[Footnote 350: Such scenes as the relief from Amarâvati figured in Grünwedel, _Buddhist art in India_, p. 29, fig. 8, might easily be supposed to represent the worship of the linga, and some of Aśoka's pillars have been worshipped as lingas in later times.] [Footnote 351: But not of course the soul which, according to the general Indian idea, exists before and continues after the life of the body.] [Footnote 352: Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_, I. 84; II. 219.] [Footnote 353: They are however of some importance in Vishnuite theology. For instance according to the school of Râmânuja it is the Śakti (Śrî) who reveals the true doctrine to mankind. Vishṇu is often said to have three consorts, Śrî, Bhû and Lîlâ.] [Footnote 354: _E.g._ Śat. Brâh. I. 2. 5. See also the strange legend _Ib._ XI. 1. 1 where Vishṇu is described as the best of the gods but is eaten by Indra. He is frequently (_e.g._ in the Śata Brâh) stated to be identical with the sacrifice, and this was probably one of the reasons for his becoming prominent.] [Footnote 355: See many modern examples in Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folk Lore of Northern India_, chap. IV. and _Census of India_, 1901, vol. VI. _Bengal_, pp. 196-8, where are described various deified heroes who are adored in Bengal, such as Goveiyâ (a bandit), Sailesh, Karikh, Lárik, Amar Singh, and Gobind Raut (a slayer of tigers). Compare too the worship of Gopi Nath and Zinda Kaliana in the Panjâb as described in _Census of India_, 1901, vol. XVII. pp. 118-9.] [Footnote 356: The Bhâgavata Purâna (I. iii.) and the Bhaktamâlâ (see _J.R.A.S._ 1909, pp. 621 ff.) give longer lists of 22 and 26, and the Pâncarâtra gives 39. See Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitâ, V. 50-55.] [Footnote 357: Book I, cantos 74-76.] [Footnote 358: A parallel phenomenon is the belief found in Bali, that Buddha is Śiva's brother.] [Footnote 359: For Brahmanic ideas about Buddha see Vishṇu Purâṇa, III. 18. The Bhâgavata Purâṇa, I. 3. 24 seems to make the Buddha incarnation future. It also counts Kapila and Ṛishabha, apparently identical with the founder of the Sânkhya and the first Jain saint, as incarnations. The Padma Purâṇa seems to ascribe not only Buddhism but the Mâyâ doctrine of Śankara to delusions deliberately inspired by gods. I have not been able to find the passage in the printed edition of the Purâṇa but it is quoted in Sanskrit by Aufrecht, _Cat. Cod. Bib. Bodl._ p. 14, and Muir, _Original Sanskrit Texts_, p. 198.]