Question

how did Buddha have a large following

Answer 1

Buddha did not appoint any successor and encourage all his followers to continually work toward liberation.

 

These followers went out in the world and taught the same thing to their followers.

 

This spread across the world and hence the number of followers increased on a regular basis.

 

Since they practice peace, the religion grew a lot.                                                                                   

Answer 2

Answer:Buddha followed a simple path and inspired people to lead a simple life . His teachings have been reconstructed from stories,  found mainly in the Sutta Pitaka . His messages to people was that tye world is full of sufferings and a man could attain salvation by following his teachings contained in the Eightfold Path and Four Noble Truths.