1892.] at Mount TJren in Mungir ( Monghyr ) district, fy*c. 23 
images as little as possible, and to replace them again exactly as I found 
them ; but seeing that the process was a rather tedious one, a guard was 
always kept at the place to see that I did not carry off any of the 
stones. 
Such an attitude on the part of the villagers—who are here mostly 
bigoted Babhans of the Rajput caste and possibly descendants of the 
original Buddhist community—has undoubtedly tended to conserve 
these remains. 
It must not, however, be supposed that the protection thus offered 
by Hindus to Buddhist images is knowingly given out of pious regard 
for Buddhism. This is not the case. In every instance the images are 
cherished in the belief that they are truly Hindu gods. The real at¬ 
titude of Hindus towards Buddhist images is well seen at Bodh Gaya 
where the Hindu pilgrims to the adjacent Brahmanical shrines may be 
seen scowling and even spitting upon the Buddhist images now con¬ 
served there by Government. Indeed the Gaya pilgrimage, which 
every good Hindu must perform is one of direct hostility to Buddhism— 
the great Gaya Asura demon, whose suppression is the raison d'etre of this 
pilgrimage, being none other than Buddha himself. This should be well 
considered by those who believe that the adoption of Buddha as an 
incarnation of Vishnu by certain of the Hindus in mediaeval times ne¬ 
cessarily implies that Buddhism disappeared from India by amicable 
amalgamation with Brahmanism. 
Concluding remarks. —In conclusion, I would draw especial attention 
to the following points, the importance of which is indeed self-evident, 
viz., 
1st. The necessity for Government-conservation of the hill with¬ 
out delay, in order to prevent further removal, by the quarriers, of 
these surviving remnants of antiquity. 
2nd. The desirability of thoroughly exploring the monastery 
mounds and stupa-like sites, &c., as excavation will doubtless reveal 
numerous remains now buried among the ruins. 
3rd. That the legend of this Yaksha is not a mere Sun-myth as 
supposed by Rhys Davids following Senart,* but is founded on a certain 
basis of fact. Divested of its embellishments, the story resolves itself 
into the conversion by Buddha of a notorious and dreaded non-Aryan 
free-booter and possibly a cannibal whose reputation still survives 
till the present day. In addition to the particulars already given of 
these so-called ‘ demons ’, it is remarkable that the detailed account 
of the ‘Yakas’, given in the Sinhalese Scriptures, is an almost exact 
* Buddhism by Rhys Davids, p. 73, Lond., 1887. 
