| Asita or Kaladevala or Kanhasiri was a hermit ascetic depicted in Buddhist sources as having lived in ancient India. He was a teacher and advisor of Suddhodana, the father of the Buddha, and is best known for having predicted that prince Siddhartha of Kapilavastu would either become a great chakravartin or become a supreme religious leader; Siddhartha was later known as Gautama Buddha.The name Asita literally means 'not clinging' while Kanhasiri means 'dark splendour'. Asita is described as a tāpasa, a practitioner of asceticism. |
