Why did Vishnu incarnate as Buddha after delivering Gita?

Question

Vishnu as Shri Krishna, delivered Gita as the most hidden knowledge where the soul leaves the body & takes rebirth in a new body. On the other hand Buddha said, there is no soul, it's when the karma is exhausted, the living being is liberated from Samsara. Shri Krishna said only through bhakti one can be delivered and go to His abode as final destination. Buddha taught the liberation is through meditation, which is a sign of a tapasvi. Why would the way to liberation have different opinions?

Answer 1

Well in Vedas, animal sacrifices are prescribed. But there came a time, when real purposes behind the sacrifices probably got forgotten and people started doing the rituals wrongly and were merely slaughtering animals for their own sake but the excuse was that since it is allowed in scriptures, so nothing wrong.

But if animal sacrifice reduces to mere animal slaughter then it does good to nobody. So, it was required to be stopped.

And, in order to stop this practice Lord Vishnu incarnated as Buddha. Now, since animal sacrifice is Vedic, he had to preach an anti-Vedic doctrine to delude the Jinas who were misusing the prescription of animal sacrifices found in the scriptures.

This reason is mentioned in Jayadeva Goswami's Dashavatara Stotram:

Buddha Avatâra:

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha s'ruti-i-jâtam |

Decrying slaughter according the rules of Vedic sacrifice,

sadaya-hridaya dars'ita-pas'u-ghâtam |

You are compassionate of heart with the poor animals.

kes'ava dhrita-buddha-s'arîra |

O Kes'ava in the form of Buddha! Hail Hari! Lord of the universe.

jaya jagadîs'a hare, jaya jagadîs'a hare, jaya jagadîs'a hare ||

So, basically, for this particular incarnation, he came to preach against Vedic doctrines and to stop mass slaughtering of innocent animals in the name of Vedic sacrifices.

Answer 2

Some claims particular incarnations of God appeared for deluding people! but I think the realized souls were all very respectful to Buddha--be it Ramakrishna, Ramana, Vivekananda or any other respected saint. i did not find a single word in any biography of our great saints condemning Buddha! As Rickross points out very rightly, Buddha appeared to stop mass slaughtering of the innocent animals.

Buddha was the last but one Incarnation of Sri Vishnu as per the scriptures.

Let us know hear from Sri Krishnaprem,(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Prem),the great Gaudiya Vaishnava on this very topic eightyone years ago. He writes in His 'The Search for Truth'(1938):

It is necessary to say a few words about foolish notion that is unfortunately current in some quarters of this country.It is said that the Buddha, though an Avatara of Vishnu, was one who came in order to delude the Asuras by teaching false doctrines and to destroy them by leading them upon a wrong path.**The authority for this view is sometimes said to be a certain verse in the Srimad-Bhagavata (1/3/24), but in that verse it is stated that He was the son of Anjana and born in the Kikata family. Since the historical Buddha is well-known to have been born in the Lumbini Park near Kapilavastu, it should be quite clear that the writer of the above verse in question either did not know what he was talking about or else was referring to some other person altogether. In either case **it is clear that it is high time that this shameful doctrine should be utterly abandoned.

Then Sri Krishnaprem explains how glorious the life and illumination of Buddha was. He then writes

It is surely a crowning example of the base ingratitude of humanity that One who had thus striven, life after life, for the welfare of others and Who had lit such a Light in the world that by Its rays countless millions have set foot upon the path of salvation should have forgotten in the very country of His birth, or, worse still, have been cruelly slandered by saying that He came to deceive those to save whom He had again and again laid down His life.

He explains beautifully in next few paragraphs of His book that there is no essential difference between the teachings of the Vedas and the teachings of Buddha. He then writes

And what of that Goal,--- the Goal towards which the Buddhist direct his steps?It is that same Goal..beyond all names and all descriptions, being the One Reality from which, as the Shruti says, "speech and mind fall back unable to fathom it".

Sri Krishnaprem sees Buddha as the Manifestation or Incarnation of the same Divinity Who takes birth in each age out of His Love and compassion to preserve Dharma.

Sri Krishna's comments in the Gita on the Vedas and some of Their followers are also worth mentioning while thinking of the criticism of the Vedas by Lord Buddha :

2.42-2.43 O son of Prtha, those undiscerning people who utter this flowery talk which promises birth as a result of rites and duties, and is full of various special rites meant for the attainment of enjoyment and affluence , they remain engrossed in the utterances of the Vedas and declare that nothing else exists; their minds are full of desires and they have heaven as the goal.

2.44 One-pointed conviction does not become established in the minds of those who delight in enjoyment and affluence, and whose intellects are carried away by that (speech).

2.45 O Arjuna, the Vedas [Meaning only the portion dealing with rites and duties (karma-kanda).] have the three qualities as their object. You become free from worldliness, free from the pairs of duality, ever-poised in the ality of sattva, without (desire for) acisition and protection, and self-collected.

In the Tantras, Lord Shiva also says that in the age of kali, the Veda-mantras have all lost their power.

So that Buddha was telling agaainst the Vedas is nothing new in the Sanatana Dharma!

Regarding the 'Atma vs Anatma' debate, Sri Krishnaprem writes

Instead..of assuming that atma and anatma are things of which one is true and the other false, we must remember that they are attempted descriptions in words of some charasteristic of what was experienced without words. Instead of asking which is the true description, we should try to understand what characteristic it was of the experienced reality...We shall then find THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION.

Sri Krishnaprem's entire book can be read here : https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.128125

Answer 3

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗩𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀

🍁Buddha in Dashavatara list in Narada Purana...👇

निर्गुणाय निरीहाय नीतिज्ञायाक्रियात्मने । बुद्धाय कल्किरूपाय क्षेत्रज्ञायाक्षराय च ॥ ३२-३६

(Narada Purana -Uttarardh : Chapter 32: Verse 36 )...

English translation - He is transcendental, devoid of the modes of nature, and knows morality and is the Self of action. O Buddha and Kalki, and you are the knower of the field. Even further, the description of Buddha and Kalki is described in the form of incarnations in Kali Yuga ....

🍁"It is mentioned in Bhagvat Puran(Bhagvatam) 10 Skandha Chapter 40 on verse number 22 that👇

"नमो बुद्धाय शुद्धाय दैत्य दानवमोहिने"। म्लेच्छ प्राय: क्षत्रहन्त्रे नमस्ते कल्कि रूपिणे"।।२२।

English translation - 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.

🍁The description of Mahatma Buddha in the Mahabharata is as follows. Check from Forty-seventh chapter page number 4536 on Shantiparva Raj-dharmanushasan-parb Bhishmastavaraj, respectively, in the Gita Press Edition.👇

दानवांस्तु वशेकृत्वा पुनर्बुद्धत्वमागत:। सर्गस्य रक्षणार्थाय तस्मै बुद्धात्मने नम:।। हनिष्यति कलौ प्राप्ते म्लेच्‍छांस्तुरगवाहन:। धर्मसंस्थापको यस्तु तस्मै कल्क्यात्मने नम:।।

English translation- Salutations to Sri Hari in the form of Lord Buddha, those who take the demons under their control to protect the world and again incarnate as Buddha.Salutations to Shri Hari, the form of Kalki, who will kill the Demonic Mlechchas for the establishment of Dharma, riding on a horse at the arrival of Kali Yuga.

काषायवस्रसंवीतो मुण्डितः शुक्लदन्तवान्। शुद्धोदनसुतो बुद्धो मोहयिष्यामि मानवान् ।।४३। ।

(Gita press - Mahabharat: Shanti Parva :Chapter-348 verse 43 )

English translation - He will wearing light yellow clothes. He is knows as Buddha, the son of King Shuddhodhana, who will enchant the people.

🍁It is prescribed in Bhavishya Purana:👇

एतस्मिनैव काले तु कलिना संस्मृतो हरिः | काश्यपादुद्भवो देवो गौतमो नाम विश्रुतः | बौद्धधर्मं समाश्रित्य पट्टणे प्राप्तवान्हरिः |

(Bhavishya Purana- Pratisarga Parva: Chapter 6 :Verse 36)

English translation - On the request of Kaliyuga, Lord Vishnu in the Kashyap gotra took an incarnation in the name of Gautam Buddha and went to Patna for expanding Buddhism.

🍁This is also mentioned in Narasimha Purana‌ 👇

कलौ प्राप्ते यथा बुद्धो भवेन्नारायणः प्रभुः"

-(Narasimha Purana: Chapter-36 Verse-9 )

English Translation - Lord Narayana will take the form of Buddha on attaining Kali Yuga.

🍁 Lord Buddha mentioned in Dasavatara Stotra . Actually it is the need of that time so Viṣṇu taken Buddha Avatar to close all Vedas readings for sometime to Stop all evil in Society that started spreading that time slowly slowly like Narbali, Ashwabali , discrimination etc.. And after that Lord Viṣṇu ask Shiva to take Avatar (as Adi Shankaracharya) to demolish their Sunyavaad philosophy and re-open all Vedas —

निन्दसि यज्ञविधेरहह श्रुतिजातं सदयहृदयदर्शितपशुघातं केशव धृतबुद्धशरीर जय जगदीश हरे ।।9।।

Translation — O Jagdishwar! having taken a Buddha's body you have denounced the Shruti(Vedas) after seeing the violence of animals by the sacrificial rituals by compassionate heart .Hail to you.

🍁Shaivas famous Tantras — Maheshwara Tantra also mentioned about Buddhavtar of Shri Hari —

तपश्चरसु सर्वेषु असुरेषु जयार्थिषु विष्णुः सुदुस्तरां मायामास्यास्य सुरनोदितः ॥ मोहयामास योगात्मा तपोविघ्नाय तान्प्रभुः स मूढान् बुद्धरूपेण तानुवाच महामनाः ॥ शक्या जेतुं सुराः सर्वे युष्माभिरितिदर्शनैः बौद्धधर्म समास्थाय शक्यास्ते बभूविरे ॥तानुवाचार्हतो मम यूयं भवत मद्विधाः । ज्ञानेन सहितं धर्म ते चार्हन्त इति स्मृताः ॥ बौद्धश्रावकनिर्ग्रथाः सिद्धपुत्रास्तथैव च । एते सर्वेपि चार्हंतो विज्ञेया दुष्टचारिणः ॥

(Maheshwar Tantra, Chapter 8 , Verses 35-39)

🍁 Padma Puran claim the same that Sri Hari appeared as Lord Buddha appeared to destroy the demonic nature of peoples to save Dharma —

दैत्यानां नाशनार्थाय विष्णुना बुद्धरूपिणा ।

(Padma Purana, Uttarakhand, Chapter – 236, Verse – 06 )

Translation — Lord Viṣṇu, in the form of the Buddha, appeared to destroy the demonic peoples.

🍁Read the prophecy of Lord Vishnu about Buddha -

मया बुद्धेन वक्तव्या धर्माः कलियुगे पुनः ।

(Vishnudharmottara Purana, Volume 3, Chapter 351, Verse - 54) -

Translation -Lord Sri Hari says— I will preach the Dharma in Kali-yuga as Buddha.

🍁Vayu Puran mentioned about Lord Buddha some family details-

भविता सञ्जयश्चापि वीरो राजा रणञ्जयात् सञ्जयस्य सुतः शाक्यः शाक्याच्छुद्धोदनोऽभवत् ॥ शुद्धोदनस्य भविता शाक्यार्थे राहुलः स्मृतः । प्रसेनजित्ततो भाव्यः क्षुद्रको भविता ततः ॥

(Vayu Purana, Uttraardh , Chapter - 37, Verse - 284-285)

Translation — Rananjay's son will be Sanjay. Sanjaya's son will be Shakya and from him will be Suddhodana. Shuddhodan's son become Rahul with the title Shakya. Rahul's son will be Prasenjit and his son will be Kshudraka.

🍁Skanda Puran mentioned that Lord Viṣṇu will appear on earth as Buddha-

तथा बुद्धत्वमपरं नवमं प्राप्स्यतेऽच्युतः । शान्तिमान्देवदेवेशो मधुहन्ता मधुप्रियः ॥ तेन बुद्धस्वरूपेण देवेन परमेष्ठिना । भविष्यति जगत्सर्वं मोहितं सचराचरम् ॥

(Skanda Purana, Avantikhand-Rewakhand, Chapter-151, Verse 21-22)

Translation — Lord Achyutadeva (Vishnu) will arrive in the form of Buddha as the ninth incarnation. That form of the Lord, Vasantapriya (Kamarupi), the destroyer of Madhudaitya, will be peaceful. The whole world will be fascinated by that form of that Supreme God.'

🍁 Same thing about Buddhavtara is mentioned in Jyotish Shastra texts -

अवताराण्यनेकानि ह्यजस्य परमात्मनः । जीवानां कर्मफलदो ग्रहरूपी जनार्दनः ॥ दैत्यानां बलनाशाय देवानां बलबृद्धये धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय ग्रहाज्जाताः शुभाः क्रमात् ॥ ……… नृसिहो भूमिपुत्रस्य बुद्धः सोमसुतस्य च ॥ वामनो विबुधेज्यस्य भार्गवो भार्गवस्य च कूर्मो भास्करपुत्रस्य सैंहिकेयस्य सूकरः ॥

(Brihatparashara Horashastra, Chapter 2, Verses 4-7 )

Translation — There are many incarnations of the unborn God. Lord Janardana(Narayana) also comes in the form of a planet to give the living beings the fruits of their actions. In order to destroy the power of the demons and to increase the power of the gods, for the establishment of religion, auspicious planets have been created in order. ……. Buddha incranation is represented by planet Mercury , Vamana Jupiter , Parashuramavatar Venus , Kurmaavatar Saturn .

🍁Why Lord Buddha is not worship by Sanatanis? The answer of this question is given in Uppurana —

तथापि पूजया हीनो बभूव बुद्धरूपधृक् । विष्णुर्वेदविरुद्धस्थमार्गसंसर्जनात्किल ॥

(Mudgal Upapurana, Volume 8, Chapter - 15)

Translation — Due to the establishment of the path against the Vedas, Lord Vishnu was devoid of worship in the form of Buddha .

🍁Agni Puran mentioned that all Devas request Lord Narayana to appear on earth to save Dharma by misguiding the demonic peoples —

रक्ष रक्षेति शरणं वदन्तो जग्मुरीश्वरम् मायामोहस्वरूपोऽसौ शुद्धोदनसुतोऽभवत् ॥ मोहयामास दैत्यांस्तांस्त्याजिता वेदधर्मकम् । ते च बौद्धाबभूवुर्हि तेभ्योऽन्यो वेदवर्जिताः ॥

(Agni Puran : Chapter-16, Verse 1- 3)

Translation — All the Devas request Lord Vishnu to protect them! The the Lord says that he will incarnate as the son of Suddhodana, taking on a form that was enchanted by Maya. He enchanted the demons and got them to get rid of the practice of Vedic religion. All those Demonic peoples later became Buddhists and others also started abandoning the Vedas from them.

🍁How exactly Lord Buddha looks like is mentioned in Agni Puran —

शान्तात्मा लम्बकर्णश्च गौराङ्गश्चाम्बरावृतः। ऊर्ध्वपद्मस्थितो बुद्धो वरदाभयदायकः ॥ (Agnipuran Chapter 49, Verse 8)

Translation — A calm personality, long ears, fair body, dressed in clothes, seated on a lotus blossoming upwards, Buddha in Abhayamudra and gives it to Varadabhaya.

(This form is of Gautam Buddha only)

🍁Visnusahasranāma also mentioned the Glory of Buddhavtara —

बुद्धो ध्यानजिताशेष देवदेवो जगत्प्रियः ॥ निरायुधो जगज्जैत्रः श्रीधरो दुष्टमोहनः । दैत्यवेदबहिःकर्त्ता वेदार्थश्रुतिगोपकः ॥ शौद्धोदनिर्दष्टदृष्टिः सुखदः सदसस्पतिः।

(Visnusahasranāma )

Translation — He is Buddha who won over through meditation the Devas of all Devas.He is without weapon and conquered the world.

🍁Dashavatar Charitam was written in 11th century CE by a Kashmiri scholar of high repute: Kshemendra (also known as Vyasadasa).He also written the same including their family details which was very accurate —

(बुद्धावतारो नवमः) स सर्वसत्त्वोपकृतिप्रयत्नः कृपाकुलः शाक्यकुले विशाले। शुद्धोदनाख्यस्य नराधिपेन्दोर्धन्यस्य गर्भेऽवततार पत्न्याः >॥

(Dashavatar Charitam)

Translation — Ninth incarnation Lord Buddha was filled with compassion in the vast Shakya family, striving to benefit all beings. The Lord appeared in the womb of the wife of the blessed King , whose name was Shuddhodana.

🍁Lord Shri Hari prophecy about his incranation Buddha in Viṣṇudharma Purana —

ततः कलियुगे घोरे सम्प्राप्तेऽब्जसमुद्भव । शुद्धोदनसुतो बुद्धो भविष्यामि विमत्सरः ॥ बौद्धं धर्ममुपाश्रित्य करिष्ये धर्मदेशनाम् । नराणामथ नारीणां दया भूतेषु दर्शयन् ॥

(Vishnudharma Purana, Chapter 66, Verse - 68-71)

Translation — Then, in the terrible Kali-yuga, the I appeared . I shall become the son of Śudddhodana and I will preach the Buddhism, I will preach Dharma, I will preach kindness to men and women in beings.

🍁Additional information - The description of the Buddha statue is found in the Agni Purana (49 :8-9) before the Kalki Purana, 'Lord Buddha is sitting on a high Padmamaya seat. In one hand he holds the posture of Varad and in the other the posture of Abhay. They are peaceful. His body color is fair and his ears are long. They are covered with beautiful yellow cloth.' He reached Kushinagar after preaching and he died there. _̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳_̳

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 🍁😊This thing does not end here, but it is also described in Buddhist texts - Lalitavistara Sutta ,JanmaParivarta –

वज्र दृढ अभेद नारायण आत्मभावो गुरुवीर्यब्लोपत सोकम्पय: सर्वसत्तोन्त्य

English translation - Narayan himself appeared in the form of Buddha with strength, matured and thunderbolt body.

🍁Five Siddha Maharishis when the seen the Lord Buddha and realised the divinity of Lord Buddha and they says that —

रूपं वैश्रवणातिरेकवपुषं व्यक्तं कुबेरो ह्ययं आहो वज्रधरस्य चैव प्रतिमा चन्द्रोऽथ सूर्यो ह्ययम् । कामाग्राधिपतिश्च वा प्रतिकृती रुद्रस्य कृष्णस्य वा श्रीमान् लक्षणचित्रिताङ्गमनघो बुद्धोऽथ वा स्यादयम्॥

(Lalitavistar -Krishigram Parivart, verse - 3 )

Translation — Is it the divine form of Kubera or the form of Indra? Is it the moon or the sun? Is it a replica of Kamadeva or Rudra? Isn't this Krishna only? Isn't this sinless man with Lakshmi, with strange divine organs, a Buddha?

🍁When Lord Buddha born a great Sage come to the birth ceremony and he claims that he is Narayana himself. It is recorded in Buddhist text Lalitavistar-

पुत्रस्ते वररूपपारमिगतो जातो महातेजवान् द्वात्रिंशद्वरलक्षणैः कवचितो नारायणस्थामवान् । तं द्रष्टुं हि ममेप्सितं नरपते सर्वार्थसिद्धं शिशुम् इत्यर्थं समुपागतोऽस्मि नृपते नास्त्यन्यकार्यं मम ॥

(Lalitavistar- Janma-Parivarta, Verse - 66 )

Translation - 'O king! This son of yours is the height of supreme beauty, he has been born with great brilliance . He is endowed with thirty-two noble qualities and is endowed with the power of Narayan, whose all desires are self-fulfilling, it is my desire to see such a child named Sarvarthasiddha. I have come here for this reason, I have no other purpose than this.

🍁And it is also mentioned in Chapter 15 of Buddhist text Hemadri Vratkhand-

शुद्धोदनेन बुद्धोSभुत स्वयम पुत्रो जनार्दन

English translation - Janardana (Lord Vishnu) appears in the form of Swayam Shuddhodhana Buddha.

🍁Additional information - Apart from these, the famous Buddhist writer and historian Kshemendra describes Buddha as the 9th incarnation of Vishnu in his text named Dashavatara Charitaram. Another text, the Dasharatha Jataka Buddhist Ramayana, describes Lord Rama as an earlier birth of Buddha. That is, Buddha is said to be an incarnation of Lord Rama. In Sri Lankan Buddhist texts, Buddha is also described as an incarnation of Lord Rama. In the first sutta of the Sri Lankan Buddhist text Lankavatara Sutta, Ravana is described as a Bodhisattva, a follower of Buddha. Please note - This is my own research, while reading Puranas and Buddhists text , I collected these verses. Buddha is Vishnu incranation it's a truth.. There are many Shankaracharya who on the basis of kalki Purana or bhavishya Purana 3-2 verses , they claim that there are two different buddhas but that was totally wrong. Buddha is only one that is GAUTAM BUDDHA .

Question - Why Lord Vishnu take Buddhavtar?

Ans - Due to some effect of kaliyug peoples started mis-interpreting Vedas words and started Narbali (Human Sacrifice) , Horses sacrifice, and by mis-interpreting Vedas words too much discrimination started. It is mentioned in our Shastras also-

VII 6:180-89

वेदा विनिंदिता येन विलोक्य पशुहिंसनम् सकृपेन त्वया येन तस्मै बुद्धाय ते नमः ॥१८८॥

So it is required that Vedas study stop for sometime to manage this Kali-yuga effect so Narayana in the form of Buddha gave the philosophy of Sunyavaad (nothingness) so Vedas got closed....and Brahmin started spreading Sunyavaad philosophy... But after sometime it is required to open all the Vedic scriptures to establish the Vedic Dharma again. So according to Padma Puran Viṣṇu request Shiva to take Avtar on earth as Adi Shankaracharya to rebuttal the Sunyavaad philosophy and open all the Vedas... After sometime Lord Vayu(Sripad Madhavacharya) take Avtar to establish the Narayana bhakti-tattava on earth.

Hope my answer satisfied you 😊

Answer 4

Actually there is no proper authoritative text which confirms that Budha is the incarnation of Vishnu. All re incarnation of Vishnu's have been to remove certain kingdom, group or persons (raxasas). swamis, sages and rushis should not be confused. The things written by rushis are authentic since one attains that title only after achieving direct contact with the deity. Ex: If you make tapas and make brahma appear and grant you a boon then you are a brahmarshi. Swamis are devotees of a deity and have themselves have not achieved any sidhis. Sages are those who have done some sadhanas but not yet rushis. None of the rushis have said anything about Budha being the avatar of Vishnu. It is just made up later to accommodate him into vaishnavism. All vishnu avatars have done some or other form of killing of certain anti social or negative elements through violence or deception (vamana avatar). His avatars have always been about protecting the humanity from certain imminent evil. Budha gave a new way of attaining moxa, divinity without having to focus on any deity or god. Vishnu has always been about re establishing faith in God not destabilizing it. Budhism has no God as such. Budha itself is a level of awareness or awakening. Anyone can become Budha. Budha is the highest point of awakening. Where as Vaishnavism believes Vishnu is the highest being the closest that you can come to him is after death you become a part of him or be a part of vaikunta. Budha and his defined way of life and attainment is completely in contrast with Vaishnavism. Budhism is takes the way of shiva. Kundalini yoga, Tantric yoga, chakras etc., Budhism has more in common with Shaivism than Vaishnavism and that is why Vaishnavas resisted him during his time and but china (part of mahabharata) where vaishnavism had no strong hold, there his teachings were well received. If you see the history Budhas era was the time when brahmin class was exploiting the society and misusing their status in society. This is when Brahmins instead of earning their livelihood through free spreading of knowledge, religion and dharma started becoming rich by asking devotees to donate heavily to temples, to them and for their groups. ex:- Devotees were asked to donate cows or golden cats to remove certain ailments in their house. Caste system was slowly poking its nose and brahmins made themselves as the most the most privilege class. Looking at all this it is only logical that one of Siva's rudras took the avatar of Budha and gave a path to attain enlightenment without having to rely on God of any kind. Basically Budhism=Hinduism-God. All the mandalas, chakras, yoga, tantric yoga, kundalini yoga which are all part of Shaivism since Shiva is known as mahayogi and kundalini mata his none but his other half Shakti. Sankaracharya on the other hand is known as the Vishnu's avatar and he brought back balance to Bharat again by defeating Budhist scholar in debate and re establishing dharama. In short Shiva and Vishnu has and have always balanced things one after the other when the influence of the other becomes overwhelmingly more than the other. Thus they both bring balance to each other. Vishnu's avatar's have always been about satvic lifestyle with a strong belief in hindu deities or gods and enlightenment through dharma. Shiva's avatars have been impartial to any belief in god but enlightenment through karma or act. This is why Shiva/shakti has always given boons to anyone who did the karma (tapas) irrespective of their without judging their intentions, mind, good or evil. That is why taxasas, manavas, devas all pray and can get boon from him and thus his name bholenath. Anyone else other than shiva/shakti have always been partial to devas and those who fit certain behaviour. Vishnu has never known to give any boons to raxasas or any known anti god or raxasas have prayed to him since has taken devaganas under his protection that he means he is not impartial.

Answer 5

This page attributed to ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada, explains why Vishnu reincarnated as Buddha, based on the Srimad Bhagavatham.

TL;DR version:
Vishnu reincarnated as Buddha to transcendentally cheat atheists into living a moral life and serving God as the Buddha, and also to curb wrongful slaughter of animals in the name of the Vedas.

I summarize the arguments of ISKCON below:

• The Buddha invented a religious system that rejected the Vedas and God, while promoting morality and non-violence.
• His religion rejected the Vedas, because the Vedas were misinterpreted and misused, to unnecessarily kill animals in a sinful manner.
• His religion rejected God because he knew that the atheists would not accept God, but he still wanted to save them somehow, because he was compassionate to them.
• His religion had arguments to convince atheists to live a moral life, without the need for God.
• He tricked the atheists into obeying and serving him, who is actually God, without being called God. Srila Prabhupada called this "transcendental cheating".
• True devotees of Krsna would respect the Buddha because he is an incarnation of God but would ignore the Buddha's teachings, because they knew that it was a false teaching since it rejected God and Vedas.

In the Srimad-Bhagvatam, Lord Buddha is accepted as a saktyavesa avatara, a specially empowered incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Srimad-Bhagvatam, which was compiled by Vyasadeva five thousand years ago, foretold the incarnation of Lord Buddha who appeared just 2,600 years ago, saying Buddha will appear in Gaya Pradesh, in the province of Gaya. "In the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1:3:24). Kesava dhrta buddha sarira - Krsna has accepted the body of Buddha. That is the Vaisnava conception of Lord Buddha.

Lord Buddha appeared at a time when the so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify violent acts like meat-eating and animal sacrifice. It was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end violence being committed in the name of the Vedas. Taking compassion on the poor animals, he appeared as Lord Buddha to preach ahimsa, non-violence, leading the fallen people away from such false interpretations.

At the time of Lord Buddha's appearance, many people had become atheistic, and Srimad-Bhagvatam states that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder this atheistic class of men. Due to their ignorance, the people were being implicated in innumerable sinful activities by unnecessary animal killing in the name of religion. In his preaching, Lord Buddha declined to accept the Vedic principles because the animal-killers would have simply pointed to evidences that in the Vedas there is mention of animal-killing for sacrifice. Therefore, Lord Buddha established a system of religion on the platform of non-violence to stop the nonsense they were engaging in due to a lack of knowledge.

Lord Buddha preached atheism so that the atheists would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha (Krsna). By obeying Lord Buddha, they were actually following God. In order to take the bewildered atheists under his control, he collaborated and said, "Yes, there is no God, but you hear me." Being an actual incarnation of God, this was a kind of transcendental cheating. Those who were followers of Vedic religion, however, did not accept Lord Buddha's religion because it was against the Vedas. In other words, this philosophy is actually meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted by devotees.

Lord Buddha was criticized by the Vedic brahmanas for stopping animal sacrifice, which is recommended in the Vedas as a means of creating new life under very special circumstances. But because the brahmanas had become corrupted and were taking this injunction as a very general thing, Lord Buddha refused to accept the Vedic principles and instead criticized them. Consequently, strict followers of the Vedas would not accept him. The devotee understands why Lord Buddha took this position, however, and while a devotee does not accept the philosophy of Buddhism, he accepts Lord Buddha as incarnation of Lord Krsna and offers obeisances to him. This is the Vaisnava position.