Buddha is not the ninth avatar of Sri Vishnu.

By editor - 1.11 2024

The Dasavathara Perumal Temple built by Tirumangai Azhwar in Srirangam features the following 10 Avatars: Matsya, Koorma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna and Kalki. So that would make Balarama the 8th Avatar and Krishna the 9th. Other Sampradayas may claim Buddha was the 8th and this Buddha was different from Gauthama Buddha but we don't entertain this theory in the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya.

The whole premise of South Indians, especially Tamils, accepting Sri Balarama to be part of the Dashavatara instead of the Buddha can be attributed to the Sangam Literature. The Sangam Literature is the oldest collection of Tamil literature that has survived to this day and although the dating of the literature is controversial it is nevertheless the oldest collection of Tamil literature from antiquity. Sangam literature was authored by authors of various religious (Hindu, Jain and Buddisht) and socio-economic backgrounds. Paripāṭal which is the fifth of the Eight Anthologies (Eṭṭuttokai) in the Sangam literature lists 6 avatars of Sri Vishnu (excluding Sri Hamsa) out of the 10 avatars: Sri Kurma, Sri Varaha, Sri Narasimha, Sri Vamana, Sri Balarama and Sri Krishna. The very first stanza of the Paripāṭal mentions Sri Balarama:

ஆயிரம் விரித்த அணங்குடை அருந்தலைதீ உமிழ் திறலொடு முடிமிசை அணவரமாயுடை மலர் மார்பின்மை இல் வால் வளை மேனிச்சேய் உயர் பணை மிசை எழில் வேழம் ஏந்தியவாய் வாங்கும் வளை நாஞ்சில் ஒரு குழை ஒருவனை

Translation: The fierce deity with a thousand precious heads, spews blazing venom above his head. United with Thirumakal/Lakshmi, he stands tall with a wide chest and flawless skin resembling a white conch. His stature is very high, like the top of a bamboo, and he possesses the grace and majesty of a beautiful elephant. Lifted in his hand is a sharp, long, curved plow, while he adorns himself with a single earring.

In this line, you can see him described as having a "flawless skin resembling a white conch", "sharp, long, curved plow" and "he adorns himself with a single earring", which are all descriptions of Sri Balarama. What's interesting is that this stanza doesn't mention Sri Balarama alone, it acknowledges he is Sri Adisesha and at the same time associates him with Lakshmi Devi. This is definitive proof that Sri Balarama was in fact acknowledged as an avatar of Sri Vishnu through his expansion of Sri Adisesha. The association of Sri Balarama with the rest of the Avatars of Sri Vishnu is consistent in other Sangam Literature as well.

However, the argument for the Buddha being part of the Dashavatara is from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.22-25:

एकोनविंशे विंशतिमे वृष्णिषु प्राप्य जन्मनी ।
रामकृष्णाविति भुवो भगवानहरद्भ‍रम् ॥ २३ ॥

Translation: In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa in the family of Vṛṣṇi [the Yadu dynasty], and by so doing He removed the burden of the world.

तत: कलौ सम्प्रवृत्ते सम्मोहाय सुरद्विषाम् ।
बुद्धो नाम्नाञ्जनसुत: कीकटेषु भविष्यति ॥ २४ ॥

Translation: Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Añjanā, in the province of Gayā, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.

अथासौ युगसन्ध्यायां दस्युप्रायेषु राजसु ।
जनिता विष्णुयशसो नाम्ना कल्किर्जगत्पति: ॥ २५ ॥

Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Viṣṇu Yaśā. At this time almost all the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.

Notice that in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam the sequence is Sri Balarama, Sri Krishna, Buddha and Sri Kalki. If you were to fit this sequence into the Dashavatara sequence that is accepted by all Sampradayas, fixing Sri Krishna and Sri Kali as accepted avatars, you would realise that either Sri Balarama and Buddha would be the outliers. Because you cannot have Dashavatara with both Sri Balarama and Buddha present, that would make it 11 Avatars in total. So who do we exclude, Sri Balarama or Buddha?

To solve this dispute we will have to resort to Sangam Literature. Although the dating of Sangam Literature is disputed, the leela where Sri Krishna is said to have stolen the clothes of young Gopis while they were bathing in the Yamuna river finds its earliest reference in Sangam Literature and is absent in any other Sanskrit literature before 5th century.

Akanānūru 59

மரம் செல மிதித்த மாஅல் போலப்,புன்தலை மடப்பிடி உணீஇயர், அம் குழைநெடுநிலை யாஅம் ஒற்றி நனை கவுள்படி ஞிமிறு கடியும் களிறே தோழி

Translation: Thirumal (Sri Krishna) stepped on a Kuruntham tree branch on the long sandy shores of the ever flowing northern Yamuna river to give cool leaf garments to the daughters of cattle herders.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.22.17

ततो जलाशयात् सर्वा दारिका: शीतवेपिता: ।
पाणिभ्यां योनिमाच्छाद्य प्रोत्तेरु: शीतकर्शिता: ॥ १७ ॥

Then, shivering from the painful cold, all the young girls rose up out of the water, covering their pubic area with their hands.You can clearly see the difference in how the situation is described. In the older Sangam work of Akanānūru, Sri Krishna protected the modesty of Gopis by breaking tree branches to provide them with "cool leaf garments" and in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam he doesn't seem to do this. Therefore, taking Sangam Literature to be the primary source, I would like to argue that Sri Balarama was the original Avatar who was part of the Dashavatara instead of Buddha, as this has been the case since antiquity and Buddha was a much later insertion due to socio-political reasons that are well known to everyone.

 

First of all, Not all Hindus Consider Gautam Bhuddha as an Avatar of Vishnu. we Know That he was Not an avatar of Vishnu. Vishnu’s avatar is Sugata bhuddha Not Siddhartha Gautama. I agree That Many Hindus Considers Gautama Bhuddha as an avatar of Vishnu. But it is Wrong.Actually There are Two Bhuddhas Sugata bhuddha and Gautama Bhuddha. Vishnu’s avatar was Sugata Bhuddha Not siddhartha Gautama. siddhartha gautama was born in lumbini whereas Sugata bhuddha was born in Bodh Gaya (Kikata) . Siddhartha gautama’s Mother was “Maya” whereas Sugata bhuddha’s Mother Name Was Anjana. lord Vishnu Took This avatar To help lord Shiva To Kill Tripurasura. Brahmanda Purana Says “Tripurastri Manabhanga Sarva Shastra Visharadaha” .

There was a demon Named Tripurasura He was a Powerful demon. His Wife loved Him Very Much. Tripurasura’s wife Followed The “Pativrata dharma”. she always Prayed For her husband’s Good health and long life. She also Had a Boon That Nobody Can Kill Her husband. Because Of Her Boon lord Shiva Can’t able To Kill Tripurasura. Shiva asked lord Vishnu For Help. lord Vishnu Took This avatar without dress and Attracted The wife of Tripurasura. once she was going To Temple To Pray For her husband’s long life. on The way she Saw The Handsome Bhuddha who was Sitting without Clothes. That bhuddha was None other Than lord Vishnu. After seeing Vishnu’s handsome body Tripurasura’s wife attracted To Him. She Slowly started Forgetting Her husband. and Her “Pativratya” has been lost . So This was The Correct Time For Shiva To kill her husband. Shiva Utilised This Opportunity and Immediately killed Tripurasura.

The Another Reason For This avatar is Many daityas (demons) started learning vedas and Shastras. lord Vishnu was Not Happy with This Because daityas don’t have eligibility To Read The vedas. Only devatas are allowed To Read The vedas. Hence Vishnu Took avatar as Bhuddha deluded and Misled Them. in Treta Yuga Vishnu Took avatar as Rama To behead The Ravana’s Heads. in Satya Yuga He Took Narasimha avatar To Rip off The Hiranyakashyap’s Chest. in Kali Yuga’s Starting Period He Took avatar as bhuddha only To Mislead and delude All The daityas. So Gautama bhuddha was Not an avatar of Vishnu it was Sugata Bhuddha who is The avatar of lord Vishnu. Jai Shri Hari.

 

If Buddha is the 9th avatar of Lord Vishnu, why is he not worshipped by Hindus in India?

 

First read the verse below from Srimad Bhagvatam and understand

Now what is the purpose written to delude those who are envious.

But in the scripture it is mentioned that Buddha is a shakyyavesha avataar. What is a shakyyavesha avataar? The avataar which is actually not an expansion of Vishnu but a great devotee who is empowered to act as Vishnu. Examples are Narada, Chatuskumar, Parashurama, Prithu maharaj.

Buddha comes in different kaliyugas for different reasons. Now why is he not directly worshipped. For that we need to know his mission.

As we have heard the famous verse yada yada hi dharmasya…. So at a time after Parikshit Maharaj left there were many miscreants who in the name of Vedas were just cheating and killing animals. Even today animal slaughter is used to please God. Now a simple question why will God want to kill His own children. Thus there was adharma going in the name of religion. Common people were cheated. So to revive the true religious principles an avataar comes for the purpose.

So Buddha straight forward rejected the Vedas and preached non violence extensively. Since he rejected Vedas (purposefully) Hindus do not wirship him directly. But some elevated devotees like Jayadev the famous devotee of Bihar have mentioned like as below.

nindāsī yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ
sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam
keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare
नंदसि यज्ञ- विधेर् अहः श्रुति जातम्
सदय-हृदय-दर्शित-पशु-घातम्
केशव धृत-बुद्ध-शरीर जय जगदीश हरे
O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of Buddha! All glories to You! O Buddha of compassionate heart, you decry the slaughtering of poor animals performed according to the rules of Vedic sacrifice.

-Dashavtaar stotram.

 

 

 

Adi Buddha is the 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Not Gautama Buddha.

Adi Buddha is a term used in Tantric Buddhism to refer to the Primordial Buddha. The term Sanghyang Adi Buddha is agreed upon and used by the Indonesian Supreme Sangha and the Indonesian Buddhist Council as the designation for the God Almighty.

Vajradhāra (Sanskrit: वज्रधर. ... According to the Kagyu lineage, Buddhā Vajradhāra is the primordial Buddha, the Dharmakaya Buddha. He is depicted as dark blue in color, expressing the quintessence of Buddhahood itself and representing the essence of the historical Buddha's realization of enlightenment.

 

 

 

OK let’s check what the scriptures indicate about the Buddha avatar of Vishnu

tatah kalau sampravritte

sammohaya sura-dvisham

buddho namnanjana-sutaha

kikateshu bhavishyati

Then in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Buddha, son of Anjana, in the province of Magadha just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist

(Shrimad Bhagvtam Canto 1)

So from the above verse we can conclude two things

(1) Buddha the Avatar of Vishnu will be born to Anjana

(2) The Birth of Buddha (Avatar of Vishnu) will happen at a place called Kikata (Gita press has translated the place Kikata as Magadha in present day Bihar)

Now as far as Gautama Buddha is concerned who is born as Siddhartha we know for the fact that

(1) Gautama Buddha was born to Mahamaya or Maya

(2) The Birth of Gautama Buddha happened at Lumbini in present day Myanmar.

so we can see that the details regarding the Gautama Buddha doesn’t match with the details of the Buddha the Avatar of Vishnu. given in the scriptures

Also we need to note that the name “Buddha” is not the original name of Gautama Buddha its is Siddhartha.

so hence proved that The Gautama Buddha is not same as the Buddha who is mentioned as the Avatar of Vishnu in the scriptures.

So in all we can conclude that the Buddha of Buddhism is not an avatar of Vishnu.

 

 

 

Why do some people disregard Gautama Buddha as the 9th avatar of Lord Vishnu?

 

 

The first eight incarnations in the Dashavatara list is clear and no one has any issues with it. They are Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parshurama, Rama and Krishna. The problem is only with the ninth incarnation. Few texts say it was Buddha and few say it is Balarama. Gaudiya Vaishnavas don’t even consider Krishna as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.. Instead they say Lord Vishnu was an incarnation of Krishna. So their list ends with Balarama, Buddha and Kalki replacing Krishna with Balarama. Vayu Purana while mentioning the Dashavatara includes Dattatreya and Vedavyasa but skips Buddha.

88. In the tenth Tretayuga when Dharma had been ruined he had his fourth incarnation as Dattatreya with Markandeya as his preceptor.

89. His fifth incarnation was in the fifteenth Tretayuga as Mandhata, the Emperor. Tathya (Utathya?) was his preceptor.

90. The sixth incarnation was that as the son of Jamadagni in the nineteenth Tretayuga. He annihilated all the Ksatriyas. He had Visvamitra as his preceptor (Purohita).

91. In the twenty fourth Tretayuga, he took his seventh incarnation as Rama, the son of Dasaratha. In his sacrifice Vasistha was his priest. It was for the purpose of killing Ravana.

92. In the twenty eighth Dvapara Yuga, Visnu took his eighth incarnation as Vedavyasa born of Parasara. He had Jatukarna as the preceptor.

93. Visnu who had been born earlier as the son of Aditi and Kasyapa took his ninth incarnation as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva with the Brahmana Gargya as his preceptor.

Source: Vayu Purana Chapter 36

Mahabharata also lists the Dashavatara but skips Buddha.

Appearing in the forms of a swan, a tortoise, a fish, O foremost of regenerate ones, I shall then display myself as a boar, then as a Man-lion (Nrisingha), then as a dwarf, then as Rama of Bhrigu's race, then as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, then as Krishna the scion of the Sattwata race, and lastly as Kalki.

Source: Mahabharata Shanti Parva Section CCCXL

Bhagavata Purana mentions Buddha as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Añjanā, in the province of Gayā, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.

Source: SB 1.3.24

But Buddha’s mother mentioned in this text is Anjana and birthplace is Gaya. Gautama Buddha’s parents were Suddhodana and Mayadevi and his birthplace is Lumbini which is now in Nepal. This leads to a speculation whether there were two Buddhas. Bhagavata also mentions Kamsa’s chief Akrura praying to Lord Krishna as follows:

Obeisances to Your form as the faultless Lord Buddha, who will bewilder the Daityas and Dānavas, and to Lord Kalki, the annihilator of the meat-eaters posing as kings.

Source: SB 10.40.22

There is a Buddhist Literature named Lalitavistara Sutra which tells the life story of Gautama Buddha. This text mentions that Gautama Buddha meditated on the same spot as previous Buddha.

cha dharanimunde purvabuddhasanasthaha

translation: he sat on the eroded ground which was the birthplace of the previous Buddha.

This concludes Gautama Buddha is different from the Buddha mentioned in Hindu scriptures.

 

 

 

From what I know, in Srimad Bhagavat Purana it is mentioned that Narayana will come in Kaliyuga as Buddha, born from the womb of Anjana Devi in Bodhgaya, to stop Animal Sacrifice.

Buddha is a title given to great intelligent philosophers or researchers. So anyone following these criteria could be called Buddha.

Siddharth Gautam wasn't born in Bodhgaya. His mother's name was not Anjana. And He preached about renunciation. So from these info we can clearly see that He wasn't the Buddha mentioned in Srimad Bhagavat Purana.

The confusion may have been created by His followers who later tried to convert Hindus. They may have tried to sell the idea to Hindus that Lord Narayana preached their philosophy of renunciation. And since Gautam travelled to a lot of places and meditated and one of those was Bodhgaya (according to them itself), they could have leveraged this idea.

But later on, the Hindus found that Gautam was an atheist. The followers of Shankaracharya philosophy strictly contested the idea that Gautam was the one mentioned. And since then some Vaishnavas concluded that Gautam preached atheism to delude and bring peace among the atheists or mal practitioners, and some believe that He wasn't even the one mentioned in Srimad Bhagavat Purana.

 

 

Adi Buddha and Gautama buddha, Which one is the real avatar of Lord vishnu?

Many sites claim that there were Two buddhas and both were different.

It is said that Adi buddha was the real avatar of lord vishnu.

Gautama buddha was only a enlightened one but not an avatar of lord vishnu.
 

Puri Shankaracharya’s view

Puri’s Shankaracharya too sheds some light in this regard as he goes on to say that though both’s gotra was the same i.e. Gautama Gotra, there were the below mentioned differentiating factors, indicating two Buddhas. These factors are:

Buddhavatara was born as a Brahmin whereas Gautama Buddha was born in the Kshatriya lineage.
As per ŚB 1.3.24, the Buddhavatara would be born in Kikata (Magadha South Bihar) whereas Gautama Buddha was born in Nepal.

According to him, the reasons for the confusion between both the Buddhas are:

The iconography of Buddha and that has been given in the Agni Purana, Chapter 49, was confused with that of the Buddhists. (When as per another site Buddhists were Shunyavadis and never believed in idol worship)
The Amarakosha written by Amar Singh, a Buddhist mentions the names of the two Buddhas in close proximity to each other which leads to the merger of the two. (Refer: this site for which names indicate which Buddha)

Puri’s Shankaracharya gives another very interesting point that while taking sankalpa, the words that are spoken include a term ‘Bauddhāvatāre’ meaning in the era of Bhagwan Shri Vishnu’s avatara named Buddha (जम्बूद्वीपे भारतवर्षे भरतखण्डे ... बौद्धावतारे...).
Also as per another account (can’t find it), one purpose of this avatara born in the Brahmin lineage, was to give the devatas their rightful share and conceal those mantras by which asuras could be invoked and mantras misused.

 

 

I think Buddha is mentioned in many Puranas like Agni,Padma,Vayu,Vishnu and few others.In all of them simply Buddha is mentioned or the term "Bauddha" is used.Although not sure if by "Bauddha" is meant the followers of Tathagata Buddha or simply those sects who don't follow Sruti and Smriti texts.

The Agni Purana ,however,mentions Buddha as one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu.

Buddha Avatar:

As there was an ongoing battle of Devas and Asuras for long time, Devas approached Lord Vishnu to revive ‘Dharma’ and ‘Nyaya’ and beseeched Him to take human form once again. The Lord said that ‘Mayamoha’ would soon take birth as Buddha to one Sudhodana. But the illusions that would be created in the name of Buddha would be such that many evil persons would call themselves as Buddhists and undo all the Golden Traditions established in Vedas and other Scriptures. The misleading ways would advocate materialism in detestable manner and finally end up in the last phase of ‘Kali Yuga’

In Bhavishya Purana,Goutama Buddha is mentioned but not as an incarnation:

In the initial years of Kali Yuga, the survivor Mlecchas gradually adopted responses to the new environs, new ways of life and even new language styles.For instance, earlier languages got corrupted and new expressions emerged; Vraja Bhasha, Prakruti, Sanskrit etc. got adapted from Gurundika (English) which was also different from Mleccha Bhasha/ Yavani and new corruptions of various languages both in spoken and written scripts got adapted..........

Magadha Kingdom was segregated from Arya desha and was surrounded by Kalinga (Orissa) in Agneya or South East, Avanti in South, Aanart (Gujarat) in Nirruti or South West, Sindhu to the West, Kaikadesha in Vayavya or North West, Madra Desha in North and Kulinda in Ishaanya or North East. In the lineage of King Magadha was the famed Ajata Shatru.

The contemporary times of the Magadha Kings witnessed the emergence of Buddha Dharma set up by Goutama Buddha at Kapilavastu.The emphasis of Buddhism was on Truth, Virtue and Non-Violence which are already part of the traditional Vedic Dharma but were against the consequential Rituals. Goutama's philosophy created high waves and eventually secured wide spread acceptance especiallly supported by Kings and large sections of common persons. It was in this lineage of Kings were Sakya Muni-Shuddhodana-Sakyha Singha-Buddhi Simha-Chandra Gupta.

In any case, there some people who consider that Bhavisya Purana has been interpolated.

Adi Buddha

Adi Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu lived from 1887 BC to 1807 BC born to Mother Anjana and Suddhodana in (Bodh Gaya). He born in the Same Ikshvaku dynasty in which Rama also born. The Adi Buddha Established the Philosophy of Ahimsa, Non Violence. He preached against ritual Animal Sacrifices that has crept into Vedic Hinduism.

Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha was born in 6th century BC in Royal Family of Suddhodana and Mayadevi in Lumbini in Nepal. Siddhartha received his name Gautama from his Guru Gautama Muni, who belongs to Kapila dynasty. He renounced his palace comforts to find enlightenment. He went to Bodh Gaya to meditate and got enlightenment. He meditated at the birth place of Adi Buddha.

If you look at the various arguments, you can say there were two Buddhas. Adi Buddha is the founder of Buddhism with Hindu philosophy. Gautama Buddha is not an avatar of Vishnu and who rejected Vedas and established modern(Neo) Buddhism.That's why you can still find remnants of Hindu thoughts in Buddhism.

Because Adi Shankara, who revived Hinduism after destroying the spread of Buddhism, gloried the path of Buddha.

I worship the spiritual radiance manifested as Buddha, who was all-knowing, who was the conqueror of Mara, who was full of mercy, who was of the nature of Buddhaand who was the adored of those who were opponents of Yajnas.