Indian Brahmanical texts and Cambodian Buddhist scriptures developed a close-knit relationship, like two rivers converging into a richer current. When Hindu priests and scholars from southern India arrived in early Funan and Chenla (1st–6th centuries CE), they brought along the Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana. These weren’t just dusty manuscripts—they offered cosmologies, deity lore and ritual frameworks that Southeast Asian Buddhists wove into their own traditions.

Temples such as Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat showcase Sanskrit inscriptions quoting both Pūjā rituals from the Vedas and Buddhist sūtras side by side. Mount Meru, the mythical axis mundi of Hindu cosmology, found its way into Khmer Buddhist thought as the very heart of the universe, surrounded by devas and asuras just as the Puranas describe. In Cambodian monastery libraries, Pali sermons commonly sport Sanskrit shlokas invoking Shiva or Vishnu alongside Avalokiteśvara mantras—proof that Buddhist monks felt perfectly at home borrowing a page or two from Brahmanical playbooks.

The Ramayana’s hero Rama and the Mahabharata’s epic battles pop up in painted panels and storytelling recitals during Pchum Ben, Cambodia’s ancestral festival. These tales provided memorable settings for Buddhist moral lessons: loyalty, self-sacrifice and dharma in action. Over time, local versions—like the Reamker—blended Buddhist Jataka episodes with Hindu gods, creating something uniquely Khmer.

Vajrayāna practices in late-medieval Cambodia leaned even more heavily on Brahmanical tantra. Mantra recitations, yantra diagrams and goddess worship (śakti) were grafted onto tantric Buddhist rituals, resulting in ceremonies that simultaneously honored Lakshmi’s blessings and the compassion of Bodhisattvas.

Today, it’s hard to separate the strands. Sanskrit revival programs at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (launched 2023) are uncovering forgotten commentaries where Brahmanical astrology and Buddhist calendrical lore form a single tapestry. UNESCO’s recent restoration efforts at Sambor Prei Kuk similarly celebrate this fusion—highlighting that Indian Brahmanical texts didn’t just influence Cambodian Buddhism; they became part of its very lifeblood.