The Buddha has been among the formative forces in the origins of Hinduism. Regional Hindu texts over the centuries have presented a spectrum of views on Buddhism, possibly reflecting the competition between Buddhism and the Brahmanical traditions.[9] In contemporary Hinduism, the Buddha is revered by Hindus who usually consider “Buddhism to be another form of Hinduism”.[9] Other Hindus reject the identification of Gautama Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu, referring to the texts of the Puranas and identifying the two as different individuals.
The Buddha was integrated into Vaishnavism through its mythology in the Vaishnava Puranas, where the Buddha is considered as the ninth avatar of Vishnu.[10] According to the Agni Purana, Vishnu assumed this incarnation on earth due to the daityas defeating the devas in their battles. In order to restore the natural order, he deluded the asuras with his teachings. This caused them to abandon the path established by the Vedas and convert to Buddhism, causing them to be devoid of dharma. This caused them to become dasyus at the end of the Kali Yuga, causing them to be cast off to hell, devoid of good conduct.[11][12][13][14] Furthermore, it causes the age to be characterised by the intermixture of the varnas and domination by the Mlecchas, barbarian and foreign forces.[15] Subsequently, according to tradition, it became the responsibility of Adi Shankaracharya and future Vaishnava acharyas to re-establish theism.
Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu is part of a cosmic cycle, in which the dharma is destroyed in the Kali Yuga, and then restored again in the Satya Yuga, when Vishnu incarnates as Kalki.[21] The Bhavishya Purana incorporates historical facts about dynastical lineages, stating the following:
At this time, reminded of the Kali Age, the god Vishnu became born as Gautama, the Shakyamuni, and taught the Buddhist dharma for ten years. Then Shuddodana ruled for twenty years, and Shakyasimha for twenty. At the first stage of the Kali Age, the path of the Vedas was destroyed and all men became Buddhists. Those who sought refuge with Vishnu were deluded.
Some pre-13th-century Hindu texts, such as the Bhagavata Purana, portray the Buddha as born to lead the asuras, who oppressed the people, away from the Vedic rituals, which they were not worthy to perform.
Buddhists traditionally do not accept the Buddha to be a Vishnu avatar.[6][34] B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian scholar and the Dalit leader who in 1935 declared his intention to convert from Hinduism to Buddhism and converted about 20 years later, rejected the belief that Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu.[35][note 5] Ambedkar’s 5th vow out of Twenty-two vows is :
I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be sheer madness and false propaganda.[