The first volume of Tesuka Osamu's fictional biography of Siddhartha, Gautama Buddha. Introduces Chapra, a slave boy who tries to escape his fate; Chapra's slave mother, who sticks by him no matter what; Tatta, a crazed wild child pariah who communes with animals; and Naradatta, a monk attempting to decipher strange portents of the Buddha's birth.

Translated from the Japanese. "Originally published in Japanese as Budda dai ikkan Kapiravasutu by Ushio Shuppensha, Tokyo, 1987"--T.p. verso. "The artwork of the original has been produced as a mirror-image in order to conform with the English language"--T.p. verso. "This work of fiction contains characters and episodes that are not part of the historical record"--T.p. verso.