Buddha and Dashavataram

[Guest guest]

Buddha is not considered by most Sri Vaishnavas as one among the Dashavatarams

of Vishnu. Venkatesha Suprabhatam, constructed some 2000 years after the time

of

Buddha names the ten avatarams of Vishnu in the verse:

Meena Krite Kamata kola Nrisimha Varnin

Swamin Parashwata tapodhana Raama Chandra

Sheshamsha Rama Yadunandana Kalkya roopa....

 

Likewise we donUt see mention of Buddha in the works of Andal either.

This does not diminish or dispute the compassionate teachings of Buddha, but

I

am just

making an observation. I will present here my views on why Buddha should not

be

included as well as why he may be included as an avatara of Vishnu.

 

Buddha should not be considered as one among the 10 avataras of Vishnu for the

following reasons:

 

1. Buddha rejected the authority of the Vedas as well as the previous Avataras

regarded by Hindus.

 

All the Vedic deities and other puranic deities (such as Naga) became dasas

of

Buddha in the later Buddhist myths.

 

Rama and Parasurama disputed over the destruction of Shiva Dhanus. But

Parasurama instantly recognized the Vishnu in Rama and reconciled with him,

because they were birds of the same feather (of Garuda!). No such

reconciliation

is to be seen with Buddha and the Vedas.

I also like to point out here (in response to Mr. Sampat RengiUs comments)

that

having Parashurama as an avataram is not a problem.

 

2. Buddha never claimed that he is God or an avatara of God.

He did not show any miraculous powers. When a mother who had lost her child

to

snake bite sought BuddhaUs help, he advised her that all life is sorrowful

and

to participate in the sorrows of life cheerfully. This is the most powerful

teaching of Buddha and the one I like to practice.

 

3. Buddha was a rebellious reformer. He did accept some Hindu concepts such as

reincarnation, and expanded on some others such as Ahimsa. In comparison,

Mahatma Gandhi and Sai Baba make a better choice as one of the ten avataras of

Vishnu rather than Buddha.

 

4. Buddhist texts such as the Jataka tales talk about the previous

incarnations

of Buddha as Bodhisatvas. They do not link Buddha to any of the avataras of

Vishnu.

 

5. Mahaveera, a contemporary of Buddha, has more similarities to Buddha.

However, no attempt has been made to call him as one of the 10 avataras of

Vishnu. We should treat the Buddha the same way.

 

6. Buddha discovered truth by himself. Even if the truth he discovered may not

be different from that proclaimed by the Hindu sages prior to him. Let it be

that. IsnUt it true that Spinoza (a Jew living under the mercy of Christians

in

Amsterdam) came up with a philosophy similar to the Vedic? After all isnUt it

also true that anyone can independently discover the same truth?

Thus, including Buddha in the 10 avataras for whatever reason is both

erroneous

as well as arrogance on our part that only Vishnavites have a monopoly on the

truth.

 

7. Dr. Ambedkar, perhaps would not have embraced Buddhism, if he thought that

Buddha is an avatara of Vishnu.

 

8. Only one of the dashavatarams are predicted for Kaliyuga and that spot is

allotted to Kalki.

 

Buddha could be included as an avatara of Vishnu for the following reasons.

 

1. Jayadeva of 14 th century Orissa has included Buddha in the Dashavatara in

his beautiful lyrics. Because he made Keshava(Krishna) as the one incarnating

as the fish, tortoise etc., he used Buddha to come up with the ten count.

Buddha is a self-realized person and so it is okay to include him,

especially

at a time when Buddha is of a lesser threat to Vedic Hinduism than other

forces.

 

2. Jayadeva was influenced by Chaitanya and Vallabha Charya- both staunch

Krishna devotees. Everyone is after all an amsha of Narayana, and on this

grounds also we can reconcile including Buddha as an avatara.

After all we are in HIM even if HE is not in us ( or not recognized by us)!

 

3. Having Balarama (Adishesha) as the avatara of Vishnu is cumbersome. How

come

such a staunch devotee of Vishnu in Ramayana came about to become both the

elder

brother (to Krishna) and an avatara of Vishnu ?

JayadevaUs classification does not solve this problem.

 

4. Gita talks about avataras in Chapter 4 and there are no names mentioned or

the number limitations imposed. Whenever and wherever there is a need the God

residing within will take charge (examples, Gandhi, Lincoln, Martin Luther

King,

Martin Luther, etc). Thus we can include many great souls from around the

world as avataras of Vishnu and rest of the population as the Avataras in the

making (sort of Bodhisatva concept).

 

Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

On Jan 4, 4:01pm, kotisreekrishna wrote:

>

> 2. Jayadeva was influenced by Chaitanya and Vallabha Charya- both staunch

> Krishna devotees. Everyone is after all an amsha of Narayana, and on this

> grounds also we can reconcile including Buddha as an avatara.

> After all we are in HIM even if HE is not in us ( or not recognized by us)!

 

FYI, Jayadeva preceded both Caitanya Mahaprabhu and

Vallabhacharya. It is in Jayadeva's literature that

we see the first distinct appearance of the Radha-Krishna

mode of Vaishnavism.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

On Jan 4, 4:01pm, kotisreekrishna wrote:

> Buddha and Dashavataram

>

> 5. Mahaveera, a contemporary of Buddha, has more similarities to Buddha.

> However, no attempt has been made to call him as one of the 10 avataras of

> Vishnu. We should treat the Buddha the same way.

 

Even though Mahaveera is not considered an avatara of Vishnu the first

tirthankara of Jainism, Risabadeva is considered (and glorified in Bhagavatam).

Even the Jains accept that Rishaba is the first tirthankara and Mahaveera the

24th. Just wanted to point out this.

> Buddha could be included as an avatara of Vishnu for the following reasons.

>

> 1. Jayadeva of 14 th century Orissa has included Buddha in the Dashavatara

in

> his beautiful lyrics. Because he made Keshava(Krishna) as the one

incarnating

> as the fish, tortoise etc., he used Buddha to come up with the ten count.

> Buddha is a self-realized person and so it is okay to include him,

> especially

> at a time when Buddha is of a lesser threat to Vedic Hinduism than other

> forces.

>

> 2. Jayadeva was influenced by Chaitanya and Vallabha Charya- both staunch

> Krishna devotees. Everyone is after all an amsha of Narayana, and on this

> grounds also we can reconcile including Buddha as an avatara.

> After all we are in HIM even if HE is not in us ( or not recognized by us)!

 

As Mani already pointed out, Jayadeva was much before Caitanya and Vallabha.

 

-ravi.

 

--

 

-----------------------kirtaniyah sada Hari---------------------------