‘Buddha’ means
(A) The Enlightened one
(B) The Religious Preacher
(C) The Genius
(D) The Powerful
Answer: (A) The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. “Buddha” is also sometimes translated as “The Enlightened One”. As Gautam fully comprehended the Four Noble Truths and as he arose from the slumbers of ignorance he is called a Buddha. Before His Enlightenment, he was a bodhisattva which means one who is aspiring to attain Buddha-hood. He was not born a Buddha but became a Buddha by his own efforts. Every aspirant to Buddha-hood passes through the bodhisattva period — a period comprising many lives over a vast period of time.
