The History of Buddhist Thought c23.30

c23.30

Both here and in the *Lotus* the chief interest is confined to the nature of Tathāgatas and their worship. The great growth of bodhisattva worship appears to be later. This growth was a natural development in a country where *bhakti*, devotion to a personal god like Krishna and Śiva, had assumed such dimensions. Attempts have been made to explain the bodhisattvas as transformations of Hindu gods, but this appears to be a needless complication in stating the problem. There is no need to seek the personalities of the bodhisattvas in another religion. They already existed in great numbers as the product of free invention, and their worship was only an extension of Buddha worship, which was older even than the Mahāyāna movement. Bodhisattva worship was a rival movement rather than an imitation of Hindu forms of devotion. When a few of them had become popular, like Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, and Vajrapāṇi, it is not surprising if they took over some of the characteristic features of the rival deities. Avalokiteśvara has some of the features of Śiva. In the *Kāraṇḍavyūha* he even has the same title, Maheśvara. Yet he is quite distinct, and when the god Maheśvara is introduced it is as a disciple and worshipper of the great Lord Avalokiteśvara. Another bodhisattva in these sūtras is Mañjuśrī. He is here a great being, but not essentially different from the others. Later he becomes of very different significance, but we can see how he has developed from a simple bodhisattva. His origin needs no explaining, but once he existed and became popular, more and more virtues and powers could be claimed for him which, in the eyes of his worshippers, would make him outrival the gods of the other religions.