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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
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Bhagavata Purana (1.3.24, 2.7.37, 11.4.23) Garuda Purana (1.1, 2.30.37, 3.15.26) Agni Purana (16) Narada Purana (2.72) Linga Purana (2.71) Padma Purana (3.252) etc Rishi Parashara's Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (2:1-5/7). Brahmanda Purana
Bhavishya Purana Matsya Purana(285.6-7) Varaha Purana
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matsya-kūrmo varāhaś ca nrsimha-vāmanas tathā | rāmo rāmaś ca rāmaś ca buddha-kalkiś ca te daśāḥ 11
In this buddha replaced Krishna in the traditional dasavatara found in other Puranas or extended the number of incarnations. The Gitagovinda of Sri Jayadeva takes Balarama and omits Krishan making Krishna as the Supreme Lord, the Purusottama, (Gitagovinda 1.1.16). In others Balarama is omitted and Buddha is added.
Early Buddhism was indeed atheistic and so it remained a problem to say that God incarnated and denied the very existence of God. The clever way out was the explanation that he took birth as Buddha to "mislead the demons":
mohanārtham dānavānām bālarūpī pathi-sthitaḥ || putram tam kalpayām āsa mūdha-buddhir jinaḥ svayam ||
tataḥ sammohayām āsa jinādyān asurāmśakān bhagavān vāgbhir ugrābhir ahimsā-vācibhir harih ||
- Brahmanda Purana
In order to delude the demons, he (Lord Buddha) was present in the form of a child on the way while the foolish Jina (a demon), imagined him to be his son. Later on, Lord Sri Hari (as avatara-buddha) expertly deluded Jina and other demons by his strong words of non-violence.
By deluding the demons Buddha was able to get back the power to the devas.
The delusion of the false teacher paused not with the conversion of the Daityas to the Jaina and Bauddha heresies, but with various erroneous tenets he prevailed upon them to apostatize, until the whole were led astray, and deserted the doctrines and observances inculculated bythe 3 Vedas. [The
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