Note 15 — Chapter VI · RESIDENCE AT LHASA.

In the outer court, or khyamra,15 is the image of the god Tovo Metsig-pa,16 by whose power the invading armies of China were routed in the war which immediately followed the death of King Srong-btsan gambo. Near it are statues of the king and his two consorts, and some huge yak-horns, of which the following anecdote is told to inquisitive pilgrims by the temple servants (kunyer). Ra-chung-pa, a disciple of the great saint Milarapa,17 had been to India, and had there studied under the most learned masters all the mysteries of the faith, and had returned to Tibet filled with pride over his knowledge. Travelling to Lhasa with his master, they reached the middle of the desert called Palmoi-paltang, when Milarapa, who knew of the conceit of his disciple and wished to teach him a lesson, ordered him to fetch him a pair of yak horns lying near by. But Ra-chung-pa said to himself, “The master wants everything he sees. Sometimes he is as fretful as an old dog, at others as full of childish fancies as an old man in his dotage. Of what possible use can the horns be to him; he can neither use them for food, drink, nor clothing?” Then he asked the sage what he proposed doing with them. “Though it is not possible to say what may occur,” replied Milarapa, “they will certainly be of use some time or other;” and he picked them up himself and carried them along.