The Songs of Distant Earth - a question

[Eleniel]

In chapter 51 (Relic) Moses Kaldor gives to Mirissa Leonidas a gift: a gold, gleaming bell that was the model of a temple. Inside it was:

"(...) All that's left of one of the greatest men who ever lived; he founded the only faith that never became stained with blood. I'm sure he would have been most amused to know that, forty centuries after his death, one of his teeth would be carried to the stars."

What man and what faith was Clarke refering to here?

[iansales]

Buddhism, I believe.

[pyan]

Yes, you're quite right, Ian - in fact, it's quoted in the book below as an example of Western pronouncements on Eastern religions.

Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society: Paul Hollander

[Eleniel]

Thank you Ian and pyan!