conversion of the naga Apalala in northwestern India
and the subjugation of the nagas by MAHAMAUDGALY-
AYANA. The naga cult also spread in Southeast and East
Asia. YAKSAand yaksinl,evil spirits (ogres) of forests
and uncultivated plains, were subjugated by the Bud-
dha in Sri Lanka in order to spread the dharma there.
Asura (anti-gods) are often a model for local deities,
such as the natsin Myanmar and deified warriors in
Japan. Garuda,mythical birds who were the enemies
of the nagas, turned into the flying vehicle of VISNU
before they were included in the Buddhist pantheon.
Raksasa,cannibalistic evil spirits, became protectors
of the LOTUSSUTRA(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA).
Some of these deities, in spite of their intrinsic violent
character, even became important foci of devotion,
such as Mahakala, the yaksinl Hart, Kubera, and
Hayagrva. Still other divine beings became guardians
of local images, stupas, and monasteries.
In general, there were a few common strategies for
the Buddhist conversion of local deities throughout
Asia. Deities were first converted, sometimes violently
(subjugation), either following their own request or af-
ter a confrontation. This step signaled the supremacy
of Buddhism over local deities. Even when local spir-
its were not directly incorporated but marginalized (as
happened in Tibet, where indigenous deities were sub-
dued by erecting monasteries on specific parts of their
bodies), there was still the need for propitiation, thus
further emphasizing the fundamental evil nature of
preexisting local deities and the importance of Bud-
dhism to control them.
On a second stage, converted deities became pro-
tectors of the dharma, its adepts, and its facilities. In
this way, deities were able to perform their usual, pre-
Buddhist tutelary functions, but within a larger,
translocal cosmology, and in a different soteriological
framework. Later, we sometimes observe the forma-
tion of new, post-Buddhist local deities, distinct from
but related to Buddhist divinities. Examples include
HACHIMANand Inari in Japan, BONdeities in Tibet,
and certain kinds of spirits in Thailand, such as the
winjan.In some cases, local deities came to be envi-
sioned as manifestations (avatara) of translocal, usu-
ally Indian, gods. For example, the supreme natspirit
in Myanmar, Thagya Min nat, is identified with Inda
(Indra). Japanese Shinto kamiwere also considered
manifestations of Indian deities. In China certain local
gods of a strong Daoist flavor are closely related to, if
not completely identified with, Buddhist figures; such
is the case of the goddess Mazu and her close relation-
ship with the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokites ́vara).
By presenting local deities—and the social organi-
zation and power relations that support them—as
manifestations of chaos and violence, these narratives
emphasize the civilizing, ordering, and beneficial na-
ture of Buddhism, its institutions, and its representa-
tives. Even though the initial disruption was actually
caused by Buddhist monks who questioned, altered, or
destroyed local cultural practices represented by local
deities, such an emphasis on order and peace was not
simply groundless propaganda. In many cases, Bud-
dhist missionaries came from more advanced cultures
and brought with them new technologies, ideas, and
representations that were structured in a translocal and
more encompassing worldview. The inclusiveness of
Buddhism, its capacity to integrate different and con-
trasting elements inside its own superior system was rep-
resented by the inclusion of previously anti-Buddhist
forces and mutual enemies, such as Mahes ́vara and the
asuras, or on a different level, nagas and garudas.Buddhism and local cults
Local deities in countries where Buddhism spread are
usually regarded as manifestations of an animistic
worldview. The term animism,however, cannot effec-
tively represent the variety and complexity of cultures
in which Buddhism penetrated. Local deities range
from souls of individuals, spirits of the dead, ghosts,
and other postmortem demonic entities, to local and
tutelary deities of various kinds. These entities are en-
visioned as forces concerned with health, fertility, and
prosperity (or lack thereof). The Buddhist intervention
restructured all these multifarious forms into a system,
more or less coherent, that was based (at least, to an
extent) on Buddhist doctrines. For example, in present-
day Myanmar a combination of Pali Buddhism, naga
cults, and natanimism has been attested in the Pagan
area since the tenth to eleventh centuries; analogous
situations exist in Thailand and Laos. In premodern
Japan, local deities were incorporated into the Bud-
dhist cosmology and liturgy as manifestations of bud-
dhas, bodhisattvas, and classical Indian gods. In other
areas, such as China and Tibet, a division of labor arises
between the Buddhist clergy and ritualists of other tra-
ditions (e.g., Daoists or Bon adepts, and traditional
specialists).
While not directly related to the quest for ultimate
liberation (be it configured as NIRVANAor the attain-
ment of Buddhahood), local divinities played an impor-
tant role in merit-making and in securing protection,
two areas, distinct but closely interrelated, that roughly
correspond to karmic and apotropaic Buddhism asLOCALDIVINITIES ANDBUDDHISM