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KOYAL ECLECTICISM 307 three deities of the family, Siva, the Sun, and Buddha, and erected costly temples for the service of all three. But, in his later years, the Buddhist doctrines held the chief place in his affections, and the eloquence of the Chinese Master of the Law induced him to prefer the advanced teaching of the Mahayana sect to the more primitive Hinayana doctrine of the Sammitiya school with which he had previously been familiar. The religious eclecticism of the royal family was the reflection and result of the state of popular religion at the time. Buddhism, although it had certainly lost the dominant position in the Ganges plain which it had once held, was still a powerful force, and largely influenced the public mind. The Jain system, which had never been very widely spread or aggressive in the north, retained its hold on certain localities, especially at Vaisali and in Eastern Bengal, but could not pretend to rival the general popularity of either Buddhism or Puranic Hinduism. The last-named modification of the Hindu system was now firmly established, and the earlier Puranas were already revered as ancient and sacred writings. The bulk of the population in most provinces was then, as now, devoted to the service of the Puranic gods, each man and woman being, of course, free to select a particular deity, Siva, the Sun, Vishnu, or another, for special adoration according to personal predilection. As a rule, the followers of the various religions lived peaceably together, and no doubt many people besides the king sought to make certain of some divine support