Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c8.23

c8.23

¹ This evidently refers to the practice of the Rasāyana-school of yogins who tried to escape death through a yogic process akin to the process of Rasāyana (see infra). We may incidentally notice another practice held in the temple of the Lamas of Tibet. It has been said:—"Another service, known by the Mongolian name Tuiurgnikji has for object the preparation of the lustral water (rasāyana). It includes prayer, absolution of sins, a recital of all the ablutions made by Sakya-muni, and finally thanksgiving. Between the first and the second part of the rite is performed the preparation of the holy water. One of the priest's assistants raises a mirror so that it reflects one of the statues of the divinities ; another takes the vessel (kuje, Mongolian) filled with water and pours it upon the mirror. The water which flows off and is believed to have caught the image of the divinity is collected in a special dish (k'ris-gc'os—Tibetan) held by a third acolyte, while a fourth wipes the mirror with a silken napkin (Qadaq Mong.). Fifteen libations are made in this way and at the end of the ceremony the lustral water is poured off into a bum-pa and set on the sacrificial altar. Thereafter it is used for the aspersion of offerings and washing the mouths of the ' Lamas,' while among the laity it serves the same purpose as does holy water among Catholics." Introduction by J. Deniker to the Gods of Northern Buddhism—by Alice Getty, p. xi.