Composing…
Composing…
बुद्ध
DashavataraYuga
Kali Yuga (early)
Vishnu took the Buddha avatar to teach non-violence and to deceive the Asuras into abandoning Vedic dharma so they would be weakened — this is the Vaishnava Puranic interpretation. Note that Buddhism's own self-understanding is distinct (the historical Gautama Buddha is not understood as Vishnu's avatar within Buddhism).
Seated in padmasana, hands in dhyana / bhumisparsha mudra; closed eyes; ushnisha (cranial bump); golden or yellow robes
Compassion; the path of cessation of suffering
ॐ बुद्धाय नमः; बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि
Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Lumbini, Kushinagar
Buddha Purnima (Vaishakha purnima)
Buddha is one of 10 deities in the Dashavatara tradition. Reading Buddha alone gives the iconographic outline; reading the full grouping reveals what kind of cosmic principle the tradition is working with. The Dashavatara as a whole describes a coherent set of relationships — between forms of the divine, between cosmic functions, or between stages of spiritual realisation.
Ten primary descents of Vishnu to restore dharma when adharma rises. The traditional list (Bhagavata Purana 1.3.24): Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki. Some traditions (especially Gaudiya) substitute Balarama for Buddha.
In daily worship, devotees may invoke Buddha alone — through their specific mantra and iconographic form — or invoke the full Dashavatara grouping in sequence (especially during festivals like Navarātri for the Navadurgā, or daily archana for the Aṣṭalakṣmī). Both modes are traditional and authoritative; the choice depends on the family’s sampradāya and the kuldevtā tradition.