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From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishna Susarla • June 6, 1999 


From: V.Srimahavishnu 

>      No purANa tells us that Gautama Buddha is an incarnation of
>BhagavAn. The place of birth and the name of His mother given in BhAgavata
>(as quoted above) are quite different from those of Gautama Buddha.
>There is one more Buddha who was also an avatAr of VishNu. He seduced the
>wives of TripurAsuras. So the story told by BhAgavata and the second story
>must be having kalpa bhEdam.


Ahh yes, I think I was unclear. I was not pointing to Gautama Buddha as an
avataara of Vishnu, but rather to a different Buddha. My understanding also
is that the Buddha referred to in the Bhaagavatam is not the Buddha of our
Kali Yuga, but from a previous Kali Yuga who did something similar. I am not
familiar with a Buddha who seduced the wives of the tripuraasuras.

One question, however - is the Buddha referred to in NammAzhwAr's pAsuram
5.7.5 the Buddha from a previous age, or the Gautama Buddha? In other words,
is the fact that He entered into Buddha and enabled him to preach nihilism
taken to refer to Gautama Buddha and explain how he is actually not the
avataara mentioned in the Bhaagavatam, or does it refer to the previous
kalpa's Buddha, and saying that this Buddha is an avataara, but only a
shaktyavesha?

yours,

K