The two Christian saints who are the Buddha

The legend of Barlaam and Josaphat appears in 10th-century Georgian texts and derives from an Arabic version of the Buddha’s life that passed through Persian “Bodisav” and Sanskrit “Bodhisattva.” It was transformed into a Christian hagiography, entered the Roman Catholic martyrology, and is still listed in Orthodox calendars. Translations reached Iceland and a Japanese Jesuit edition appeared in 1591. Scholars identified the work as a direct adaptation of the Buddhist founder’s story only in the mid-19th century.