<P> The Light of Asia, subtitled The Great Renunciation, is a book by Sir Edwin Arnold . The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879 . </P> <P> In the form of a narrative poem, the book endeavors to describe the life and time of Prince Gautama Siddhartha, who after attaining enlightenment became The Buddha, The Awakened One . The book presents his life, character, and philosophy, in a series of verses . It is a free adaptation of the Lalitavistara . </P> <P> A few decades before the book's publication, very little was known outside Asia about the Buddha and Buddhism, the religion which he founded, and which had existed for about twenty - five centuries . Arnold's book was one of the first successful attempts to popularize Buddhism for a Western readership . </P>

The phrase light of asia is applied to