The names of such works have been given in the last volume of Stangyur. The principal ones are Pánini-vyákarana in two thousand slokas.
Maha-bhána, a commentary on the previous work, in one hundred thousand slokas. [[199]]
A commentary on chandrapá, by Pandita Ratna Mali, in twelve thousand slokas, and many others are named besides. There are likewise in Tibet several works teaching how to read the Sanskrit texts, the Mantras, &c.
The most ancient grammatical work extant in the Tibetan tongue is that by Sambhota of the seventh century. Names of many authors are given; but there are yet other grammatical works of which no special mention is made in the essay under review.
XIII.
Remarks on Amulets in Use by the Trans-Himalayan Buddhists.
The two scrolls procured at Rampúr, near Kotgarh, by Surgeon W. C. Carte of the 69th Regiment N.I., were forwarded to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, where, at the request of the secretary, an explanation of them was furnished by the librarian, Mr. Alexander Csoma, who stated that they contained abstracts of some larger Tantrika or religious works in Tibetan, interspersed with Mantras in Sanskrit.
The first scroll, eight feet and a half long, is covered with figures to the extent of two feet. The rest of the paper bears printed text, containing 244 lines in Tibetan, each line being three and a half inches long. The figures are roughly traced, representing a victorious king, a tortoise with nine spots on the belly, showing the lucky and the unlucky periods, according as the moon is affected by the planets in her path. Afterwards come the twelve animals representing the twelve years of a cycle; then the zodiacal signs, the planets, sun and moon, &c., then the representations of the four, eight, and ten corners of the world. There is also seen the picture of a king with his minister, a horse, an elephant, a soldier, an eye, &c., then the head of a bird, and also certain Chinese symbolical figures, which appear to have been used under the Han [[200]]dynasty 200 years before Christ. The Tibetans still use them extensively. After these symbolical representations follows the text, containing abridgments of five different Tantrika works.
The first is the salutation to the “Circle of Time,” the Kalachakraya. Then come the regents of the year, month, day, and hour, and those of the planets and stars. The Nagas, imps, &c., are requested to be favourable to the person who wears these symbols and to the mystical prayers, that he may succeed in all his undertakings. All classes of divinities are requested not to hinder him in any of his occupations, but to give assistance that he may increase in prosperity.