If a Divine Consciousness and Force descended and through the personality we call Buddha did a great work for the world, then Buddha can be called an Avatar – the tapasya and arriving at knowledge are only an incident of the manifestation.Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
7. The Purpose of Avatarhood
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If a Divine Consciousness and Force descended and through the personality we call Buddha did a great work for the world, then Buddha can be called an Avatar – the tapasya and arriving at knowledge are only an incident of the manifestation.
If on the other hand Buddha was only a human being like many others who arrived at some knowledge and preached it, then he was not an Avatar – for of that kind there have been thousands and they cannot be all Avatars.