temple, Andhra Pradesh The Buddha was integrated into Vaishnavism through its legends and similar work in restoring the dhamma ('Dharma') in the Vaishnava
Puranas, where the Buddha is considered as the ninth avatar of Vishnu. According to the
Agni Purana, Vishnu assumed this incarnation on earth due to the
daityas (a race of
asuras) defeating the
devas in their battles. In order to restore the natural order, he deluded the asuras with his teachings. This resulted in them abandoning the path established by the
Vedas as they converted to
Buddhism, in turn causing them to be devoid of
dharma. This caused them to become
dasyus at the end of the
Kali Yuga. As a consequence, they were sent to
Naraka, devoid of good conduct. Furthermore, the Buddha causes the age to be characterised by the intermixture of the
varnas and domination by the
Mlecchas (barbarian and foreign forces to Vedic cultures). Subsequently, according to tradition, it became the responsibility of
Adi Shankaracharya and future Vaishnava
acharyas to re-establish
theism.
Chronology The adoption of the Buddha in texts relating to Hindu gods and of Hindu gods in Buddhist texts is difficult to place chronologically. According to Doniger, the myth of the Buddha avatar first appeared in the pre-
Gupta period, when orthodox brahmanistic Vedic traditions were threatened by the rise of Buddhism and Jainism (and by foreign invaders). According to Doniger, "Hindus came to regard the Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu between A.D. 450 and the sixth century," first appearing in the
Vishnu Purana (400-500 CE). According to John Holt, "The replacement of the Buddha as the "cosmic person" within the mythic ideology of Indian kingship [...] occurred at about the same time the Buddha was incorporated and subordinated within the Brahmanical cult of Vishnu."
In literature The Buddha is mentioned as an avatar of Vishnu in the Puranas and the epics such as: •
Harivamsa (1.41) •
Vishnu Purana (3.18) •
Bhagavata Purana (1.3.24, 2.7.37, 11.4.22) Another important scripture that mentions him as an avatar is
Parashara's
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (2:1-5/7). Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu is part of a
cosmic cycle, in which the
dharma is destroyed in the
Kali Yuga, and then restored again in the
Satya Yuga, when Vishnu incarnates as
Kalki. The
Bhavishya Purana incorporates historical facts about dynastical lineages, stating the following: Some Hindu texts, such as the
Bhagavata Purana, prophesy the existence of Buddha, born to lead the atheists.
Bhagavata Purana 1.3.24: In the
Skanda Purana, the Buddha is stated to be one of the incarnations of
Vasudeva, and begin enchanting the universe, causing righteousness to dissipate and immorality to prevail: His father is usually called Śuddhodhana, which is consistent with the Buddhist tradition, while in a few places the Buddha's father is named Añjana or Jina. This is due to the fact that in some texts both Buddhism and Jainism are used by Vishnu to mislead the demons, and a confusion of names and doctrines appears, when the Buddha is called the son of Jina, mistakenly mimicking
Buddhist texts which refer to the Buddha as
Jina (conqueror), a term more often used in Jainism. Other texts portray him in a more positive way, as born to stop all killing of animals. Only a few statements mention the worship of Buddha, e.g. the
Varahapurana states that one desirous of beauty should worship him. Some pre-14th-century Hindu temples include Buddha reliefs with the same reverence they show for other avatars of Vishnu, but though an avatar of Vishnu, the Buddha is rarely worshipped like Krishna and Rama in Hinduism.
Assimilation of Buddhist influences The adoption of the Buddha may also have been a way to assimilate aspects of Buddhism into the fold of Hinduism. According to Wendy Doniger, "Helmuth von Glasenapp attributed these developments to a Hindu desire to absorb Buddhism in a peaceful manner, both to win Buddhists to
Vaishnavism and also to account for the fact that such a significant heresy could exist in India." According to Donald Swearer, the understanding of the Buddha in Hinduism is a part of his wider and diverse influences. Even within Buddhism, states Swearer, the Buddha and his ideas are conceptualized differently between Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, Japanese and other traditions. Similarly, in various traditions of Hinduism (and elsewhere), the Buddha is accepted and interpreted in different ways.
Syncretism Much like Hinduism's adoption of the Buddha as an avatar, Buddhism legends too adopted
Krishna in their
Jataka tales, claiming Krishna (Vishnu avatar) to be a character whom Buddha met and taught in his previous births. According to Alf Hiltebeitel and other scholars, some of the stories in Buddha-related Jataka tales found in Pali texts seem slanderous distortions of Hindu legends, but these may reflect the ancient local traditions and the complexities of early interaction between the two
Indian religions. While the Buddhist Jataka texts co-opt Krishna-Vasudeva and make him a student of the Buddha in his previous life, the Hindu texts co-opt the Buddha and make him an
avatar of
Vishnu. Similarly, in
Dasaratha Jataka Buddha identifies himself as
Rama. ==Rejection==