SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 283 



But this simple explanation of course does not satisfy the 

 Lama schoolmen, who revel in glorifications and multitu- 

 dinous glossifications of this formula. The six syllables 

 are the heart of hearts, the root of all knowledge, the 

 ladder to re-birth in higher forms of being, the conquerors 

 of the five evils, the flame that burns up sin, the hammer 

 that breaks up torment, and so on. От saves the gods, 

 ma the Asuras, ni the men, pad the animals, me the spectre 

 world o{ prctds, Jnun the inhabitants of hell ! От is ' the 

 blessing of self-renunciation, ma of mercy, ni of chastity, 

 &c.' ' Truly monstrous,' says Koeppen, ' is the num- 

 ber of padmes which in the great festivals hum and buzz 

 through the air like flies.' In some places each worshipper 

 reports to the highest lama how many от manis he has 

 uttered, and the total number emitted by the congregation 

 is counted by the billion. 



Grueber and Dorville describe Manipe as an idol, be- 

 fore which stulta gens insolitis gcsticnlationibiis sacra sua 

 facit., identidem verba hcec repetens : ' О Manipe, mi hum, 

 О Manipe, mi hum ; id est Manipe, salva nos ! ' — [Y.] 



THE OBO. 

 P. 76. 



Of the Obo, or sacred cairn of the Lamas, probably a 

 relic of their primeval superstitions, a representation is 

 given in Kircher's account of the journey of Grueber and 

 Dorville, who characterise it thus : ' Trophaea quae in sum- 

 mis montium cum adoratione magno Lamae diriguntur, 

 pro conservatione hominum et equorum.'' 



Turner describes such a trophmim on the boundary be- 

 tween Bhotan and Tibet. — [Y.] 



^ China Illustrata, p. 70, 



