The Light of Asia, subtitled The Great Renunciation, is a book by Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879. In the form of a narrative poem, the book endeavours to describe the life and time of Prince Gautama Buddha, who after attaining enlightenment became The Buddha, The Awakened One. The book presents his life, character, and philosophy, in a series of verses. It is a free adaptation of the Lalitavistara. A few decades before the book's publication, very little was known outside Asia about the Buddha and Buddhism, the religion which he founded, and which had existed for about twenty-five centuries. Arnold's book was one of the first successful attempts to popularize Buddhism for a Western readership. The book has been highly acclaimed from the time it was first published and has been the subject of several reviews. It has been translated into several languages, including Hindi.
Adaptations
A film adaptation of the poem directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai was made in 1928, titled Prem Sanyas. Dudley Buck used the book as the basis for an oratorio, The Light of Asia, first performed in 1887. In the 1945 movie version of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, as the protagonist turns to a life of depravity, a friend tries to turn him back to a good life by lending him a copy of The Light of Asia.
Chapters
The first six chapters deal with the early part of Buddha's life – his birth as Siddhartha, prince of Kapilavastu; his gaining first-hand knowledge of the sufferings of mankind; his resorting to meditation; and his ultimate transformation as the "Enlightened One" after long years of meditation. The subsequent chapters speak of the Buddha's travels and the important elements of the message he spread are discussed — for instance, that suffering is a built-in aspect of existence; that craving for sensuality and identity is the root of suffering, and that suffering can be ended. It calls for right understanding; right thought; right speech; right action; right livelihood; right effort; right mindfulness; and right concentration. Throughout his peregrinations, mostly in eastern India, Gautama Buddha was joined by thousands of disciples and admirers from all walks of life.
