Siddharta Gautama, later known as Buddha, was born in 560 BC in what is now Nepal and grew up wealthy, but experienced a moral crisis upon realizing the inevitability of old age, illness, and death. He renounced his wealth and position to pursue asceticism and meditation, seeking enlightenment. After six years of asceticism without success, enlightenment came during a phase of deep meditation under a fig tree. Buddha then taught his philosophy and gathered disciples for over 45 years, traveling throughout northern India before dying at age 85 during meditation. His teachings were first orally transmitted and later recorded in writing in Pali, though it is uncertain which sayings can be directly attributed to Buddha himself