Gautama Buddha was a sage who founded Buddhism.
Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition
=== Previous lives ===Legendary biographies like the Pali Buddhavasa and the Sanskrit Jtakaml depict the Buddha's (referred to as "bodhisattva" before his awakening) career as spanning hundreds of lifetimes before his last birth as Gautama

