Ûm Mani Panee.
As will be seen by the foregoing extract from M. Klaproth’s explanation, the mystic sentence, instead of being as I have represented it, is in reality, “Om mani padme houm,” or, in a form of spelling more English, if not more intelligible, “Om muni pudmay hoom,” and the meaning, supposing its derivation from the Sanscrit to be beyond doubt, would, as therein translated, be, “Oh the jewel in the Lotus, Amen!” Almost every traveller who has mentioned the inscription in question appears to have followed M. Klaproth’s pronunciation as above; but this, although the one actually given by the value of the Thibetian letters, is certainly not that in use by the people among whom it is chiefly, if not alone, to be found. This I can vouch for, as the words were so incessantly in the mouths of all to whom I applied for information, that I had ample opportunity of hearing and remembering their sound; and having written them on the spot in the Persian character, the pronunciation would not be open to the misapprehension or uncertainty to which, after the sounds themselves had been forgotten, the English form of spelling might have rendered them liable.[6]
A form, however, different from both these, is given by one who, with the exception perhaps of M. Hue, had better opportunities than most others for ascertaining the meaning of the words and hearing their actual pronunciation: this was Captain Turner, who was nominated by [[370]]Warren Hastings, in the year 1783, to undertake an embassy to the Court of Thibet, at Lassa.
He, however, makes no mention of the Sanscrit translation above given, and confesses his inability to obtain, even at the head-quarters of Thibetian Buddhism, a satisfactory explanation of the origin or import of the sentence. The following account, taken from Captain Turner’s Report on his Mission, may be of interest, as it explains the circumstances under which an event so unusual as an embassy to the Court of Thibet was agreed to by the Grand Lama.
In 1772, a frontier warfare having broken out between the “Booteas,” dependants of Thibet, and the English Government, in consequence of the aggression of the former, Teshoo Lama, at the time regent of Thibet and guardian of the Delai Lama, his superior in religious rank, united in his own person the political authority and the spiritual hierarchy of the country, subservient only to the Emperor of China. The Lama, interested for the safety of Bootan, sent a deputation to Calcutta, with a letter addressed to the governor, of which the following is a translation:—“The affairs of this quarter in every respect flourish. I am, night and day, employed in prayers for the increase of your happiness and prosperity. Having been informed, by travellers from your country, of your exalted fame and reputation, my heart, like the blossoms of spring, abounds with satisfaction, gladness, and joy.
“Praise be to God that the star of your fortune is in its ascension! Praise be to Him that happiness and ease are the surrounding attendants of myself and family! Neither to molest, nor persecute, is my aim. It is even the characteristic of our sect to deprive ourselves of the [[371]]necessary refreshment of sleep, should an injury be done to a single individual; but in justice and humanity, I am informed, you far surpass us.
“May you ever adorn the seat of justice and power, that mankind may, in the shadow of your bosom, enjoy the blessings of peace and affluence.”
The Lama then enters into the subject of the disturbances between his dependants and the British Government, and concludes:—“As to my part, I am but a Fakeer; and it is the custom of my sect, with the rosary in our hands, to pray for the welfare of all mankind, and especially for the peace and happiness of the inhabitants of this country; and I do now, with my head uncovered, intreat that you will cease from all hostilities in future. In this country the worship of the Almighty is the profession of all. We poor creatures are in nothing equal to you. Having, however, a few things in hand, I send them to you as tokens of remembrance, and hope for your acceptance of them.”[7]
The Lama being in this unusually agreeable frame of mind, the British Government yielded without hesitation to his intercession.
The governor himself readily embraced the opportunity, which he thought the occurrence afforded, of extending the British influence to a quarter of the world but little known, and with which we possessed hardly any commercial connexion.
In 1774 a deputation was sent to carry back an answer to the Lama, and to offer him suitable presents. It was [[372]]furnished also with a variety of articles of English manufacture, to be produced as specimens of the trade in which the subjects of the Lama might be invited to participate. The result was, that in 1779, when the Lama visited the Emperor of China at Pekin, desirous of improving his connexion with the Government of Bengal, he desired the British envoy to go round by sea to Canton, promising to join him at the capital. The Emperor’s promise was at the same time obtained to permit the first openings of an intercourse between that country and Bengal, through the intermediate channel furnished by the Lama.
The death of both the Lama and the envoy, however, which happened nearly at the same time, destroyed the plans thus formed.
Soon after the receipt of the letters announcing the Lama’s death, intelligence arrived of his reappearance in Thibet! His soul, according to the doctrines of their faith, had passed into and animated the body of an infant, who, on the discovery of his identity by such testimony as their religion prescribes, was proclaimed by the same title as his predecessor.
Warren Hastings then proposed a second deputation to Thibet, and Captain Turner was accordingly nominated on the 9th January, 1783.
His mention of the sculptured stones and inscription is as follows:—
“Another sort of monument is a long wall, on both faces of which near the top are inserted large tablets with the words ‘Oom maunee paimee oom’ carved in relief. This is the sacred sentence repeated upon the rosaries of the Lamas, and in general use in Tibet. Of the form of words to which ideas of peculiar sanctity are annexed by [[373]]the inhabitants, I could never obtain a satisfactory explanation. It is frequently engraven on the rocks in large and deep characters, and sometimes I have seen it on the sides of hills; the letters, which are formed by means of stones fixed in the earth, are of so vast a magnitude as to be visible at a very considerable distance.”
M. Hue’s account of an explanation of the formula, which he received from the highest authority at Lassa, is as follows:—“Living beings are divided into six classes—angels, demons, men, quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles. These six classes of beings correspond to the syllables of the formula, ‘Om mani padmè houm.’ Living beings by continual transformations, and according to their merit or demerit, pass about in these six classes until they have attained the apex of perfection, when they are absorbed and lost in the grand essence of Buddha. Living beings have, according to the class to which they belong, particular means of sanctifying themselves, of rising to a superior class, of obtaining perfection, and of arriving in process of time at the period of their absorption. Men who repeat very frequently and devotedly ‘Om mani padmè houm,’ escape falling after death into the six classes of animate creatures, corresponding to the six syllables of the formula, and obtain the plenitude of being, by their absorption into the eternal and universal soul of Buddha.”
One traveller only I have been able to find who mentions the sentence as I have done. M. Jacquemont writes, in his “Letters from Cashmere and Thibet,” in 1830:—“I am returned from afar; I have often been very cold; I have had a hundred and eighteen very bad dinners: but I think myself amply recompensed for these trans-Himalayan miseries by the interesting observations and vast collections [[374]]which I have been able to make in a country perfectly new. The Tartars are a very good sort of people. It is true that to please them I made myself a little heathen after their fashion, and joined without scruple in the national chorus, ‘Houm mâni pani houm.’ ”
Judging by the system of spelling he has adopted in other instances in his letters, this would be nearly—as regards the two main words—the same pronunciation as I have given. He however, in another part, follows it still more closely, and at the same time shows that he is aware of a translation which, although probably the true one, has no connexion whatever with the words as he himself actually represents them.
He says—“In Thibet they sing a good deal also—that is, one or two inhabitants per square league—but only a single song of three words—‘Oum mani pani;’ which means, in the learned language, ‘Oh, diamond water-lily!’ and leads the singers direct into Buddha’s paradise.
“But, though composed of three Thibetian words, it is evidently of Indian origin, and I have proved it botanically. The lotus is a plant peculiar to the lukewarm and temperate waters of India and Egypt. There is not one of its genus, or even of its family, in Thibet.”
The words, however, are not, as M. Jacquemont says, Thibetian, but Sanscrit; and, although one of the characters in which they are clothed is the current Thibetian, it would appear that neither their true pronunciation nor actual meaning is known to the people who thus make such frequent use of them.
The sentence itself is in the mouths of all. In the monastery of Hemis alone, probably as many as a hundred wheels are in continual motion, bearing it within their folds not less than 1,700,000 times. The [[375]]very stones by the wayside present its well-known characters in countless numbers, and the hills repeat it, and yet to those into whose daily religious observances it thus so largely enters, it comes but as a vain and empty sound, without either sense or signification. The Lamas themselves, no doubt, believe that the doctrine contained in these marvellous words is immense, and the higher dignitaries of the Church may know their derivation; but, to the great majority, even the mystic meaning and dim legendary history which the true pronunciation and rightful origin of the words would bring to their minds, are unknown, and they are thus deprived of that large amount of comfort and consolation which they would otherwise derive from the glowing and all-powerful sentence—
“Oh, the jewel in the lotus, Amen!” [[376]]
[1] Padmà pâni, fils céleste du Bouddha divin du monde actuel, est, dans cette qualité, entré en fonction depuis la mort du Bouddha terrestre Sakya mouni, comme son remplaçant, chargé d’être après lui le protecteur constant, le gardien et le propagateur de la foi bouddhique renouvelée par Sakya. C’est pour cette raison qu’il ne se borne pas à une apparition unique comme les Bouddhas, mais qu’il se soumet presque sans interruption à une série de naissances qui dureront jusqu’à l’avénement de Maitreya, le futur Bouddha.
On croit aussi qu’il est incarné dans la personne du “Dalai Lama,” et qu’il paraîtra en qualité de Bouddha, le millième de la période actuelle du monde.
Le Tibet est sa terra de prédilection; il est le père de ses habitants, et la formule célèbre: Om mani padmè hom, est un de ses bienfaits.—Rélation des Royaumes Bouddhiques, par Chy Fa Hian, traduit par M. Remusat. [↑]
[2] Le mot Khoubilkhan, en Mongol, désigne l’incarnation d’une âme supérieure. [↑]
[3] Khoutoukhtou, en Mongol, signifie “Un Saint Maître.” [↑]
[4] Le plus petit “Kalpa” est de seize millions huit cent mille ans, et le grand “Kalpa” est d’un milliard trois cents quarante-quatre millions d’années. [↑]
[5] Je ne l’ai encore trouvée cette phrase dans aucun ouvrage chinois ou japonais, et notre savant collègue M. Bournouf, m’a dit aussi qu’il ne l’a jamais rencontrée dans les livres palis, birmans et siamois. [↑]
[7] Amongst these were sheets of gilt leather, stamped with the black eagle of the Russian armorial; talents of gold and silver, bags of genuine musk, narrow cloths of woollen the manufacture of Thibet, and silks of China. [↑]
Appendix C.
A Sketch of the History of Cashmere.
A Mahomedan Writer, “Noor ul deen,” who begins the history of Cashmere with the Creation, affirms that the valley was visited by Adam after the Fall; that the descendants of Seth reigned over the country for 1,110 years; and that, after the deluge, it became peopled by a tribe from Turkistan.
The Hindoo historians add, that, after the line of Seth became extinct, the Hindoos conquered the country, and ruled it until the period of the deluge; and that the Cashmerians were afterwards taught the worship of one God by “Moses;” but, relapsing into Hindoo idolatry, were punished by the local inundation of the province, and the conversion of the valley into a vast lake.
It would appear, from chronicles actually existing, that Cashmere has been a regular kingdom for a period far beyond the limits of history in general. From the year B.C. 2666 to A.D. 1024 it seems to have been governed (according to these authorities) by Princes of Hindoo and Tartar dynasties, and their names, to the number of about a hundred, have been duly handed down to posterity. [[377]]Of the titles of these worthies, “Durlabhaverddhana” and “Bikrumajeet” will perhaps be sufficient as specimens. During these years, the religion seems at first to have been the worship of snakes, and afterwards Hindooism.
In the reign of Asoca, about the 4th century before Christ, Buddhism was introduced, and after remaining for some time, under Tartar princes, the religion of the country, was again succeeded by Hindooism.
The first Mahomedan king of Cashmere is believed to be “Shahmar,” who came to the throne in A.D. 1341, and during the succeeding reigns Thibet appears to have been first subdued, and was annexed for a time to the kingdom.
The next monarch, who appears notably on the stage, was “Sikunder,” who, influenced by a certain Syud Alee Humudanee and other religious fanatics recently arrived in the country, began to destroy the Hindoo temples and images by fire, and to force the people to abjure idolatry. Previous to this influx of zealots, the country was in a transition state as regards religion and Mahomedanism then began to make some head in the valley.
After this period nothing of very great importance occurred in the kingdom of Cashmere until the year 1584, when the great Akbar summoned the then king “Yûsûf Shah” to present himself in person at the court of Lahore. Finding his orders not complied with, he despatched an army of 50,000 men to enforce obedience, and Yûsûf Shah, preferring apparently to die than fight, delivered himself up, and was sent to Lahore.
The imperial army was afterwards, however, repulsed in attempting to subdue the country, and it was not finally conquered for two years, when Akbar, overcoming all resistance, took possession of the province. [[378]]
The purity of the emperor’s motives in annexing the territory, and his opinion of his conquest, are amusingly shown in the following letter to his minister Abdûllah Khan:—
“On the mirror of your mind, which bears the stamp of Divine illumination, be it manifest and evident, that at the time when my imperial army happened to be in the territories of the Punjab, although I at first had no other views than to amuse myself with sports and hunting in this country, yet the conquest of the enchanting kingdom of Cashmere, which has never yet been subdued by monarchs of the age, which for natural strength and inaccessibility is unrivalled, and which, for beauty and pleasantness, is a proverb among the most sagacious beholders, became secretly an object of my wishes, because I received constantly accounts of the tyranny of the rulers of that region. Accordingly, in a very short time, my brave warriors annexed that kingdom to my dominions. Though the princes of that country were not remiss in their exertions, yet, as my intentions were established on the basis of equity, it was completely conquered.
“I myself also visited that happy spot, the possession of which is a fresh instance of the Divine favour, and offered up my praise and thanksgiving to the supreme Lord of all things. As I found myself delighted with the romantic bowers of Cashmere, the residence of pleasure, I made an excursion to the mountains of that country and Thibet, and beheld, with the eyes of astonishment, the wonders of the picture of Nature.”
This visit was in A.D. 1588.
The emperor then appears to have entered the valley by the Peer Punjal Pass, and to have been received with every demonstration of joy by the people in whom he took [[379]]such a fatherly interest. The loyalty of his children, however, was but short-lived, for about the year 1591 he again writes to Abdûllah:—
“I must acquaint your Highness, that just at this time certain persons, under the predominance of an unlucky destiny, raised an insurrection in Cashmere and breathed the air of rebellion and dissatisfaction at the bounty of Providence.
“As soon as the intelligence of this tumult arrived, regardless of deluges of rain, I hastened away by forced marches, but before the troops could get through the passes and enter into that kingdom, certain Omrahs, attached to my interests, who had been obliged by compulsion to join in that rash enterprise, availing themselves of an opportunity, brought me the head of the rebel commander.
“As my forces were near, I visited a second time that ever-verdant garden, and gratified my mind and senses with the beauties of that luxuriant spot.”
With a view to keeping the capital in order, the Fort of Huree Purbut was built, about A.D. 1597, at a cost of over 1,000,000l.
Means were at the same time adopted of rendering the Cashmerians less warlike, and of breaking their independent spirit. To effect this, it is generally believed in Cashmere that the Emperor Akbar caused a change to be made in the dress of the people. Instead of the ancient, well-girdled tunic, adapted to activity and exercise, he introduced the effeminate long gown of the present day, a change which may have led to the introduction of the kangree, or pot of charcoal, now used in the valley.
During Akbar’s reign much was done towards the [[380]]improvement of the province. The country was adorned with palaces and gardens, and various trees and shrubs were introduced and cultivated.
About the beginning of the seventeenth century, Akbar visited Cashmere for the third and last time, being succeeded, after a reign of fifty-two years, by his son Selim, or Jehangeer, A.D. 1605.
Jehangeer, during the early part of his reign, visited Cashmere many times, and the valley having been surveyed and brought to order by Akbar, nothing remained for his successor but to enjoy the delights of the country in company with his empress, the famous Noor Jehan. In 1621, and in 1624, he repeated his visit, when he built many summer-houses and palaces at Atchabull, Shalimar, &c., and in A.D. 1627 he visited the valley for the last time. He was succeeded in that year by Shah Jehan, who, in 1634, also visited his territories; and, besides improving the country by the introduction of fruit-trees, flowers, &c. from Cabul, he invaded Thibet, and taking the Fort of Ladak, annexed the country to Cashmere.
In 1645 he again visited the valley, and also in the following years, being accompanied by many poets and savants; among the former was a certain Hajee Mahomet Jan, a Persian, who composed a poem on the country; but the difficulties of the road appear to have impressed his mind rather more than the beauties of the scenery. He compares the sharpness of the passes to “the swords of the Feringees,” and their tortuous ascents to “the curls of a blackamoor’s hair!”
In 1657, Shah Jehan, being deposed by his son Aurungzib, was confined in the Fort of Agra for life; and in the year 1664 the new emperor also paid a visit to his Cashmerian dominions. Of this magnificent expedition, [[381]]M. Bernier, the monarch’s state physician, gives an amusing and detailed description, purporting to be
“A relation of a voyage made in the year 1664, when the Great Mogul, Aureng-Zebe, went with his army from, Dehly to Lahor, from Lahor to Bember, and from thence to that small kingdom of Kachemere, or Cassimere, called by the Mogols the Paradise of the Indies, concerning which the author affirms that he hath a particular history of it, in the Persian tongue.”
“The weighty occasion and cause of this voyage of the Emperor’s, together with an account of the state and posture of his army, and some curious particulars observable in voyages of the Indies,” are thus given by M. Bernier:—“Since that Aureng-Zebe began to find himself in better health, it hath been constantly reported that he would make a voyage to Kachemere, to be out of the way of the approaching summer heats, though the more intelligent sort of men would hardly be persuaded, that as long as he kept his father, Chah-Jean (Shah Jehan), prisoner in the Fort of Agra, he would think it safe to be at such a distance. Yet, notwithstanding, we have found that reason of State hath given place to that of health, or rather, to the intrigues of Rauchenara Begum, who was wild to breathe a more free air than that of the Seraglio, and to have her turn in showing herself to a gallant and magnificent army, as her sister had formerly done during the reign of Chah-Jean.”
The Emperor appears to have made preparations on this occasion for a voyage of a year and a half.
He had with him, not only thirty-five thousand horse, or thereabouts, and ten thousand foot, but also “both his artilleries, the great or heavy, and the small or lighter.
For the carriage of the Emperor’s baggage and stores, [[382]]no less than 30,000 coolies were required, although, for fear of starving that little kingdom of Kachemere,” he only carried with him the least number of ladies and cavaliers he could manage, and as few elephants and mules as would suffice for the convenience of the former.
Crossing the Peer Punjal, some of the ladies of the Seraglio unfortunately paid the penalty of their too ardent desires to show themselves off to “a gallant and magnificent army,” for “one of the elephants fell back upon him that was next, and he upon the next, and so on to the fifteenth, so that they did all tumble to the bottom of the precipice. It was the good fortune of those poor women, however, that there were but three or four of them killed; but the fifteen elephants remained upon the place.” The historian rather ungallantly adds, “When these bulky masses do once fall under those vast burdens they never rise again, though the way be ever so fair.”
On reaching the summit of the pass after this accident, the expedition appears to have encountered more misfortunes, for “there blew a wind so cold that all people shook and ran away, especially the silly Indians, who never had seen ice or snow, or felt such cold.”
Aurungzib appears to have remained three months in the valley on this occasion.
After his death there is no mention of his successors having visited Cashmere, and the local governors became in consequence, in common with those of other provinces of the tottering Mogul throne, little short of independent rulers. Under the tender mercies of most of these, the unfortunate Cashmeeries appear to have fared but badly.
In 1745, however, a series of misfortunes from another source burst forth upon the inhabitants of the happy valley. A dreadful famine first broke out, during which it is said [[383]]that slaves sold for four pice (three half-pence) each. The famine produced its natural result, a pestilence, which swept away many thousands of the people; an eclipse also added to their terror, and storms of rain followed by floods carried away all the bridges.
In the year 1752, the country passed from the possession of the Mogul throne, and fell under the rule of the Dûranees, and during many years was convulsed by a series of wars and rebellions, and subject to numerous different governors. In A.D. 1801, Runjeet Singh began to come into notice, and, having consolidated the nation of the Sikhs, had, in the year 1813 become one of the recognised princes of India. In that year Futteh Shah entered into a treaty with him for a subsidiary force for the invasion of Cashmere. The price of this accommodation was fixed at 80,000l. yearly; but, before the expiration of the second year, the Lion of the Punjab, on pretence of the non-fulfilment of the treaty, invaded the valley on his own account at the head of a considerable army. He was repulsed, however, and forced to retreat to Lahore with the loss of his entire baggage. In A.D. 1819, encouraged by recent successes against Moultan, Runjeet Singh collected an army “as numerous as ants and locusts,” and invaded the valley a second time, and being successful, the country again fell under the sway of a Hindoo Sovereign.
It, however, remained for some time afterwards in a disturbed state; and for signal services against the rebellious frontier chiefs, who were averse to Runjeet Singh’s rule, Gûlab Singh (the late Maharajah) obtained possession of the territory of Jumoo, now included in the kingdom of Cashmere.
Runjeet Singh, dying in 1839, was succeeded by his son and grandson, successively, both of whom died shortly [[384]]after their accession; and the state of anarchy and confusion which ensued among the Sikh Sirdars was terminated by Shere Singh being installed as Maharajah of Lahore.
Under his rule, in 1842, Gûlab Singh further brought himself into notice by reducing the kingdom of little Thibet with the army under Zorawur Singh, and on the termination of the Sikh Campaign of the Sutlej—Duleep Singh being established on the throne of Lahore—he was admitted, “in consideration of his good conduct,” to the privileges of a separate treaty with the British Government.
The result of these privileges was, that he was shortly afterwards put in possession, for “a consideration,” of the entire kingdom of Cashmere.
As indemnification for the expenses of the Sikh Campaign, the British Government had demanded from the Lahore State the sum of a crore and a half of rupees, or 1,500,000l. The whole of this amount, however, was not forthcoming, and it was agreed by Article 4 of the treaty of 9th March, 1846, with the Maharajah Duleep Singh, that all the hill-country between the rivers Indus and Beas, including the province of Cashmere, should be ceded to the Honourable East India Company, in perpetual sovereignty, as an equivalent for one million sterling.
Article 12 of the same treaty guaranteed to Gûlab Singh, in consequence of his services to the Lahore State, its recognition of his independence in such territories as might afterwards be agreed upon; and on the 16th March, 1846, the British Government, by special treaty, made over for ever, in independent possession to Maharajah Gûlab Singh and the heirs male of his body, the greater part of the territories previously mentioned in Article 4. In consideration of this transfer, the Maharajah was to pay to the British Government, within the year, the sum of seventy-five [[385]]lakhs of rupees (750,000l.). To acknowledge the supremacy of that Government, and, in token of such supremacy, to present it annually the following tribute, viz.:—One horse, twelve perfect shawl goats of approved breed (six male and six female), and three pairs of Cashmere shawls.
Thus, “on the 16th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1846, corresponding with the 17th day of Rubbeeoolawul, 1262, Hijree, was done at Umritsur,” the treaty of ten articles, by which Gûlab Singh was raised to the rank and dignity of an independent ruler.
For seventy-five lakhs of rupees the unfortunate Cashmeeries were handed over to the tender mercies of “the most thorough ruffian that ever was created—a villain from a kingdom down to a half-penny,” and the “Paradise of the Indies,” after remaining rather less than a week a British possession, was relinquished by England for ever.
The End.