Appearance of Lord Buddha - The Mission of Supreme Compassion
When society degrades religion into a mere tool for sense gratification, the Supreme Lord intervenes. In his teachings, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the specific historical and theological context behind the appearance of Lord Buddha. By examining the infallible predictions of the Vedas, the horrific state of animal slaughter that necessitated his descent, and the brilliant transcendental trick he employed, one gains a deep appreciation for the Lord's absolute mercy upon all living entities.
The Infallible Prediction of Śāstra
Vedic literature is not a collection of mythological stories; it is perfect, timeless science. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, compiled 5,000 years ago, recorded the future appearance of Lord Buddha with exact details regarding his parentage and location.
- Srimad-Bhagavatam was compiled by Vyasadeva five thousand years ago, and Lord Buddha appeared about two-thousand-six-hundred years ago. Therefore the appearance of Lord Buddha was foretold, in future tense. This is called sastra.
- Vyasadeva says, that in future, kikatesu, in the province known as Gaya Pradesh, Lord Buddha will appear, and his father's name is this and his mother's name is this. This is called sastra.
- In the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.
- Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gaya (Bihar) as the son of Anjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas.
The Pretext of Vedic Sacrifice
Prior to Buddha's appearance, the religious class had become highly corrupt. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that materialistic people, driven by a desire to eat meat, exploited minor allowances in the Vedas to justify turning the entire world into an unrestricted slaughterhouse.
- When Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly.
- When India was too much addicted for animal slaughtering under the plea of Vedic sacrifice, the Lord Buddha appeared. Why? They misused the Vedic injunctions.
- Lord Buddha appeared when people were too much engaged in animal sacrifice without any purpose. Actually it was for eating only. In the name of Vedic sacrifice they were killing animals and eating - a propagation for animal eating.
- When there was too much animal-killing and people became almost atheist under the shadow of Vedic rituals, Lord Buddha appeared.
Compassion for the Animals
The Supreme Lord cannot tolerate the unnecessary suffering of His parts and parcels. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that Lord Buddha's primary motivation was overwhelming compassion. His strict philosophy of ahiṁsā (nonviolence) was designed specifically to protect the poor animals from the cruelty of the atheists.
- Lord Sri Krsna appeared on this planet out of compassion for fallen souls; Lord Buddha appeared out of compassion for the poor animals who were being killed by the demons; Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared out of compassion for Prahlada Maharaja.
- He (Krsna) is compassionate always; He becomes so compassionate that He comes to stop this nonsense. That is buddha-sarira. Lord Buddha appeared when there was too much animal slaughter.
- Lord Buddha's propaganda was to make the rascals at least to stop animal-killing. Ahimsa paramo dharma. Lord Buddha's appearance is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and many Vedic literatures.
- At that time (of Buddha's appearance) it became so excessive, pasu-ghatam, animal slaughter, that the Lord became compassionate, and He appeared to stop this. He originated a new set of . . . set-up of religion: No more animal killing. No more.
Cheating the Atheists
To stop the misuse of the Vedas, Lord Buddha performed a brilliant transcendental trick. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that by rejecting the authority of the Vedas, Buddha successfully stopped the animal sacrifices. At the same time, he cheated the atheists into worshiping him, effectively tricking them into offering obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Lord Buddha came to cheat the atheists.
- Lord Buddha appeared for the purpose of bewildering the demons or atheists.
- Mohini-murti resembles Lord Buddha, who appeared sammohaya sura-dvisam (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24) - to cheat the asuras. The word sura-dvisam refers to those who are envious of the demigods or devotees.
- Lord Buddha’s intention was to stop atheists from committing the sin of killing animals. Atheists cannot understand God; therefore Lord Buddha appeared and spread the philosophy of nonviolence to keep the atheists from killing animals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the appearance of Lord Buddha demonstrates the extraordinary lengths the Supreme Personality of Godhead will go to in order to protect His creation. Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully explains that Buddha was not an ordinary philosopher, but a powerful incarnation perfectly predicted in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. By boldly rejecting the misused Vedic rituals and establishing the stringent principle of ahiṁsā, Lord Buddha executed a divine strategy of compassion and deception. He successfully halted the rampant slaughter of innocent animals while simultaneously tricking a degraded, atheistic population into showing reverence to the Supreme Lord.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Appearance of Lord Buddha. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.