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This is not a duplicate of Is Buddha an avatar of Lord Vishnu? I am posting totally different question below.
From www.sanatansociety.org:
In Hinduism, Buddha is regarded as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu following Rama and Krishna.
Why is there a separate religion (Buddhism) for Buddha if Buddha is a Hindu god?
It is because the discrimination of religions as it has come to be is mostly based upon the primary scripture or teachings of the prophet or god rather than who the god is or who the proponent is.
So irrespective of whether Buddha is a Hindu god or not, the message he preached and spread is different than that of Hindu/Vedic beliefs. For example while Hindus, who accept the authority of the Vedas, believe in the existence of individual souls and a Supreme God, the Buddhists do not. Buddha did not accept the authority of the Vedas and spread a tenant opposite to it shunning yajna, animal sacrifice, etc. So due to the difference in the core beliefs it has come to be known as a separate religion having its own sub-sects over the course of time.
However, having said that I would also like to say Buddhism, Jainism, etc. were considered as different philosophies and schools of thought rather than separate religions. They belong to the nastika (heterodox) schools of thought in Hindu Philosophy. These schools of thought came to flourish in India where there were no such thing as religion as that term means today. Even there is no word for religion in Indian languages and it is commonly translated as dharma which can mean many different things depending upon the context. Only in course of time as other religions started to flourish in different parts of the world that the distinction became more. So even if Buddhism is considered and categorised as a separate religion, many would agree (and of course some wouldn't) that it is just a different darshana (philosophy) and way of life.
I should start out by saying that there are some people who believe that Buddha is not an incarnation of Vishnu, and that any scriptural references to Buddha are a later interpolation. Now among the people who do believe that Buddha is an incarnation, the reason that Buddhists and Hindus have different beliefs is because of the fundamental purpose of Vishnu's incarnation as Buddha: to lead people astray from following the Vedas.
Buddha's incarnation is described in this chapter of the Vishnu Purana. The Asuras (demons) decide to engage in Tapasya (deep meditation) in accordance with Vedic principles, and as a result the gods unable to harm them, so they turn to Vishnu to help. Vishnu incarnates as Buddha in order to lead the Asuras astray from the teachings of the Vedas, so that the gods could defeat them in battle:
After this, the great delusion, having proceeded to earth, beheld the Daityas engaged in ascetic penances upon the banks of the Narmadá river; and approaching them in the semblance of a naked mendicant, with his head shaven, and carrying a bunch of peacock's feathers 2, he thus addressed them[.]... By such persuasions, and by many specious arguments, did this delusive being mislead the Daityas from the tenets of the Vedas; teaching that the same thing might be for the sake of virtue and of vice; might be, and might not be; might or might not contribute to liberation; might be the supreme object, and not the supreme object; might be effect, and not be effect; might be manifest, or not be manifest; might be the duty of those who go naked, or who go clothed in much raiment[.]...
Then the same deluder, putting on garments of a red colour, assuming a benevolent aspect, and speaking in soft and agreeable tones, addressed others of the same family, and said to them, "If; mighty demons, you cherish a desire either for heaven or for final repose, desist from the iniquitous massacre of animals (for sacrifice), and hear from me what you should do. Know that all that exists is composed of discriminative knowledge. Understand my words, for they have been uttered by the wise. This world subsists without support, and engaged in the pursuit of error, which it mistakes for knowledge, as well as vitiated by passion and the rest, revolves in the straits of existence." In this manner, exclaiming to them, "Know!" (Budhyadwam), and they replying, "It is known" (Budhyate), these Daityas were induced by the arch deceiver to deviate from their religious duties (and become Bauddhas), by his repeated arguments and variously urged persuasions, When they had abandoned their own faith, they persuaded others to do the same, and the heresy spread, and many deserted the practices enjoined by the Vedas and the laws.
So the reason the followers of an incarnation of a Vedic god like Vishnu could deny the Vedas would be that Vishnu intentionally spread doctrines that were contrary to the Vedas. And insofar as Hindus believe that the truths embodied in the Vedas are of divine origin, there is naturally a divergence in the beliefs of Hindus and Buddhists.
Actually this was the motive of there incarnation to create a fake religion. In kaliyug, asuras started following Vedas but still they spread terror. As they were following path of Vedas, Deva couldn't defeat them. That's why Lord Vishnu incarnated as budha to take them away from Vedas by making another religion.
Padma Purana VI.252.108-115
“…The glorious one, taking up the form of Buddha, deluded his enemies. Those who were deluded by that teaching gave up all religious practices….” Tr. N.A. Deshpande
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24
“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.” Tr. Swami Prabhupada
Garuda Purana 3.15.26
“Then in Kali age, the Lord was born in the Kikata [modern Bihar] as Buddha. He deluded the asuras and flouted the Vedas.” Tr. Board of Scholars, edited by J.L. Shastri
Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.37
“Asuras, the enemies of the celestials, became proficient in the knowledge of the Vedas, and having got made by Mayadanaba (an Asura of that name) and invisible city of velocity, engaged themselves in the destruction of the people. Thereupon the glorious God incarnated Himself as Buddha, and with a view to bring about a confusion of their understanding and to create avarice in them taught them many false religions in the guise of a Pashanda (one setting the true religious texts at naught).” Tr. J.M. Sanyal
Agni Purana 16.1-5
“Agni said:- I will now describe the Buddha incarnation…Formerly in the war between gods and demons the former were defeated by the latter. Saying ‘Save us, Save us!’ they sought refuge with Iswara. Being incarnation of illusion and infatuation he was born as the son of Suddhodana. He infatuated the Daityas and made them relinquish the religion of the Veda. They then became followers of Buddha and induced others to forsake Vedic religion. He became Arhata and afterwards made others Arhatas. Divorced from Vedic religion they became all Pashandinas [Irreligious people]. They committed (sinful) deeds capable of taking one to hell and received (gifts) from degraded persons…” Tr. M.N. Dutt
Note:- it did not mean that all budhists are demon.
both are not same !
tatah kalau sampravritte sammohaya sura-dvisham
buddho namnanjana-sutaha kikateshu bhavishyati
(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.3.24)
"Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya2 (Bihar) just for the purpose of infatuating those who are envious of the faithful demigods."
This page attributed to ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada, explains the purpose of a separate religion of Buddhism in the case that Buddha is a Hindu god (the incarnation of Krsna), based on the Srimad Bhagavatham.
I summarize the arguments of ISKCON below:
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.
