326 Notes on ancient Inscriptions from the [No. 4. 



the same idea in connexion with the name of Vajrapani which hum 

 does with reference to Padmapani in the inscription before us. The 

 word is sometimes used by itself, as in the Durgati Sodhana Avadd- 

 na, where the repetition of the mystic hum four times is said to be 

 a preventive of all evils.* But it is in the Vijachintamani where 

 we find the most conclusive proof of these terms being symbolic of 

 some divinity, and in no way amenable to the rules of philological 

 construction. The 4th section of that work statesf that h is a 

 representative of the sky, m of Siva, u of Sakti and the semilunate 

 nasal mark nddabindu of the dispenser of salvation, and these let- 

 ters together constitute the emblem hum. Hrinh, according to that 

 authority, is emblematic of Siva, Vishnu, the presiding deity of the 

 crown of the head, the Toni, and the dispenser of Moksha. % Ghain, 

 Srim and a host of other particles are explained in a similiar way. 



JS"or is this mode of typification opposed to the practice of the 

 Hindus. The idea of using a literal symbol to designate the Deity's 

 self, first originated with the Brahmans, and the most ancient term 

 of its kind is no doubt the Vedic Om. It is the great instrument of 

 Brahminic devotion, and may be assumed to be the archetype of all 

 the symbolical terms used by the people of India whether Brahminists 

 or Buddhists. S'akya Siixha early imported it into Buddhism and his 

 followers have ever since used it to indicate the Supreme Adi Buddha 

 or whoever may be the prime source of all intelligence^ The Jains 

 not only adopted it, but coined a new term Mm to devote the female 



<JI^ft I ^fsrafa«n¥Ci*| JrTOTflwnfaiT: I Durgati Sodhana Avaddna. 



\* 

 Asiatic Society's MS. No. 817, folio 15, p. 1, line 12. 



IT^^fWi II ^ II Vija-chintamani, 4th pataia. 



O Devi the letter ^ (h) called Vyorna or the sky, destroys all evils, and the let- 

 ter ff (m), which is a manifestation of Siva, purines all sins; the ^ (u) is the em- 

 bodiment of Sakti called Sandtani, and the * (cerebral nasal mark), O Devi, is 

 the dispenser of Moksha. 



% Tm^^i ^tx^ t"^t faw$ ^?ra: i t^tt *rfwt m^m ii%, 

 q\& %Ty$t\ \ ^T^fa^' ^sufa ^T^r^r^sr^T^x ' ^fi Ibid. 



§ Memoires concernant l'Histoire, &c. des Chinois, V. p. 59. 



