The extraordinary poem that defined the Buddha: Jairam Ramesh on The Light of Asia

The extraordinary poem that defined the Buddha: Jairam Ramesh on The Light of Asia

1 July 2021

| Arts & Ideas

Imagine a scholar & poem stirring the world.

An imperialist devoted to India.

A British ambassador for the Buddha.

A glue between a saint, a soldier.
A capitalist, a physicist, a philosopher, and a mahatma.

Imagine an extraordinary — and unexpected — literary catalyst.

And you have — Edwin Arnold. And ‘The Light of Asia’

JAIRAM RAMESH — Congress leader & writer — unravels the fascinating story of a 19th century poem that blazed the idea of Buddha across the world. And inspired an array of seminal leaders.