In the distance, close to the river Indus, which here branched out into several small and separate streams, there was a high mound, topped with buildings, which we made for, under the full impression that it was our journey’s end: however, on reaching it, and turning confidently round the corner, we found nothing but a deserted-looking building, surrounded by an immense number of the monuments which the natives call Permessur; while, stretched out at [[179]]our feet, and forming, as it were, the bottom of a large basin among the mountains, was a dreary desert of glaring, burning sand. The place altogether looked like a city of the dead: not a soul appeared in sight, except one solitary old woman, who was slowly traversing the weary waste of sands, and all around was still and silent as the grave. In order to gain some intelligence of our whereabouts, I was obliged to give chase to this only inhabitant, and from her I discovered, that to reach Ladak—a green-looking speck which she pointed out in the far distance—we had to cross the desert sands, and still hold on our course for several miles. The sun was by this time high in the heavens, and we had already come a longish march, so that by the time I had traversed the arid plain under the blinding glare, and reached the green fields beyond, it was nearly twelve o’clock, and I had had nearly enough of the journey. It was, however, a couple of miles farther to the grove of trees, where, under very indifferent shade, travellers are in the habit of halting to pitch their camps; and on reaching this, I was glad to throw myself down on the grass, and, after a drink of milk, and the slight refreshment afforded by a leathery chupattie, to go to sleep on the grass, until the arrival of our servants and baggage [[180]]should give us a prospect of breakfast. These made their appearance about two P.M., and all hands requiring a little rest from the toils of the road, we pitched our camp under the trees, and set ourselves to the enjoyment of a few days’ halt in the city of Ladak. [[181]]
[1] These monuments would appear to be of the kind designated Chod-tens and Dung-tens, which have been thus described:—“In the monuments which are dedicated to the celestial Buddha, the invisible being who pervades all space, no deposit was made; but the Divine Spirit, who was light, was supposed to occupy the interim. Such are the numerous Chod-tens in Tibet dedicated to the celestial Buddha, in contradistinction to the Dung-tens, which are built in honour of the mortal Buddhas, and which ought to contain some portion of their relies, real or supposed. The first means an offering to the Deity, the latter a bone or relic receptacle. In the Sanscrit these are termed Chaitya and Dagoba.”—Cunningham. [↑]
[2] This appears to have been one of the Dagobas or bone-holders, which are erected either over the corse of a Lama or the ashes of some person of consequence. “The tribute of respect is paid in Tibet to the manes of the dead in various ways. It is the custom to preserve entire the mortal remains of the sovereign Lamas only. As soon as life has left the body of a Lama, it is placed upright, sitting in an attitude of devotion, his legs being folded before him, with the instep resting on each thigh, and the sides of the feet turned upwards. The right hand is rested with its back upon the thigh, with the thumb bent across the palm. The left arm is bent and held close to the body, the hand being open and the thumb touching the point of the shoulder. This is the attitude of abstracted meditation.
“The bodies of inferior Lamas are usually burnt, and their ashes preserved with the greatest care, and the monuments in which they are contained are ever after looked upon as sacred, and visited with religious awe.”—Turner. [↑]
[3] جو خُدا كريگا سو كويِ نہين كريگا [↑]
[4] “Tibet may be considered the head-quarters of Buddhism in the present age, and immense volumes are still to be found in that country (faithful translations of the Sanskrit text), which refer to the manners, customs, opinions, knowledge, ignorance, superstition, hopes and fears of a great part of Asia, especially of India in former ages.”—Csoma de Kőrös, Preface to Tibetan Grammar. [↑]
[5] These stones would appear to be peculiar to Thibet, although the sentence inscribed upon them has been occasionally discovered elsewhere. Mention of it is thus made in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal:—“On the main road from the Valley of Nipal to Tibet stands a diminutive stone, ‘Chaitya.’ Upon this is inscribed a variety of texts from the Buddha Scriptures, and amongst others the celebrated Mantra, or charmed sentence of Tibet. The system of letters called Lantzá in Tibet, and there considered foreign and Indian, though nowhere extant in the Plains of India, is the common vehicle of Sanscrit language among the Buddhists of Nipal Proper, by whom it is denominated Ranjá, in Devanagri रंजा.
“Ranjá, therefore, and not, according to a barbarian metamorphosis, Lántzá, it should be called by us, and by way of further and clearer distinction, the Nipalese variety of Devánágrí. Obviously deducible as this form is from the Indian standard, it is interesting to observe it in practical collocation with the ordinary Thibetan form, and when it is considered that Lántzá or Ranjá is the common extant vehicle of those original Sanscrit works of which the Thibetan books are translations, the interest of an inscription traced on one slab in both characters cannot but be allowed to be considerable. The habit of promulgation of the doctrines of their faith by inscriptions patent on the face of religious edifices, stones, &c., is peculiar to the Buddhists of Thibet. The Mantrá is also quite unknown to the Buddhists of Ceylon and the Eastern peninsula, and forms the peculiar feature of Thibetan Buddhism.” [↑]
[6] This was the only explanation of the mounds of inscribed stones which I was able to obtain from a native source; and some foundation for the story may be traced in the legend—which will be found in [Appendix B]—upon which M. Klaproth has founded the only explanation of the mystic inscription, which I have been as yet able to discover.