218 
Sarat Chandra Das —Contributions on Tibet. 
[No. 3, 
CHAPTER II. 
Monaechy (600 A. D.—730 A. D.) 
(Buddhist period.) 
Sron-tsan-Gampo was born A. D. 600-617. 29 On the crown o£ 
his head there was an excrescence believed to be a symbolic representation 
of Buddha Amitabha. Although it was very bright and full of lustre, yet 
he used to cover it with a red satin head-band. At the age of thirteen he 
ascended the throne. During this period were discovered, in certain caverns 
of rocks and recesses of mountains, many self-created images of Chenre- 
ssig, 80 the divine mother Tara, Hayagriva and other gods, besides many 
inscriptions including the six mystic syllables “ Om-mani-padme-hum.” 
The king visited these images and made oblations to them with his 
own hands. With the help of his subjects he built a lofty nine-storied 
palace on the top of the hill, where Potala now stands built out of its 
ruins. He had immense armies, besides innumerable reserve troops of spirits 
over whom by force of his charms he had great command. The fame of the 
wisdom and martial valour of this double-headed prince, as he was called 
from the excrescence over his head, reached the border countries, whose sover¬ 
eigns sent ambassadors to his court with letters and rich presents. He 
returned their kindness in a way that was most becoming in a sovereign of 
his rank. While yet very young, Sron-tsan Gampo evinced great intelli¬ 
gence and sagacity in dealing with his dependent princes and improving 
friendship with independent potentates. Although there was no such thing 
as a written language in Tibet, even at so late a period as this, yet Sron- 
tsan managed to communicate with the foreign kings in their own lan¬ 
guages. He had learnt many of the border languages, which helped him 
in conducting conversation with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors. He 
acquired a fair knowledge of the Sanskrit, Palpa (Newari) and Chinese. 
These rare qualifications, and especially his inclination towards Bud¬ 
dhism, made people believe him to be an incarnation of some divinity. He 
extended his conquests to the surrounding countries, and brought the 
neighbouring princes under subjection. As soon as he got clear of all 
military difficulties, he devoted his attention to the propagation of Buddhism 
in Tibet. He clearly saw that a written language was most essential to 
the establishment of religion, and more particularly to the institution of 
laws for the good of the people, and that as long as this all important want 
29 Tibetan historians do not agree in their accounts of the exact date of this sover¬ 
eign’s birth, but their dates range between 600 to 617 A. D. He is the avowed in¬ 
carnation of Chen-re-ssig. 
30 spyan-ras ^Ssigs or Avalokitesvara. 
