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to these Goddesses we find in the Hindu pantheon Tara, Ugra Tara, Ekajata and Maha-Nila-
Saraswati. The Dhyanas of these Goddesses, as found in the Hindu Tantra, literally
correspond to those found in the Buddhist Sadhana. According to a legend recorded in the
Somoha Tantra, Nila-Saraswati or Ugratara was born in a lake like Cola on the western side
of Mount Meru. This name Cola is probably to be connected with kul, kol the common word
For lake to the west and north of the Tien-Shan in the pure Mongolian zone." Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya, in his Introduction to Buddhist
Esoterism, has further observed on the cult as follows: -
"The origin of Tara is neither Hindu nor Buddhist; but it is of Tibetan
extraction. Not only the deity is foreign but also her worshipand practices connected
there with are foreign. The evidences of the Hindu- Tantras also point to the same
direction. In the Taratantra, for instance, we read Bhairavi wishing to know from
hercondition the way in which Buddha and Vasishtha obtained siddhi. Bhairava, in reply
said that by muttering the mantra of Ugratara, Buddha and Vasishtha obtained Siddhi."
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