HOW MANY BUDDHAS?

TEXT 1
copyright ©1998 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, all rights reserved – www.krishna.com
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çré-çuka uväca
bharatasyätmajaù sumatir nämäbhihito yam u ha väva kecit päkhaëòina
åñabha-padavém anuvartamänaà cänäryä aveda-samämnätäà devatäà
sva-manéñayä päpéyasyä kalau kalpayiñyanti.
SYNONYMS
çré-çukaù uväca—Çré Çukadeva Gosvämé continued to speak; bharatasya—of
Bharata Mahäräja; ätma-jaù—the son; sumatiù näma-abhihitaù—named
Sumati; yam—unto whom; u ha väva—indeed; kecit—some;
päkhaëòinaù—atheists, men without Vedic knowledge; åñabha-padavém—the
path of King Åñabhadeva; anuvartamänam—following; ca—and;
anäryäù—not belonging to the Äryans who strictly follow the Vedic
principles; aveda-samämnätäm—not enumerated in the Vedas; devatäm—to be
Lord Buddha or a similar Buddhist deity; sva-manéñayä—by their own mental
speculation; päpéyasyä—most sinful; kalau—in this age of Kali;
kalpayiñyanti—will imagine.
TRANSLATION
Çréla Çukadeva Gosvämé continued: The son of Mahäräja Bharata known as
Sumati followed the path of Åñabhadeva, but some unscrupulous people
imagined him to be Lord Buddha himself. These people, who were actually
atheistic and of bad character, took up the Vedic principles in an imaginary,
infamous way to support their activities. Thus these sinful people accepted
Sumati as Lord Buddhadeva and propagated the theory that everyone should
follow the principles of Sumati. In this way they were carried away by mental
concoction.
copyright ©1998 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, all rights reserved – www.krishna.com
615
PURPORT
Those who are Äryans strictly follow the Vedic principles, but in this age of
Kali a community has sprung up known as the ärya-samäja, which is ignorant
of the import of the Vedas in the paramparä system. Their leaders decry all
bona fide äcäryas, and they pose themselves as the real followers of the Vedic
principles. These äcäryas who do not follow the Vedic principles are presently
known as the ärya-samäjas, or the Jains. Not only do they not follow the Vedic
principles, but they have no relationship with Lord Buddha. Imitating the
behavior of Sumati, they claim to be the descendants of Åñabhadeva. Those
who are Vaiñëavas carefully avoid their company because they are ignorant of
the path of the Vedas. In Bhagavad-gétä (15.15) Kåñëa says, vedaiç ca sarvair
aham eva vedyaù: "The real purpose of the Vedas is to understand Me." This is
the injunction of all Vedic literatures. One who does not know the greatness
of Lord Kåñëa cannot be accepted as an Äryan. Lord Buddha, an incarnation
of Lord Kåñëa, adopted a particular means to propagate the philosophy of
bhägavata-dharma. He preached almost exclusively among atheists. Atheists do
not want any God, and Lord Buddha therefore said that there is no God, but
he adopted the means to instruct his followers for their benefit. Therefore he
preached in a duplicitous way, saying that there is no God. Nonetheless, he
himself was an incarnation of God.