and a great magician. He saw Amitabha in
the land of Dhingkota and died with his face turned towards
Sukhavati. I have found no explanation of the name Dhingkota but
the name Saraha does not sound Indian. He is said to have been a sudra
and he is represented in Tibetan pictures with a beard and topknot
and holding an arrow[545] in his hand. In all this there is little
that can be called history, but still it appears that the first person
whom tradition connects with the worship of Amitabha was of low caste,
bore a foreign name, saw the deity in an unknown country, and like
many tantric teachers was represented as totally unlike a Buddhist
monk. It cannot be proved that he came from the lands of the Oxus or
Turkestan, but such an origin would explain much in the tradition.
On the other hand, there would be no difficulty in accounting for
Zoroastrian influence at Peshawar or Takkasila within the frontiers of
India.

Somewhat later Vasubandhu is stated to have preached faith in Amitabha
but it does not appear that this doctrine ever had in India a tithe of
the importance which it obtained in the Far East.

The essential features of Amidist doctrine are that there is a
paradise of light belonging to a benevolent deity and that the
good[546] who invoke his name will be led thither. Both features are
found in Zoroastrian writings. The highest heaven (following after the
paradises of good thoughts, good words and good deeds) is called
Boundless Light or Endless Light.[547] Both this region and its
master, Ahuramazda, are habitually spoken of in terms implying
radiance and glory. Also it is a land of song, just as Amitabha's
paradise re-echoes with music and pleasant sounds.[548] Prayers can
win this paradise and Ahura Mazda and the Archangels will come and
show the way thither to the pious.[549] Further whoever recites the
Ahuna-vairya formula, Ahura Mazda will bring his soul to "the lights
of heaven,"[550] and although, so far as I know, it is not expressly
stated that the repetition of Ahura Mazda's name leads to paradise,
yet the general efficacy of his names as invocations is clearly
affirmed.[551]

Thus all the chief features of Amitabha's paradise are Persian: only
his method of instituting it by making a vow is Buddhist. It is true
that Indian imagination had conceived numerous paradises, and that the
early Buddhist legend tells of the Tushita heaven. But Sukhavati is
not like these abodes of bliss. It appears sudd