I am a Sri Vaishnava, but I agree with the Gaudiya Vaishnavas' general acceptance of Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu. Based on info. from certain sites, it can be proven that Lord Buddha was a Shaktyavesa Avatar of Vishnu.
Thus, while I agree with ISKCON that Buddha was an avatar, He was only an empowered incarnation and so, shouldn't be counted in the Dasavatara. Therfore, I follow the practice of including Balarama in Dasavatara and considering Lord Buddha as the 24th Avatar of Vishnu, on the same level of manifestation as Sri Vyasa or Sri Kapila.
Here is proof:
BUDDHISM FROM A HINDU PERSPECTIVE
Buddhism is incomplete Hinduism.
Lord Buddha was a Shaktyavesa Avatar of the Supreme Lord Vishnu. The Srimad Bhagavatam was written 2500 years before Lord Buddha and it has prophesised His coming:
"In the beginning of the Kali Yuga, the Supreme Lord Vishnu will incarnate as Buddha, Son of Anjana, at Gaya to delude the Atheists."
When Buddha came, people were misinterpreting the Vedic Texts and were slaughtering animals. So Vishnu came as Buddha and decided to mislead them into rejecting the Vedas. That way, they wouldn't misinterpret the texts and kill animals if they disowned the Religion.
Buddhists do not accept this, but the fact that this Prophecy is legitimate can by proved by studying Buddha's life and His philosophy. The Message of Lord Buddha and Lord Krishna's words in the Bhagavad Gita parallel each other more closely than many people think.
I shall now prove that Buddha was none other than Lord Vishnu in disguise.
1) Buddhists argue that Buddha was born in Nepal, not Gaya and that His mother was Maya, not Anjana. Actually, although that is true, Buddha attained enlightenment at Gaya, which is His true birth as Buddha and His mother died a few days after His birth, so He was raised by His Step-Mother of the Anjana Clan. Hence, the Prophecy is correct.
2) Buddhism talks of Anatma, ie, Lord Buddha said that the Skandha, the material existence, is not the Self. Buddhists interpret this in such a manner that they claim Lord Buddha said that there is no 'Self' or 'Soul'. This is not true. Buddha said the Material Existence is not Self, but He didn't say there was no Self. He remained silent on what exactly was the Self.
In the Bhagavad Gita, it is stated that the body and the Material Existence is the 'Field of Activity'. One who knows this 'Field of Activity' is the 'Knower of the Field' and he knows that he is different from the body. A true knower should also know the distinction between the Soul and the Supersoul (God). The Lord knows All bodies and all Individuals as well, hence He is the Superknower (Adi Buddha).
Lord Buddha said that the 5 Skandhas (Material Existence)are Non-Self. The Bhagavad Gita emphasises that the Material Body (Field of Activity) is different from the Self. So, if we correlate the Skandha to the Field of Activity, Lord Buddha says that the Skandha is not Self, and the Bhagavad Gita says that the Self is distinct from the Field of Activity. Both have become somewhat similar teachings now.
Hence, Buddha imparted the message of the Bhagavad Gita in a partial manner. He gave part of the truth and left the rest for all kinds of interpretation by the common people.
2) Buddhists ignore a few significant sayings of Buddha in their own scriptures. I quote Lord Buddha now, from the Scriptures of Buddhism:
"I am not a 'Deva', (demigod ), I am not a 'Gandharva' (celestial angel), nor 'Yaksa' (fierce guardian spirit), or human being." ~ Donasutta.
So, He is not a Demi-God, an Angel or a Demon/Guardian Spirit, or a Human. Then what is He? In a hidden manner, Lord Buddha has revealed that he is Vishnu, the Supreme Lord.
And in the Saddharma Punarika He announces to all :-
yam eva'ham lokapita swayambhu cikitsakah sarvaprajnan natah
"I am the self born, Father of all, the Lord of all beings and the remover of all ills."
This is a very clear statement. He has openly declared His true identity.
"Vakkali, he who sees the dhamma sees me; he who sees me sees the dhamma. Indeed, Vakkali, seeing the dhamma is seeing me; seeing me is seeing the dhamma" ~ Vakkali Sutra.
Buddha claims that He is the embodiment of Dharma. Lord Krishna, a previous Avatar of Vishnu, said the same thing in the Bhagavad Gita. The exact same message has ben given by both Avatars of Vishnu.
"They talk to me under these names, yet they fail to recognise that they are all my own appellations. There are some who call me the Self-existing One (svayambhuva), the Leader (nayaka), the Remover-of-obstacles (vinayaka), the Guiding One (parinayaka), Buddha, Rishi, Bull-king, Brahma, Vishnu, Isvara [God], the Originator (pradhana), Kapila, the Destroyer (bhutanta) [or: the Extreme of Reality], the Imperishable (arishta), Nemina, Soma (moon), Fire, Rama, Vyasa, Suka, Indra, the Strong One (Balin), or Varuna............ Teaching the Cause of Buddhahood, the All-Knowing, the Conquering One or the Will-Body." ~ Lankavatara Sutra.
Kapila, Rama, Vyasa, Suka, etc. are all previous Avatars of Vishnu. Isvara means 'God'. In addition, the Lord has often described Himself to be in everyone, even demi-gods like Brahma, Indra, Varuna, etc. Thus, one can gather that Lord Buddha is indeed Vishnu, from this statement.
"While I am thus known in hundreds of thousands of three-asamkhyeyas of titles, not only in this world, but in other worlds [too], my names are not exhausted; I am like the moon casting its shadow [reflection] on water, I am neither in it nor our of it. Those who know me will recognise me everywhere, but the ignorant who cannot rise above dualism will not know me." ~ Nirvana Sutra.
3) Lastly, Buddhism is also a truth. But it is an incomplete Truth, so the Path to liberation is more difficult. In Buddhism, you have to go searching for the truth by much struggle and you may even fail. But if you surrender to Lord Vishnu directly, truth will come to you automatically.
An incident occured in which Buddha's disciples asked Him if there were any truths greater than what He thought. Lord Buddha took a leaf from a tree and asked them who had more leaves now, the tree or Him. Just like the tree has more leaves as compared to the one leaf in Buddha's hand, there was more truth than what He had imparted.
Thus, the Bhagavad Gita is truth in entirety, Buddhism is a part of that great truth. Buddha was Vishnu. He imparted a half-truth. If we can summarise the message of Bhagavad Gita in 5 words, Buddha would describe only the first 3 words of that message and leave it to the people to figure out the last 2 words.
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