rliest Gandharan sculptures and there was a
famous image of him in Udyana of which Fa-Hsien (399-414 A.D.) speaks
as if it were already ancient.[59] Hsuean Chuang describes it as well
as a stupa erected[60] to commemorate Sakyamuni's prediction that
Maitreya would be his successor. On attaining Buddhahood he will
become lord of a terrestrial paradise and hold three assemblies under
a dragon flower tree,[61] at which all who have been good Buddhists in
previous births will become Arhats. I-Ching speaks of meditating on
the advent of Maitreya in language like that which Christian piety
uses of the second coming of Christ and concludes a poem which is
incorporated in his work with the aspiration "Deep as the depth of a
lake be my pure and calm meditation. Let me look for the first
meeting under the Tree of the Dragon Flower when I hear the deep
rippling voice of the Buddha Maitreya."[62] But messianic ideas were
not much developed in either Buddhism or Hinduism and perhaps the
figures of both Maitreya and Kalki owe something to Persian legends
about Saoshyant the Saviour.

The other Bodhisattvas, though lauded in special treatises, have left
little impression on Indian Buddhism and have obtained in the Far East
most of whatever importance they possess. The makers of images and
miniatures assign to each his proper shape and colour, but when we
read about them we feel that we are dealing not with the objects of
real worship or even the products of a lively imagination, but with
names and figures which have a value for picturesque but conventional
art.

Among the best known is Samantabhadra, the all gracious,[63] who is
still a popular deity in Tibet and the patron saint of the sacred
mountain Omei in China, with which he is associated as Manjusri with
Wu-tai-shan. He is represented as green and riding on an elephant. In
Indian Buddhism he has a moderately prominent position. He is
mentioned in the Dharmasangraha and in one chapter of the Lotus he is
charged with the special duty of protecting those who follow the law.
But the Chinese pilgrims do not mention his worship.

Mahasthamaprapta[64] is a somewhat similar figure. A chapter of the
Lotus (XIX) is dedicated to him without however giving any clear idea
of his personality and he is extolled in several descriptions of
Sukhavati or Paradise, especially in the Amitayurdhyana-sutra.
Together with Amitabha and Avalokita he forms a triad who rule this
Happy Land and are oft