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78 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
which are necessary for him when he becomes a Buddha.
I
The Bodhisatta must not only acquire these ten powers as he evolves from stage to stage but he must also practice to perfection the ten Paramitas.
One Paramita is to be the end of one life. Specialisation in the Paramitas must go stage by stage. One Paramita in one life and not a little of one and a little of the other.
It is only when he is doubly equipped that a Bodhisatta becomes qualified for becoming a Buddha. The Buddha is a culminating point in the life of a Bodhisatta.
The theory of the Jatakas or the birth stages of a Bodhisatta appears analogous to the Brahmanic theory of Avataras, i.e., the theory of incarnations of God.
The Jataka theory is based upon the Buddha having the highest degree of purity as the essence of his being.
The Avatar theory does not require that the God should be pure in his making. All that the Brahmanic theory of Avatar says is that God saves his followers by taking different forms although the God may be very impure and immoral in his conduct.
The theory that to be a Bodhisatta for ten lives as a condition precedent for becoming a Buddha has no parallel anywhere. No other religion calls upon its founder to answer such a test.