282 THE TEMPLE. 



Lamaic Rosaeies. 



The rosary is an essential part of a lama's dress. As a Buddhist 

 article, the rosary is especially peculiar to the 

 Its origm. Northern school of Buddhists and the outcome of 



the esoteric teachings of the Mahayana school, instilling belief in 

 the potency of muttering mystic spells and other strange formulas. 

 In the very complicated rosaries of Japan ^ it has attained its highest 

 development. 



It is not enumerated in the Southern Scriptures among the articles 

 necessary for a monk. But incidental mention is made by Shway 

 Yoe^ of a rosary with 108 beads; and several of the Burmese monks 

 I have met possessed a rosary called " Bodha, " consisting of 72 black 

 sub-cylindrical beads, which I understood were composed of slips of 

 leaf inscribed with charmed words and rolled into pellets with the aid 

 of lacquer or varnish. 



The rosar}^ is not conspicuous amongst Southern Buddhists, but 

 among Tibetans it is everywhere visible. 



It is also held in the hand of the image of the patron god of 

 Tibet — Che-re-si (Skt. Avalokita), and its use is 

 Its uses. j^Q^ confined to the lamas. Nearly every layman 



and woman is possessed of a rosary on which at every opportunity 

 they zealously store up merit; and they also use it for secular 

 purposes, like the sliding balls of the Chinese, to assist in ordinary 

 calculations : the beads to the right of the centre bead being called 

 ta-thang and registei'ing units, while those to the left are called chu-do 

 and record tens, which numbers suffice for their ordinary wants. 



Description of the Rosaey and its appendages. 



The vernacular name for the rosary is ^' phreng-ba;'^ pronounced 

 theng-iva or vulgarly theng-nga, and literally means 



Vernacular name. i< a string of beads." 



The rosary contains lOS beads of uniform size. The reason for 

 this special number is alleged to be merely a 



The number 108. provision to ensure the repetition of the sacred 

 spell a full hundred times, and the extra beads are added to make 

 up for any omission of beads through absent-mindedness during the 

 telling process or for actual loss of beads by breakage; but the 

 number is of mystic significance. Che-r^-si and Dol-ma have each 108 



. Note on Buddliist Eosaries in Japan. By J. M. James, Trans. Jap. As. Soc, 

 page ] 

 The hurma 

 phreng-ba. 



page 173, 1S81. 

 2 The hurman .- Ris Life and Notions, I., page 201 



