Q: Did Cyrus the Great influence the Buddha? (maybe)

I'm assuming Cyrus the Great and Gautama Buddha need no introduction to this board.

Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire, reigned from about 560 to 530 BCE; his empire, at the time of his death, bordered the western Mahajanapadas of Northern India (and would, in future decades, come to include said kingdoms).

In the eastern Mahajanpadas (supposedly) lived one Siddhartha Gautama; the historical period (or even existence) of his life is somewhat disputed, with some saying he lived in the 5th Century BCE, while others say he lived 80 years earlier; if the latter were right, that would put his enlightenment under the bodhi tree (when he was about 35) around 530 BCE, about the time of Cyrus' death.

Now, Cyrus' record on human rights and the teachings (or even existence) of the historical Buddha are both subject to their share of debate and skepticism, so I won't go into any detailed comparison (at least not in this post). But one thing I will say -- I see little to no reason that an ascetic living in Bodh Gaya wouldn't have heard, by word of mouth, about such massive events in the west as the founding of the Achemenid Empire. (The image of a religious student talking about stories he heard from his merchant relatives or friends strikes my mind, for instance.)

But for those who feel familiar enough with both historical figures -- what do you think? Is there something here?
 
The "human rights" policies and declarations attributed to Cyrus the Great are both contentious and as "human rights", both generic and largely unrecognizable to the concept of "rights" in the modern sense of the word. A lot of confusion has been exasperated by both the Cyrus Cylinder and the Bible in which. Cyrus' acts and declarations have been variously interpreted.
Because of the general tendency by modern scholarship to question the real context and consequences of both the Cylinder and secondary sources, I personally think that proposing Cyrus as a significant influence on Gautama Buddha is questionable at best.

That being said, many ideas travelled the trading networks of the ancient world so who is to say that some concepts from many different sources didnt influence Cyrus, Buddha, or Zoroaster for that matter. We will probably never track down the original instigators of many of these ideas, only those who creatively encapsulated them into coherent philosophical frameworks.
 
That being said, many ideas travelled the trading networks of the ancient world so who is to say that some concepts from many different sources didnt influence Cyrus, Buddha, or Zoroaster for that matter. We will probably never track down the original instigators of many of these ideas, only those who creatively encapsulated them into coherent philosophical frameworks.

Well, given that the actual acts/teachings of the men involved are so contested, this is probably as much an answer as one could hope for. Thanks :)
 
That said, I thinks that a bit of religious history that need more researches is the influence of 'iranic faiths' as Zoroastrism on other faiths as Buddhism.

There was a french(?) documentary serie who points that Mahayana buddhism and it's imagery had some influences from Zoroastrism perhaps, like how the legacy of Alexander's state(s) and it's greeks(-x) peoples ended influencing buddhist (and possibly hinduist) imagery, statues... That association with fire in some things, by example... Ghandara, Kanishka the Great...
 
That said, I thinks that a bit of religious history that need more researches is the influence of 'iranic faiths' as Zoroastrism on other faiths as Buddhism.

There was a french(?) documentary serie who points that Mahayana buddhism and it's imagery had some influences from Zoroastrism perhaps, like how the legacy of Alexander's state(s) and it's greeks(-x) peoples ended influencing buddhist (and possibly hinduist) imagery, statues... That association with fire in some things, by example... Ghandara, Kanishka the Great...

indeed plus in mahayana many of the gods from the vedic tenets are incorporated with the only difference being that they are not immortal I believe and not tuly enlightened as the buddha was
 
indeed plus in mahayana many of the gods from the vedic tenets are incorporated with the only difference being that they are not immortal I believe and not tuly enlightened as the buddha was

That may be earlier ideas though, not sure - does 'early Buddhism' and it's modern descendant Theravada mention the Gods, I don't know.
 
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