Although Hindus didn't call themselves Hindus when he lived, he would have been born a Hindu. What factors pushed him away from Hinduism? I can think of two - He was against the caste system and did not believe in the authority of the Vedas or Vedic sacrifices. But still there must have been enough commonalities for Hindus to regard him as an incarnation of Vishnu and for Sankara's critics to call him a "hidden Buddhist"
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5Buddha neither knew that he was "Hindu" (as nobody did until several centuries later), nor did he know that he was "Buddhist" (which is established by followers). – iammilind Apr 03 '18 at 00:21
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1I have not found his disagreement with caste system in any of the Buddhist works, none of his disciples work mention either Varna or jati. – Anubhav Jha Apr 03 '18 at 05:38
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One common thing between buddha, rama, krishna is-Well, the prophecy of Siddhartha becoming Buddha was given by asita https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asita the same asita was a Vedic seer as well as a staunch vaishnava. https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/21059/who-are-rishi-asita-and-devala the same asita prophesied Lord Krishna's divinity. – Anubhav Jha Apr 03 '18 at 05:48
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Hindus regard him as an avatara because it is so stated in scriptures and not because of their own investigations about those "common factors" – Rickross Apr 03 '18 at 06:33
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How do Hindus know Siddhartha Gautama was the Buddha prophesied in Hindu Scripture? @rickross – S K Apr 03 '18 at 11:26
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There were actually many "Buddhas" and Gautama was one of them..the latest one. @SK – Rickross Apr 03 '18 at 11:31
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Related: When were Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism marked as separate religions? and Why is there a separate religion for Buddha, if Buddha is a Hindu god? – Pandya Apr 03 '18 at 12:47
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1Belongs in buddhism.stackexchange.com. Off-topic. – Apr 04 '18 at 08:43
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@Anubhav Jha: For varna see https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/25804/do-buddhist-texts-record-or-comment-on-the-then-prevalent-varna-or-caste-systems – zaxebo1 Apr 12 '18 at 15:49
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@zaxebo1 that's not disagreement with Varna, even hindusim says that a monk-sanyasin is without caste. Buddha said the same thing his monastic community is without caste. – Anubhav Jha Apr 12 '18 at 16:08
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Buddha himself states that Bodhisattvas are born only as Brahmanas and Kshatriyas so it is incorrect to say he didn't believe in Varna system. – Apr 22 '20 at 14:09
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buddha born to jain king suddhona.. jinasuta as described srimad bhagavatam – Prasanna R Dec 19 '20 at 17:07
1 Answers
In Dhp 279 and many other suttas, Gautama Buddha taught that in all phenomena there is no self (atman).
In MN 95, he did not accept the authority of the Vedas.
In MN 38, he taught six types of consciousness which dependently arise based on the six media of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind i.e. eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, mind-consciousness etc. He taught that consciousness does not occur independently of these six media. This disagrees with Advaita Vedanta.
In SN 7.9, he rejected the notion of varna/ caste by birth, stating "don’t ask about birth, ask about conduct," when someone asked him about his (Buddha's) varna /caste at birth.
In SN 7.7, he said that austerities does not make one pure and chanting mantras do not make one a brahmin, stating instead that accomplishment in conduct or virtue, and knowledge determines a brahmin.
In SN 7.21, he rejected the view that purification rites using water can wash away sins, stating instead to dip oneself in the shores of the lake of virtue, to purify oneself.
In DN 31, he rejected the ritualism behind the Vedic bath prayer ceremony practised by a young householder by the name of Sigala, and put a new spin on it.
In SN 42.6, he rejected the use of funeral rites to help the deceased go to heaven, stating instead that it is a person's deeds during their lifetime which determines their outcome, and not rituals performed after death.
In SN 42.3, he rejected the view that a warrior performing his duty to fight in war, will allow him to go to heaven after death, if he gets killed in battle.
In AN 8.39, he forbade taking of a life and in AN 4.39, he denounced animal sacrifices. This may have conflicted with animal sacrifices that may have been practised in his time.
In DN 2, he forbade his monks from doing fire oblations or fire sacrifices, practising astrology, reading omens, interpreting dreams, calculating auspicious dates for marriages, consecrating sites for construction and worshipping the Sun etc.
His agreement with Hinduism was on virtue, ethics and good conduct.
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Nice honest answer sir. <<His agreement with Hinduism was on virtue, ethics and good conduct.>> Did he agree with Hinduism in this matter?? Like what concepts sir? Sir Buddhists also revere Devatas right? Though they cant grant Moksha they do exist! – Sethu Srivatsa Koduru Dec 20 '20 at 10:59
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1@SethuSrivatsaKoduru Concepts like karma are similar but not exactly the same in Hinduism and Buddhism. Of course, moral principles like not killing, not stealing, being faithful to one's partner, not speaking untruth or harsh words is more or less similar between Hinduism and Buddhism. – ruben2020 Dec 21 '20 at 14:49
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Thankyou Ruben Ji. May I know which religion do you follow? I mean Baudh Dharma or Hindu Dharma..just curios – Sethu Srivatsa Koduru Dec 21 '20 at 16:09