Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 47

FEBRUARY, 1931]
SCRAPS OF TIBETO-BURMAN FOLKLORE
33
invited to perform his ritual, either for the recovery of the patient, or if he were dead, for the safe passage of his soul into a favourable reincarnation."
"All the way (pp. 234, 235) we could see that the lake [Yamdro) was covered with a thick coat of ice, though with oceasional scams indicating flow. Several times during the day we saw men walking across the frozen lake from the mainland to the peninsula or island in the middle..... On one occasion, late in the afternoon, we were the spectators of a tragedy. Two men, who were walking nearly in the centre, came to a point where there was a bad flaw in the ice. We could see they had to jump a seam. The ioe on either side was obviously weak, for it crashed under them and they were precipitated into the freezing water below. They attempted to crawl out, but they could not find a block of ice capable of supporting their weight, and soon they were so numbed by the cold that they fell back helpless and sank beneath the water. We could see their heads appear once or twice and then they sank again and disappeared for ever. I was astonished at the phlegm with which my companions looked at a catastrophe happening before their eyes. We passed one of the caravans just at the time and its members paused for a few moments to look at the tragedy taking place a few hundred yards away, but they continued their amiable chatter and no one made any move to save the unfortunates."
The above stories might have been told of almost any place one might mention in Burma. They so exactly illustrate the Burmese attitude towards an accident. Edwardes, Crime in India, p. 37, writes: "In Burma, if one may judge from a case in the Maûbin District, the vagaries of a man, who runs amok,' are regarded in much the same light as a cinema entertainment is by Western villagers. The culprit, in this case, after severely assaulting several persons with a dah, murdered a friend and his wife in very brutal fashion. A crowd of about seven hundred people watched the 'dance of death,' apparently unmoved and made no effort to seize the murderer. He would probably have accounted for several more victims, had not an inspector of police rushed up and shot him dead in his tracks."
Many years ago at Bassein I saw a man accidentally fall out of a rice boat in the middle of that very dangerous river, and though there were many boats on it with expert swimmers in them, all they did was to watch his struggles in an interested manner and say he will certainly drown. In the end a young Englishman went out and saved him.
Edwardes, op. cit., p. 49, also says: "The tendency of villagers to accept the attacks of dacoits as merely an uncomfortable feature of the daily routine is well illustrated by a case reported in 1921 in which the whole village turned out and calmly watched five dacoits armed with a home-made gun, which was fired by means of a lighted cheroot, help themselves to 10,000 rupees' worth of property and make a leisurely departure."
. II. DEITIES.
1. Maitreya. "Another image [at Gyangtse) showing fine craftsmanship (p. 54] was that of the Bodhi. sattva Maitreya....Maitreya, the Compassionate, is the next Buddha destined to be born in the world, and is adored by nearly every sort of Maha yanist] Buddhist. He is frequently portrayed almost as a European. I have sometimes seen representatives of him with white skin and blue eyes, and in nearly all cases his image is sitting on a chair in European style as opposed to the Oriental cross-legged attitude assumed by other Tibetan deities."
2. Peden Llamo (Goddess). “The floor above [in the Chokang at Lhasa) is largely devoted to the worship (p. 298) of the fierce female demon who acts as the dread guardian of Buddhism..... The lady represented hero, Peden (or Paldan) Llamo, is the most terrible of the fairies. She has many forms, some mild, representing her as a gracious lady, the hearer of prayers : others which portray her as a goddess of black magic, of disease and death. In the upper room of the Chokang or Cathedral there are images, representing her in both aspects. . In her more horrible phase the colour is black, representing mystery and death. She is riding