The Light of Asia

Description

The Light of Asia is a book by English poet and journalist, Edwin Arnold. First published in 1879, it is an adaptation of the Lalitavistara Sūtra and was Arnold's best known work. Written as a narrative poem, the book is the story of the life of Buddha. It describes his birth as Siddhartha, prince of Kapilavastu, his first-hand knowledge of suffering, his meditation and the philosophy he taught (including that suffering is a natural part of existence), and his eventual transformation into the enlightened one. The Light of Asia was one of the first books to bring Buddhism to a Western audience, and since it's publication, has been translated into over thirty languages.

This book has 34,795 words, 143 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1879.

Production notes: This ebook of The Light of Asia was published by Global Grey on the 2nd November 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'The Buddha' by Odilon Redon.