1. GAUTAMA BUDDHA
Founder of Buddhism
Gautama Buddha was born in 563BC in the Lumbini forests in Nepalese Terai. He was the founder of 'Buddhism'. Buddha's childhood name was Siddhartha and he was a child with a contemplative bent of mind. At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his home and all the royal comforts behind in search of peace and truth.
Siddhartha got enlightenment when he was sitting in meditation under a pipal tree in Gaya. Siddhartha now got transformed into 'Buddha' or 'enlightened' and the pipal tree under which he got enlightenment became Bodhi tree or Bodhi Vriksha.
Buddha delivered his first sermon in Sarnath (near Varanasi). Buddha taught that the root cause of mankind's suffering was desire. People could get rid of the torment of desires by following the Eightfold path: right belief, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right memory and right meditation.
Buddha attained Nirvana in Kushinagar (UP) in 483 B.C. After his death, his teachings spread through Asia. Today, the religion numbers 500 million followers, many others in the East and West practice Buddhist teachings to achieve self-awareness.
2. SOCRATES
Founder of Western Philosophy
Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy. He was born and lived in Athens, where he spent most of his time in enthusiastic pursuit of wisdom (philosophy). He "followed the argument" in his personal reflection, and in a sustained and rigorous dialogue between friends, followers, and contemporary itinerant teachers of wisdom. Later in his life he became known as the wisest man in all of Greece.
Most of what is known about Socrates is derived from information that recurs across various contemporary sources: the dialogues written by Plato, one of Socrates' students; the works of Xenophon, one of his contemporaries; and writings by Aristophanes and Aristotle. Anything Socrates wrote himself has not survived.
According to accounts from antiquity, Socrates' father was the sculptor Sophroniscus and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife. Socrates married Xanthippe, who bore him three sons – Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus – who were all quite young at the time of his death. Traditionally, Xanthippe is thought to have been an ill-tempered scold, mainly due to her characterization by Xenophon.
Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian Empire to its decline after its defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens was seeking to stabilize and recover from its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public court was induced by three leading public figures to try Socrates for impiety and for corrupting the youth of Athens. This was a time in culture when the Greeks thought of gods and goddesses as being associated with protecting particular cities. Athens, for instance, is named after its protecting goddess Athena. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War was interpreted as Athena judging the city for not being pious. The last thing Athens needed was more punishment from Athena for one man inciting its citizens to question her or the other gods. In the Apology, Socrates insists that this is a false charge.
According to the version of his defense speech presented in Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded negatively. Socrates, interpreting this as a riddle, set out to find men who were wiser than he was. He questioned the men of Athens about their knowledge of good, beauty, and virtue. Finding that they knew nothing and yet believed themselves to know much, Socrates came to the conclusion that he was wise only in so far as he knew that he knew nothing. Socrates' superior intellect made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing.
He was nevertheless found guilty as charged, and sentenced to death by drinking a silver goblet of hemlock. Socrates turned down the pleas of his disciples to attempt an escape from prison, drinking the hemlock and dying in the company of his friends. According to the Phaedo, Socrates had a calm death, enduring his sentence with fortitude.
3. MAHATMA GANDHI
Father of the Nation
Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi called the father of the nation was born in Porbunder in Gujarat. He passed the examination for barrister in 1890 and started practicing Law. He went to South Africa to take-up a case. There he was disturbed by the oppression of Indians by the whites. He formulated the path of Satyagraha and protested against the injustice. He returned to India in 1916, and took up the leadership of the National Freedom struggle.
Gandhi launched many Movements to force the British to concede India its Independence. The most Well-known being: 'Non-Co-operation Movement' (1920), 'Civil Disobedience Movement' (1930) and 'Quit India Movement' (1942). In 1930, Gandhiji led the famous 'Dandi March' for breaking the Salt Laws. Gandhiji also worked hard for the upliftment of the Harijans, the name given by him to the untouchables. Gandhiji declared untouchability as a sin against God and man.
'My experiments with truth' is the famous autobiography written by Gandhiji. On 30th January 1948 he was shot dead by a religious fanatic Nathu Ram Godse.
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