[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.

[10] According to the Agni Purana, Vishnu assumed this incarnation on earth due to the daityas (a race of asuras) defeating the devas in their battles.

This resulted in them abandoning the path established by the Vedas as they converted to Buddhism, in turn causing them to be devoid of dharma.

[11][12][13][14] Furthermore, the Buddha causes the age to be characterised by the intermixture of the varnas and domination by the Mlecchas (barbarian and foreign forces to Vedic cultures).

According to Doniger, the myth of the Buddha avatar first appeared in the pre-Gupta period, when orthodox brahmanistic Vedic traditions were threatened by the rise of Buddhism and Jainism (and by foreign invaders.

[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.

[22]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.

[6][18] Bhagavata Purana 1.3.24: Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, for the purpose of confusing the enemies of the devas, [he] will become the son of Anjana, Buddha by name, in the Kīkaṭas.

[6][7][28] According to Wendy Doniger, "Helmuth von Glasenapp attributed these developments to a Hindu desire to absorb Buddhism in a peaceful manner, both to win Buddhists to Vaishnavism and also to account for the fact that such a significant heresy could exist in India.

Even within Buddhism, states Swearer, Buddha and his ideas are conceptualized differently between Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, Japanese and other traditions.

[30][note 4] According to Alf Hiltebeitel and other scholars, some of the stories in Buddha-related Jataka tales found in Pali texts seem slanderous distortions of Hindu legends, but these may reflect the ancient local traditions and the complexities of early interaction between the two Indian religions.

[50] Prominent modern proponents of Hinduism, such as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Swami Vivekananda, consider the Buddha as an example of the same universal truth that underlies religions.

[note 6] A number of revolutionary figures in modern Hinduism, including Mahatma Gandhi, have been inspired by the life and teachings of the Buddha and many of his attempted reforms.