Lord Buddha: Making the Faithless Faithful.
By Mayapur-shashi Dasa
Reflections on an article written by Srila Prabhupada in 1956 and on how we as Vaishnavas should think of Lord Buddha today.
In the May 5, 1956, issue of Back to Godhead, Srila Prabhupada published his article “Lord Buddha: The Emblem of Theism.” The opening paragraph informs us of the transcendental poet Sri Jayadeva Acharya’s worship of Lord Buddha. Srila Prabhupada then quotes the poet’s Sanskrit prayer to the ten incarnations of the Personality of Godhead Keshava (Sri Krishna), and then gives this translation: “O my Lord, the Personality of Godhead Keshava! All glory unto You because You have accepted the body of Lord Buddha, who spoke ill constantly of the animal sacrifices in pursuance of the rites of the Vedic literature.”
Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to the verse that animal sacrifices are sometimes recommended in the Vedas under specific religious rites. He illustrates this point with the story of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s discussion with Maulana Chand Kazi, the city magistrate of Nabadwip (in Bengal). This occurred in the sixteenth century, two thousand years after Shakyamuni Buddha’s earthly existence. Mahaprabhu asked the Kazi why Muslims kill cows. The learned Kazi replied that cow sacrifice is recommended even in the Vedas, to which Lord Chaitanya responded that the recommendations in the Vedas were not for killing, but for giving an elderly cow a new lease on life with perfect health. This was done to demonstrate the powerful Vedic mantras, which when perfectly chanted could perform such wonders. Lord Chaitanya then explained that in Kali-yuga this was impossible and therefore cow and horse sacrifices must be avoided.
Before Lord Buddha arrived 2,500 years ago, the sections of the Vedas in which animal sacrifice is discussed were grossly misused, and their performers, Srila Prabhupada comments, “were indulged in an unrestricted extravagance.”
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