174 S. C. Dim— On Eholibhava. [July, 



Sanskrit Tibetan vocabulary " Ekotibhava " or Rgyucl cjchig-tu gyur- 

 pa " is rendered as union (with the Supreme Spirit). 



Ekotibhava with short i, i. e., " Ekotibhava* does not seem to mo 

 quite correct. In the first place it does not directly give the meaning 

 of the term in accordance with the rules of Sanskrit grammar, and does 

 not tally with the explanation given by the Indian savants who trans- 

 lated the Buddhist sacred books into Tibetan under the auspices of 

 Kings Thisrong, Ralpachen &c. In the second place it does not occur in 

 any of the books I have consulted. 



It is more natural that after " uta " the suffix " chvi " should be 

 inserted implying the occurrence of something not existing before 

 (abhiita tad bhava) rather than that the last component part should be 

 joined with " uti " meaning an act of sewing or uniting. But in order 

 that the compound word may give the intended signification in consonance 

 with the rules of grammar the components should be " eka + uta + 

 bhava." A learned Lama of Tibet has kindly sent me a note on this 

 term the purport of which I give below: — 



" R gyuc? #chig-tu gyur-pa (Ekotibhava) means the continued connection of 

 " one with another without break or division. A soul (vijiaa na or R nam S'es) 

 " existing from eternity has undergone numberless transmigrations. In all its 

 11 births it has run through an unbroken line of existence until it is cut short by 

 " Nirvana." 



All living beings have this kind of continuous existence. A soul 

 undergoing transmigrations may be compared to a string or wreath of 

 flowers, its different embodiments being the individual flowers which 

 drop off one by one after each death. Bodhisatvas and saints alone 

 can know the circumstances of their former births which ordinary 

 mortals cannot. Some of the grand Lamas of Tibet are the acknow- 

 ledged incarnations of Bodhisatvas. When the fresh embodiment of a 

 Bodhisatva is announced a Committee of the living Bodhisatvas 

 (grand Lamas) is formed to identify his spirit with that of the Lama 

 whose incarnation he professes to be. At the time of the identification 

 the claimant (generally a child of 3 or 4) is required to prove by signs 

 that his spirit is one and the same with the spirit of the Lama whose 

 incarnation he declares himself to be. This identity of the claimant 

 with the spirit of a Lama is called Ekotibhava and it forms one of the 

 cardinal doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism. I here annex the Sanskrit 



* The word with short i, i. e., Eka + uti + bhava when compounded together 

 must according to the Rules of Sanskrit Grammar be " Ekotibhava." I quote the 

 rules. 



(1) Abhuta tad bhave chvih Krisubastishu. 



(2) A kara h ii sva svara vidirghan. 



