History of Bengali Language and Literature c6.s2.2

c6.s2.2

Such has also been the case with Buddhism in India. In the Buddhist temple, the image of Buddha is often worshipped as Çiva. Buddhistic religious books have been so recast and transformed by the Hindu priests, that they now pass for religious poems of the Hindus in the eyes of the people. Yet they were unmistakably Buddhistic works at first. Such for instance are the poems of Dharma-mangal. Dharma-thākur, in praise of whose might, the poems were originally composed, represents the popular idea of Buddha and occupies the second place in the Budhistic group comprised of Buddha, Dharma and Saṃgha. The third of the group সঙ্ঘ, changed into শঙ্ঘ, is also alluded to, in the Çuṇya Purāṇa, by Rāmāi Pandit.