In the first seventeen chapters author has discussed, exhaustively, Buddha;s life and activities and he has left no stone unturned to make his work as lively as possible. He has always used original sources, including both Pali and Sanskrit texts. It was nothing short of miracle, that a young person, with practically no training in the traditional Sastras of India, could mesemerise learned and incluential Brahmins and potentates of that age, and make his views vastly popular in the greater part of Northern India, in practically no time, and before the emergence of the Mauryas; this new religion became the dominant religious system of this sub-continent. In the next five chapters the first two Pitakas have been thoroughly analysed from the historical point of view, and then he has discussed the history of the spread of this new religious system, both in North and South India, from the earliest period, down to the 13th century A.D. Hew has also discussed the relation of Buddhism with Yaksha worship, we he has done in his earlier work on Jainism, published long ago. There is also a short chapter on the popular work called the Yogavasistha, which has been included as Appendix. In course of this work, the present writer has tried to analyse the relation of Buddhism with his two great epics, a subject which has always appealed to the present Author. The work, like his great work on Jainism, is a very informative text on the Life and Teachings of Gautama Buddha. It also contains chapters on the Pitakas and other Sanskrit Buddhist texts. We have no doubt that this work will be generously received by the scholars interested in Buddhism.
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