12 S. C. Das — Marriage Customs of Tibet. [No. 1, 



tray fn.ll of rice, a quantity of barley flonr and a few bottles of wine. 

 Receiving these presents the astrologer spreads his astrological chart, 

 called tsi-thang, on a little table, and places in front of it a jug full of 

 wine to offer serlcem (libation of golden drink) to the gods, a miniature 

 flag called the dah-dar (a silken flag of five colours attached to the sharp 

 end of an. arrow), and burning incense. He then puts a few white and 

 black balls, of the size of a pea, on the chart, and throws them on it 

 in the manner of dice to ascertain the good and bad luck of the parties 

 to be married. After noting down the years of birth of the parties he 

 gravely sits on a cushion to perform the ceremony of den-dar (the 

 Test of Truth) of his calculations, and makes the following invocations: — 

 " I pay homage to Buddha — his Law, and the Church, and vow to be 

 under their protection, till I shall have entered the state of supreme 

 enlightenment. By the moral merits of my good deeds, such as charity, 

 forbearance, &c, let all the living beings of the world be benefited, and 

 thereby let me attain to Buddhahood. Let all the animate beings of 

 the world come under the influence of Truth, and the causes of Truth, 

 and also be free from misery, and the causes of misery. Let them also 

 not be devoid of Truth, which is free from misery, and abide in that 

 even state of mind, which is free from corruption, partiality and passions. 

 Let me gain perfection as quickly as possible, that I may work in the 

 cause of all living beings of the world. It is with a view to serve 

 them in respect of the sciences of astrology and divination, that I now 

 undertake to perform this religious service." With this introduction 

 the officiating astrologer invokes the aid of all the gods of the ten 

 quarters, Buddhas, Boddhisattvas, sages, saints, &c, to help him in the 

 work of mystic calculation : — 



"0 holy Lamas who have passed away, are now present, and 

 will appear hereafter in this world, pray, bear me out in this test of 

 Truth ! infallible prince of the S'akya race, O sage of Udyana, 

 Padma Sambhava ! O ye masters of the Sutras, Tantras and the mantras, 

 lend me your help in this test of divination, for nothing in this world 

 is hidden from you. 



"0 Rig-sum Gon-po (Mafiju) Sri, Vajra pani, and Avalokitesvara, 

 Sangye (Buddhas) Chafigsem (Boddhisattvas), the science of numbers 

 and of the stars, the Sutrantas and the sacred works on divine pro- 

 phecies! — Judge ye all of my skill. 



"O Brahma Chaturmukha (thou with four faces) ! Naga Raja 

 whose head is formed of seven serpents ! O mighty Vijayd, the god- 

 dess who rules over the elements ! O sage Kapila Muni ! O Kung-fu-tse 

 (Confucius), the miraculous prince of China! saints and Vidya- 

 dharas! — Ye are all witnesses to my work. 



