With so much interest in the teachings of Buddhism, what do we actually know about the life of Siddhartha, who
later became known as the Buddha? Traditionally Buddhists have emphasized his teachings of compassion and forbearance,
summarized in his sermons and in the Dhammapada, and less attention has been placed on his life. However, his story is
inspiring in its simplicity and in the personal example he set by his renunciation.
"Prince of Dharma" tells this moving story, taken from the classical sources handed down to us from ancient India, with the
help of 50 exquisite paintings by the renowned Indian artist B. G. Sharma. Hindus have long honored the Buddha has a divine
incarnation, and the artist has approached his task with all the devotion of a traditional Hindu who reveres the Buddha as
the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. His paintings add a unique and fresh new vision, heart-warming and colorful, to the cannon
of Buddhist religious art that has grown up over thousands of years.
At a time when religious intolerance threatens world peace, it is worth remembering the shared reverence for the Buddha that
has allowed Hindus and Buddhists to live peacefully side by side in Asia for 2500 years. "Prince of Dharma" is a unique
presentation of the Buddha's story, because it draws upon the classic sources of both the Buddhist and the Hindu tradition
to tell the story of a man who was born a Hindu prince, but who by his constant questioning and personal magnetism founded a
new religious path that transformed the life of India and much of Asia.
