The Buddhist monk Upagupta, who preached and taught meditative practices in Northwest India over two thousand years ago, is venerated today by the laity in parts of Burma, Thailand, and Laos as a protective figure endowed with magical powers. In this monumental work John Strong offers a systematic presentation of the Indian and Southeast Asian lege "Makes a substantial contribution to the fields of religious and Buddhist studies. The grace of Strong's prose and the detail with which he recounts stories, myths, and rituals related to the Upagupta, provide specialist and generalist with an important new resource."