Epithets of Gautama Buddha

thumb|Arhat Garden at Hsi Lai Temple in the [[San Gabriel Valley of Southern California]]

thumb|397x397px|Tathagata, Gautama Buddha|Shakyamuni Buddha in a [[thangka painting showing the avadana legend scenes]] Tathāgata (), translated into Chinese as Rulai () and English as Thus Come One, is a Pali and Sanskrit word used in ancient India for a person who has attained the highest religious goal. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, used it when referring to himself or other past Buddhas in the Pāli Canon. Likewise, in the Mahayana corpus, it is an epithet of Shakyamuni Buddha and the other celestial buddhas. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (tathā

thumb|Statue of Vishnu, Bhagavan in Vaishnavism The word Bhagavan (; ), also spelled as Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord", "God"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or an avatar, particularly for Krishna and Vishnu in Vaishnavism, Shiva in Shaivism and Durga or Adi Shakti in Shaktism. In Jainism the term refers to the Tirthankaras, and in Buddhism to the Buddha.