314 THE MONKHOOD. 



approachable that she owes her popularity. Most of the other deities 

 cannot be approached without the mediation of ahlma ; but the poorest 

 layman or woman may secure the immediate attention of Dolma by 

 simply appealing to her direct. 



The striking similarity between Dolma and " The Virgin Mary " of 



Roman Catholicism has excited comment. Dolma, 



Sembl^ce to The i[\^q The Virgin Mary, occupies a maternal relation 



to the Buddhas, and is an intercessor, a ready 



hearer of prayers, easily approachable, and able and willing to relieve 



or soothe petty troubles, and her name is a favourite personal name 



for women. 



Her worship seems to date from about the 7th century A. D., when 



Tantric ideas began to tinge Indian Buddhism. It 



Origin of Ler wor- geems to me that the name was evidently suggested 



by the Hindu myth of Budha, or the planet 



Mercury, whose mother -was Tara ; and either by wilfiJ or accidental 



confusion the idea got transferred to Buddha, who about this time also 



received a place in the Hindu Pantheon. 



There are now two recognized classes of the goddess Dolma, viz. — 



(a) The Grec7i Dolma— " 7/zc Dolma" of the Tibetans, of 

 which King Srongtsan-gampo's Nepalese wife was 



Her forms. • , • i 



an incarnation, and 



(h) The White Dolma — who is especially worshipped in China 



and Mongolia and very seldom in Tibet. King 



Srongtsan-gampo's Chinese wife is believed to be an 



incarnation of this form. 



The white form is seated like a Buddha, and has seven eyes, one 

 being in the forehead in addition to the ordinary 



T e w ite onn. facial pair, and one in each palm and in the sole 

 of each foot. 



The green form — " The Dolma" of the Tibetans — is usually repre- 

 sented in the form of a bejewelled young Indian 

 e green onn. -^yoman of a green complexion seated on a lotus, with 

 her left leg hanging down and holding a long-stemmed lotus flower. 

 She is, however, given a variety of other forms, mild and demoniacal, 

 to the number of twenty-one or more. The demoniacal forms ^ are 

 very similar to those of the Hindu Durga. These several forms are 

 evidently the objective representations in concrete fashion of the 

 numerous titles of the goddess : — thus Locana, Mamaki, Vajradhatvi- 

 swari, Pandara, Ugratara, Ratnatara, Bhrikutitara, Visvatara, &c. 

 And latterly her names have been extended to reach the mystic 

 number of 108. 



* Kliro-^njer chan (pr. To-nyer chin), " She with frowning brows," (See. 



