Sugata
Sugata Buddha is the Vishnu avatar appeared (1500 BC) in Bodhi-Gaya (Kikata) to Anjana.[1] It has the same name as Gautama Buddha and it was a confusion to many scholars.[1] Gautama Buddha went to Bodhi-Gaya to get enlightenment from the birthplace of Vishnu-avatar-Buddha.[2]
It is said that Gautama Buddha, the son of Shuddhodana and Maya, and Buddha-avatara, the Vaishnavas' object of adoration, are not one and the same person. The reason why these two Buddhas became merged into one identity was partly because Adi Sankaracharya, in discussions with others, related them as one person and did not discriminate between the purpose of one or the other. While discussing Buddha’s philosophy, Sri Sankaracharya mentions his name in his commentary 'sarvatha api anadarniya ayam sugata-samayah shreyaskamaih iti abhiprayaha'. In this statement sugata again refers to Gautama Buddha, the son of Mayadevi [the person who appeared in the town now known as Lumbini in Nepal]. However, it is true that another name for Vishnu Avatara Buddha is Sugata, and thus Sankaracharya's words could have falsely been interpolated for Shakya Simha Buddha or Gautama Buddha as if he were Vishnu Avatara Buddha.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Studies in Ancient Indian Seals: A Study of North Indian Seals and Sealings Page 94 by Kiran Kumar Thaplyal - Seals (Numismatics), 1972
- ^ Difference between Buddhas
- ^ http://www.stephen-knapp.com/were_there_two_buddhas.htm