Whether or not Gautam Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu is still a topic of debate. However, it cannot be argued that Gautam Buddha was a man who brought on the wave of revolution and inspired millions in the process.
In Hinduism, an avatar is the embodiment of a deity in human or animal form to counterbalance some particular evil in the universe. Usually referred to as the ten manifestations of Vishnu, an Avatar plays a great role in the history of Indian Mythology. Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (half-man, half-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama (Rama with the axe), Rama (hero of the Ramayana epic), Krishna (the holy cowherd), Buddha, and Kalkin (the incarnation yet to come) are the ten manifestations of Vishnu.
The Bhagavad Gita gives one example of this phenomenon when Krishna tells Prince Arjuna:
“Whenever there is a decline of righteousness [dharma] and rise of unrighteousness then I send forth Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age.”
The Story Of Buddha
Whether or not Gautam Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu is still a topic of debate. The historic Buddha, also known as Gautama Buddha, is the ninth of the god Vishnu’s ten primary incarnations, according to the Vaishnavite school of Hinduism. Hindus who regard “Buddhism to be another kind of Hinduism” worship the Buddha in contemporary Hinduism. Other Hindus, though, dispute Gautama Buddha’s identification as a Vishnu avatar, citing Purana texts that distinguish the two as separate people.
The adoption of the Buddha in books on Hindu gods, as well as the adoption of Hindu gods in Buddhist texts, is difficult to date. The Buddha avatar story first developed in the pre-Gupta period, when orthodox Brahmanism was under attack from the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, as well as foreign invaders. Between A.D. 450 and the sixth century, Hindus began to see the Buddha as a Vishnu avatar, first appearing in the Vishnu Purana (400-500 CE). The Buddha was integrated and subordinated into the Brahmanical cult of Visnu around the same time the Buddha was replaced as the “cosmic person” within the legendary ideology of Indian kingship.
In the same way that Hinduism embraced the Buddha as an avatar, Buddhism allegedly adopted Krushna in their Jataka stories, stating that Krushna (Vishnu avatar) was a character whom Buddha met and mentored in his past lives. Some of the anecdotes in Pali literature about Buddha appear to be malicious distortions of Hindu mythology, yet they may reflect historical local traditions and the intricacies of early interaction between the two Indian religions.
While the Buddhist Jataka writings co-opt Krushna-Vasudeva and make him a previous-life disciple of the Buddha, Hindu scriptures co-opt the Buddha and make him an avatar of Vishnu. In the Dasaratha Jataka, Buddha also refers to himself as Rama.
Buddha is venerated as a divine figure who was born in India and awakened there. Outside of India, some modern Hindus honor the Buddha as well as other gods during their festivals.
Sarvepalli RadhaKrushnan and Swami Vivekananda, two prominent modern Hindus, see the Buddha as an example of the same fundamental truth that underpins all religions. The Buddha’s life and teachings, as well as many of his attempted reforms, have inspired a number of revolutionary individuals in modern Hinduism, notably Mahatma Gandhi. Some Hindus regard “Buddhism” as merely another variant of Hinduism.
While it is widely unclear as to whether Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu or not, it cannot be argued that Gautam Buddha was a man who brought on the wave of revolution and inspired millions in the process.
