Cite
MLA
“Buddha Avatar.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/buddha-avatar/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Buddha Avatar. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/buddha-avatar/
Seated in meditation in padmasana, with curled hair and long ears, in a simple robe, hands in dhyana or touching the earth; in Hindu Dashavatara panels he stands or sits among the other nine.
01In the Bhagavata and the Gita Govinda
The Bhagavata Purana, listing the avatars (1.3.24), says that when Kali Yuga has begun, Bhagwan will appear as Buddha in the Kikata country, the region of Gaya. Jayadeva’s Dashavatara stotra in the twelfth century gives him a verse of tenderness: you condemn the slaughter of animals that the rules of sacrifice allowed, out of a heart full of compassion, O Keshava who took the body of Buddha. The Matsya Purana and others count him among the ten as well.
02Two traditions, stated plainly
Hindu lists of the ten differ at the ninth place. Many in the north, and the stone panels of Rani ki Vav at Patan in Gujarat, show Buddha. Many in the south, and several Vaishnava sampradayas, show Balarama, with Krishna as the eighth. Jayadeva names both. The Buddhist sangha, for its part, follows Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakyas as the Buddha who found the middle path at Bodh Gaya, and does not see him as an avatar of Vishnu. Each view deserves respect in its own voice.
03Bodh Gaya and Gaya
Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained bodhi under the pipal tree, lies a few kilometres from Gaya, where Hindus offer pinda to their ancestors at the Vishnupad temple. Pilgrims of both dharmas have walked between them for centuries, and the Mahabodhi temple was in the care of Shaiva mahants for generations before the present joint committee. Buddha Purnima, the full moon of Vaishakha, marks his birth, enlightenment and passing.
In the texts
- Bhagavata Purana 1.3.24
- Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, Dashavatara stotra
- Matsya Purana
