Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c75.s3.22

v2.c75.s3.22

Accordingly let us deal first with the Lord Buddha, adopted by the tolerant Hindus as an Incarnation of the Lord Viṣṇu himself, (as promised by me at Vaiṣṇava-Pratimā-Lakṣaṇa, Chap. III p. 220). In this section of Buddhist Pratimā-lakṣaṇa, Gautama Buddha is our first adorable deity. Buddhists, the bigoted Vajrayānists could be fanatic enough to degrade him to a secondary position—vide their first homage to Ādi Buddha, Vajradhara in the imitation of the Hindu view of metaphysics and mythology. We, the detached reviewers of the broad Indian cultural currents, cannot forget him who not only gave a new religion to the world but also contributed immensely to the thought-currents of Hinduism itself of which Buddhism should be considered only a side-current like Śaivism and Vaiṣṇavism.