case, Ra ̄dha ̄ came to embody prakr.ti(matter, earth), the co-eternal essence
of the universe; she was also ma ̄ya ̄(the tangible world and its force), and
s ́akti– the power of the divine. Not least important, she was lover of Kr.s.n.a,
whose dalliances with the divine flautist were enacted in music and dance
throughout India. As Kr.s.n.a’s consort, she mediated his grace to all and
became the embodiment of compassion and the paradigm of the ideal
devotee. There are intimations in her story of both tantric and Buddhist
themes and, it is generally agreed, that it was in Bengal where her worship,
like that of Ka ̄lı ̄, was most popular at least until the eighteenth century. It is
no coincidence that in Bengal both Buddhism and tantrism had been
strong.^33
Ra ̄dha ̄’s assumption of supreme status was not unique to her. Each
emergent goddess had her own origins, but once adapted into the classical
tradition, she came to embody the power (s ́akti) of the divine, as well as the
character of the world’s force. Both Ka ̄lı ̄ and Durga ̄ tend to embody this
power in ways that are often seen as potentially malevolent. Ka ̄lı ̄, for
example, was portrayed as black, tongue extended as in combat, a necklace
of skulls. She was the fierce destroyer of her enemies and powerful protector
of those who worshiped her. At the same time, for those on good terms with
her (as with the world itself), she was mother and sustainer of life.^34
Buddhism and Jainism
By the fourteenth century, Buddhism had virtually disappeared from the
Indian landscape, save for occasional pockets of Buddhist culture. This
decline of Buddhism on the subcontinent may be attributed to four factors.
First, there was a migration of monks out of the subcontinent. Many
Therava ̄da monks had begun to migrate as early as the first centuries BCEto
Sri Lanka, which had become a stronghold of Therava ̄da culture and from
there that school of Buddhism had spread throughout much of Southeast
Asia and especially to Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia. In the meanwhile,
Maha ̄ya ̄na monks, especially of the Ma ̄dhyamika and Yoga ̄ca ̄ra schools, had
made their way, starting as early as the first centuries CE, by way of Central
Asia to China. By the ninth century, Vajraya ̄na Buddhism had spread into
Tibet. Second, from the time of S ́an.kara, Buddhist intellectual life declined
on the subcontinent. “Philosophy” based on the Upanis.adsattracted more
inquirers; in the meanwhile, Buddhist speculations in China and Southeast
Asia were on the rise.
Third, the devotional movement with its appeal to accessible deities
concretely available in local places made Hinduism increasingly attractive
at the popular level. In fact, in many respects, Buddhism was “absorbed”
114 The Post-classical Period