa
Mahākassapa
The senior monk who convened the First Buddhist Council after the Buddha's death and is venerated as the first Patriarch in the Zen Buddhist tradition....
Moggallana
Mahāmoggallāna
Foremost disciple in psychic powers, who alongside Sariputta was one of the two chief disciples, known for extraordinary meditative attainments....
Sariputta
Sāriputta
Foremost disciple in wisdom, who with Moggallana formed the Buddha's two chief disciples, renowned for systematic exposition of the Dhamma....
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna
Founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana philosophy, who developed the concept of emptiness (shunyata) and is considered the most influential Buddhist philo...
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu
A prolific 4th-century scholar who authored the Abhidharmakosa and later became a leading figure in the Yogacara school of Mahayana philosophy....
Huineng (The Sixth Patriarch)
The Sixth Patriarch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism whose teachings on sudden enlightenment shaped all modern Zen lineages, recorded in the Platform Sutra....
Ashoka the Great
Asoka
Mauryan emperor who converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga War and spread the Dharma across Asia through missionaries, edicts, and monastic support....
King Milinda (Menander I)
Milinda
Indo-Greek king famous for his philosophical dialogues with the monk Nagasena preserved in the Milindapanha, believed to have converted to Buddhism....