A BUDDHIST SPELL, by KP. K, WHITAKER "The bronze plague reproduced on Paes I-IL i in the possession of Me. J. A.J. Myren of te Vitoria and Albere Museum who showed i¢ 12 Dr. JG. de Caspris forthe purpose of identification, The bitory of the plaque, as tld by Mi. Myrea, is that it wat brought to this county fom Somewhere Toda sbout half century ago. Dr. de Caspar pared Hon 9 Ime oping thet sace the Chinese character are lew worn than the Sanat Inscription, the former would yield up the idety ofthe figure and the meaning ofthe inscription, 1 The plague proper ‘The Chinese characters, to be read from right 10 left, reader & wel- amteated mantra addres co Cands. They suround the central gure of (Candi (a form of Durg), who i epeaeated with erteen atmo and ened 00 lotus throne. Her face sows none of the datnctive eaure which are ‘sully associated wich frm of Durga found in India, As the plaque, 1 doubt, 2 rtul objet thee i ley to be a neason for the Barnes of the face. Since the goers Candas two sage, the Kindly one and the ferocious ove (3 HH), he Banknese of the face would seem to serve beter the requirement of a worshipper whe when praying tothe goddent ‘expects to obtia 4 favourehe or unfavourable answer By faint the ‘tual micor, where either the hidly othe ferocious spect of the gods | allege to appear® in due course “The goddess wears crown of some sort. eis aot clea whether owe head ia represetad. The design wth two ices across her boon fooks tke an ornament. About her shoulders there seems to bean extwining snake which is often present ia. Dargt representations. Some of the objects in her ade, but not all are sdentitable ‘The Sano version ofthe manca oa the other side ofthe plague fs in the Nepalese rafja (Tibetan lara ot ladsat) script, which was TES Reber Riot, vat 20 no sors p. 1 See). Pieri inde Canary L, Rou i Vat. Ss td Rr he es ipa Pei. Fruhundnettre Bons tne Santen der Wieneinen a Socnge Ela Ky Bsn, sgnspp. Gerd whece tn Letra,DYA DYA Eni] ja & Mo miu ei ben] AAAAAT PTA % TA [ta] Ko 4 Ko kiv CA ah cA tsiat NAM “e NAM Ej a a7 Fi SA SAI) aq NAM MYA R MYAK ris a) d TA ois TAO) 8a LE aR Le lei saad a CAN DE Sv x RE CAN DE SvA tn di i om JIM OM oh 2 aR om JAIN OM Cael (fy Cae HUM of Hor be * HA cal HA xe : Fg MA mua VvRiM OM 4 a vain OM be cae) NI PA ae $k NI PA ngji (val‘sown in Choa andi ll ed in Tibet in ncipons oon the “one ree of toks, For the purge of compart I repre (op aes spell in tenia sxpt (line 1, adding romanization (ine) 20d Ghases characters (ine 3) the Indian pronunciation ined by them (hes 2d Sealy Karge's ecarutction' of he saieat Chinese Cha ‘imes) pronunciation of the Chinese characters ‘he spell may be trasitered and tearaated a8 flows: Namot eptnin’ samysinanbuddhttoeant adyahs Om Cake Cole Cones ‘rth, Vrim Om Ram Om Jeim Om mani padee hum Homage to the seveat hots (even times ton lio) of filly en: lightened Budo: sn () a ftom}? Om othe quiverag i srging sre Cand (the angry one), Seth! Veen, Om, Ram, Orn, Joe Co rate “seudolbles” or bjdhares ofthe Godse Rare Seuee toe Dumings Fim causes hated (28) Om, You ofthe Joneled Lat oH As athe rule inche cae of drais and edhanas, the rulcg a Ca on Sansiet grams are wot Buloted out below, notes ang, are commen in thi gente of hen Sco found in the various edn of the Chinese Trans ent, (Chins and Japas bound in farther example om the pont of view of the Lant's act, attention must be drawn to variant shapes of the lbs na ad he which nape on tee actal inscription a8 @ and @. Tn the tenserigtion shove f here ‘he cegular forms ofthe two siebls On the Chinese side, the variant RE for must be noted. The Clara fis cher worn, soare Oates characters ee BE ‘nd 48, whose idemication is, howerer,facltated by the Sessted aoe ‘Two features ofthe Chinese wantripton cll fr sommes (0) tadyatiaie rendered wu 18 fh 5 ©) pate is rendeced a EIB 9B. 1 the fra case we witness rendering Sandi dealing Saeetal {etary to be observed inthe North of Chinn and aso Sn noe, te dy Mecber wit he Hina 1 Tab inode he Shot pipes wigs peta Sere Herre Tawra by Bk Sotgrve, Conn, 139, Pe. 3 ed Om re Sea, 4 nuowter seri, 3 seating Jo the second ese we observe, ove and above the rendering of d Dy aother Chines chuseter with an'm lata (MN), the naan ot Sanakit « by a word (88) ending in ag. The later fetus cere et ‘queaiy in Tibetan (and Uighur) transcriptions of Chines sere Before dating with cher trasiteratins of our spall the sewtion of dod the same plague sez to point io the Mongol pered, I nos ony {hea that Buddhist ania was revired under imperl putontpe in ae foumof Lemus nd consesenly theming of rita objucs fe ene represented by our plaque became «likely enterprise 1. Transcriptions ofthe Spal in Dhcanis For the sake of compaciton, I should like to adduce five dhirana of Taos wotgs in diferent eanalteration and minun the costaplen (059, which sce cerainly invocations wo the sme goers (Coad to ite formula, or Cand! acording 19 Chinese taditen). The tangles © Vsjabodbi WI, who arived a Canton in A.D. 719 and st Loyangin 20 Sees SR Te ‘2005 A EW tn Me me te a a Peel nes AER ” ane * RROMHLOM AERA ORR + From TT. Volo, No. 175.17 (a The itl ofthis dda gives ths aumber acve” ap linked oth “hon” wheces that of (one 1.6) separates “seve fromm “oti (i) Amogharsia 7 2 (Se M) 705, who worked in Layang frm 136-774 (0 78). TSEC 8 Met. td eho cini, 95-106 p. she Seno W. Sito & Ne m Chine ta haa eas Sas, Ef Sonre ts sof weg ped fe taanoce i Bea Bes Swi Stace tis Cas, nei ce ae4 oe wena BRM em =e O ZnB mqawages ® SUE + From TT. Vol. 20, NO. 1976, p18 (0) (i) Divas, 82598 BBB. 615, who arvived at CXang-an in (oe 8), tnd woried there audio Lop ure his deh in 68. WRASR TR OROMA OER RR eRe EAL From TT. Vol. 2, No. 1077, p18 (9 iv) Hstan Tsang 3 3 (96-664), who ented our spelt E28 and included together with four other dkdatls ender the tie HH (Five Diarans). WARSHERI ORAM OEE Te mem From TT. Vol 20, No 1934 p17 (0) Subbakarnionhs $98 BHP FOF), who arived at Changan in i and Loyang in 734 ‘his trasrition is accompanied by a Siddham version reproduced mene RE REBT EE Bee Be are mag mo Baqi ssh ik § Se gw t = ues we 3 RRS TURISRIRS HS in Kaine nal ave Bean sibel Siti. abet tinge 3 ‘RHE Cane oop. ths (9) and = Cundeon p18) ponoMisr sree 5 “The Sida sript cea follows ‘Namah! saptantm sxmyaksembudds lating tdyatht Om Cale Cale (Chaahe? Svtht. (TE, Vol. 26, No. te78,p. 186,01) "The Chines tite shows thr its tanlatar understood the aumecdl “seven ah qualifying the Buddhas wherens “hoy qualited the visor ‘Buddhamothers, Even though “seven kos” ig x more ecrect translation, tranlator here might have followed the interpretation current ia his tendon. Or has been inserted ater 4 by stake, ‘The listing of the above taascriptions may be fcllowed by a brief summary ofthe detaed instructions which generally accompany them i the Chinene tex. These are concerned ith the makieg of fxpective ‘wandalas, che methods ef worship, tamely how to ceunte and anciot onesell, how to ofer overs and incense, how to use the miror, what Imadrar should be nsed to accompany the restatnn of the formate, what, images may be expect to apeesr? There in lathe all-imporcant itr: ‘ion with regard tothe syllables Or, eeu le ca, n.d, which shouldbe imagined ee lacedonone'shend eps neck kare salersave, ‘highs shina andfeet respectively, Furthermore thesylble use be assoc ‘ed with colours, suchas "ose ofthe sun and oon, fom darling whet olden yellow”. The profound meaningsothete lables arealoesplaine’d* ‘The eficacy ofthis formuta in até tbe grea if ected tol ines or ‘oSo times or thousands and thousands of times, These are lists of what sisfortunes can be warded off and what god things can be infuced to come one's way, such s de acquisition of wealth and healthy geting of rogeny, inducing the return of love and cegerd Between husband and wie and protection aginst he followieg il: ostston by demons of howes ‘or bois bites from stakes and inte, dragons in water, accidents whde ‘ronsng vers, havarde in bate, ete, ete: Thee ae ale interning deer. tions ofthe appearance aad atire ofthe goddess, TL The Godidess ofthe plaque, and her identification with ‘ther deities India anda, the Goddess of the plaque, i one ofthe eight nig or {alts of the Hinds Goddess Dargs and i ako sare of Darga heel Tae ermal ete of modi sieve hare foal of ee ple ‘bic “aa no's mmber of oa nic ta Sly he speling ofthe rae 3 ce dey he wa ef gue Sse vate pts [SSE Dal 2,07 0 ant (an 0. {Soe i pe an SSC Moe Wan Senn Seth Dion,6 rom wean 1m his Elements of Hindu Ieovograply! 7. A Gopinatha Rao gives & Duh eteed Tibet a hero (he wit one {fom but actording to some Tibetan see pdegrdher(o) (he white tmbrala one [fm which in moder Tibeon pronunciation it» slase eximation{o Durga, She has thir ye snd neti epernted vith thousand eye anda hound sms td taken a erent Spy ‘sigs (Aalskteiat).Avankins i ao flere to by A eye Sider be couey Sapa Apa, rasoted by her a he “Inne fees ofthe we prs", wih plgedharcanme (ged ofthe White paral) added av the ‘Tibetan equivalent of the Sank form “Altcoph Gey inns tha di god should sot be cfc with Siatapais, he "“Revred On ofthe Whe Umbrela™ who w Avaloied- vars in Ma fore with "hog" ata and fie cow of head carying the Wie stat tung ian weg on dat Sxinguih brwern the to dele. Apart iota ving dhar-o tae of Derg, Fists abo eves gta same of the goddess Durgh th ‘Uns at fether alesse 7 Dima of Chin Bait Ter by WB Senthil. Had, London i Gade of Noten Budhim by A. Gt, Orfod dd 9289-133 3 Aba tngan Diora by HA tht, Laon 003 9 Steck vaiIn the Hngira Tantra the Sanskrit aame Candibs and Cant are rendered as samme (the sBge7 one) or grlomo (the Saviour). Fuster more «goddess named Cundst (Tibetan: Tsun) oocue there ag one of & {ies of female deities. Matic ix rendered a “d-ser-ca-ma (“She of the rin rays") in ‘Tibetan: Inher Vsjnvarih! "Adamaatine sw") form abe is beloved to be inctroate in every abbess of the monastery of Semding, one of whom ¢ ‘dt have bad bind hc earanexcresence which resembled a sows head "Though Cans and Mir! reached Japan obviovaly though Chinese sources 4 bref nore on them may be appended here before the idenion: tone of Candt in Chins ar dal within he next section. In Japan Durgi arth doesnot gure prominenly although Japaaee Buddhists, ae ve sal se, must be aware of her name. The pen of the white parasol known at #1 Hf Byukusangai* bur she never achieved the success enjoyed bythe form of Durgt known as Sune: (Cundi) Kas non 9 58 H., adopted by the Shingon sect a4 the female form of [Araloktesvar Maric, appearing here as BERLE FE Marihiten, i believed to reside in ane ofthe sven tare of the Gret Ber. She ie generally cept feted aested ona lotus-thvone, supported by seven ps: She has thee heads of which the one at the right ia sows beads ‘As mentioned above, Condi became a female form of Avaloitetvara in Japan "ee Believed by the Japanene thatthe goddess taken from Indian imythoiogy and in Dugi devi ae of Siva. She ig ealed Kote, oF Sapte keoti-Brddhanmfti-Custidevt, or the goddess Cunt, mother of 700,209 Buddhas... June! e ometimey cepreseneed as an angey goles but a unuallypacife. She has the thie eye and eighteen arms, all che hance Told difereae symbols." 6 China ‘All Chinese tramaritions (ME 8, 18, HE Mand 6) sugent that the form of Durgl unde which thi goddess reached Chins, was Canc rather chan Cand (Candi (Chua 7% JB HE, to use the moet common Chinese tantcrip- lon) and Mire RE AY? fave completely merged ito one goddess, “a Bese Tana De Sates, ann 5, aba 1p ad 7 Nie Expt ceed feral 1 aly one of the drain ver ber er eae righ SAE MPO Ae fs suoounst are » fe evident from her representation in Dow's Researches into Chinese Super: (biioont with thee head the spht one of which sows head, and eght imo, the top pis of which hole p the sua-dic and moons, thereby ‘Gpifvng heres Master the Brahmanic Goddess of the Daa, In fact Doce {lal with Chu Tina chapter ented "Marit, Godden of the Dawa" ‘Chun Ti was unt rventy worshipped widely in China and her temple Chua TY An IB 8 st Josao $0 in northern Kiang in the care of Buddhist nuns is well known Ta the Taoist Pantheon Chia [7 has been identfed with Tien Hou ZE IE "Quen of Heaven”, which developrant har been fcitated by the fat that args i fora of Paevatl vio is Mahidev, che Hinds "Queen of Heaven” and Buddhist Meher of cde. On the other tand, Tien Hons nked up with MB ie far tg she os aho eyed Tou Mu, 348, "Mother of che Southecr Meas (Gages, a stelle divi, However, the most unuaal development ia relation to Chan Ti is that in he Taoist Pantheon she ato appear saa mle diy. In the gop forel Fen-shen yon 3 HE TR Me, we witowe the "Immortal Chua TABLA caking a leading par in the bate between the royal hovses of Shang and Chou. Engaged in single combat with K'ung-sun be soars late the sic and appears with eighteen arms and swenty four beads. Among ‘the objects ited tthe novel sa being catied by bie i his hands, we orice some which arb identical with the idemtiable on our plage, repradeced on Pate I and that ofthe postscript, reproduced on Plate TI "As Tien Hou ot Tien Fei 348 ("Heavenly Coneubine") Chun Ti ‘sa proestorof alors and a ch worshipped in particular the matime fprovinces Shei alin prayed to by women who wih to hae children ‘Wail simply efrring to Warne afar a Ten How's incraaion® ‘i coneersed, I wish wo sees the syncreic eapec of the icoaageaphy of ‘Tou Mu, which i Utewie decribed by him. She wears the Buddhist sown, in seated on ots tzone, has thee eyes, eighteen sem, and holds various object in her many hands such as « bow, spear, sword ag, ‘rages hea, pagoda, five chariot, a m-die, a moon-dg, ee... tas father evidence of auch syncrettic tendencies T wish to tele ben to two Bock of fey recent date Ia an iuneted biography of Tien Hou, the Tim How Chuorhsiag 7 fi 9 $. printed in 18164 ite rlated that ‘Tien Hos, incerated atthe youngest daughter of Lin twas Gt brought up a Budi then tutored by a Tact soak [Fest ty M. Keay, VV, Shr 2 Sec the tne ssn by Doe foe it, 208, FESR E We ices o ie sa, Shea 38. Ne nt ait on aa Cnt a ae apt in ha Tepe Apa Scent So Fania 38 Ba. 35 fing pewho, impressed by her “Buddhs nature” (14), initiated er int ‘Tanise Tanti (36 8 BBE): thereafer she ie said hare performed many aiacies, Sa thea proved beneficial to the province of Faken aed ‘Chekiang she was povtuloualy hocoured by imperial decrees. ‘The second book entitled Hanejen Puccht.Ten-how ‘Sheng Ching-tont 3h = AF BF HE i BE HEAR, published in 1855, fa an claborate tization ofa Bulhis:dharant. 1e pte the story of the inca sion ofthe goddess Tien How in Mevchow WW ML Ta relating her many races and tvatfestations (96 in all, che tuthor mingles Feely Buddhistic terms with well Keown ins fot the Book of Odes and aernates Busdhie myricaplables (ia) with the opening line ofthe Book of Changes. fence of special intecet fom out point of view she inlsion ofthe syllable orf RE Ram, hich we have ‘rine in ou spel ‘The bockle i alo of interest on accoutt ofthe inclusion of « magic formule (FHF), reproduced below, which ws alaged tocar al nen? Avast example of eyscetam,Fadduce& Chinese charm obtuinble owadsys in Hong Kong printed in ced, together with other charm, on “Teunyan, who repreduced i¢ an the duse cover of his book Baddhit ond Teoit Inflrnceton Chinese Novels As wil be vee fom te reproduction of the charm blow it bere a clone resemblance to our spell, bu epson the oume time an actempe to make uae of in 2 Tact contest in 9 far at ‘oe of the characters (=) hus bene draw st he egraseien BE (33) of the Book of Chaores. The text reads 28 flows: HS A = Se SO are eB BL oe Be ‘The mis-speled characters have been marked by superior figures and thoy cll forte following comments 1 for SE et 2K fe 9% to B 3 foe 0 fo 4M for eB for 5B for OH be 6 me for 5 or ® 7H foe ‘The rearrangement of the circular text also shows an indiseriminate placing in pia of cei characters. Tn the orginal er, il be erent bere, she paring indicates initial consorantal clusters ‘The high percentage of errors inthis chara auggesa & rather cortupt state ofthe origina ands complete disregard of scuracy om the pact of the ‘opyist. The fact thatthe name of Chun T (inthe centre) ia roproduced ‘correctly was appareotlysulicient tenure the ale ofthe arm, Tha this 7 Val, Harrow, Wide,sald in Hong Kong nowadays may be considered as evidence af es being a succesful commercial venture Postscript ‘After completing the arile I reosived photos of « further plaque (ee Fates HT and TY) wien were Kindly plied at my dion by Ne W, Ward, who aequited the plague ina Hong Kong curio shop ‘The centeal gure ofthis plage heepa nothing ofthe metic ine of the gates of the former plague and ie face fae let bank, The objects fare clearer than thote beld by the figure in Plate Land the lous seat clearly in evidence. The Chinese characters ary wll ct and show an dential version ofthe opel. The ebaracer in ween in ta weal form. ‘The minor sutace surrounded by clearee Lan- ra characters which ae mote angula in thei formation, Then” in “namo i ore Bere ‘The Lan-twa sharctoe which I seed as Vrigy (or Brim) on Pe If is clearly Dhram here. Thee is also an extra Om Before i Like the fat pagu the present includes aei-ylables (bij) which have nt survived in any of the Chinese versions quoted above from the Tauhé Tipit, ‘The secd-sylaie whichis read 2s Jey an the first plague semis to be Dini here. The voctive of the godées's mare here iesplt with a" (Cunds), which sugests tha ter mame mutt be Cunds or Condi ether than Cand (400m the Bese plague) Tao hank Mr Ward foci nd, The inf plas woes, ‘Abtte srar ofthe cao top wane my mae ha he pen ‘Sev me CENTIMETRES INCHES PLATECENTIMETRES INCHES