Om mani padme hum (was: Karandavyuha)

[Georg von Simson]

>Isn't there a more recent study that explains maNipadme as the vocative of
>a feminine maNipadmA (as the name of a goddess)?--"O jewel-lotus goddess!"
>I cannot recall the reference.
>
>>
>> Is it at the fountainhead of Buddhist Tantra literature,
>>because Avalokitesvara's important mantra - Om maNi padme hUm -
>>is explained there. maNi refers to linga of 'Saivism and
>>padma is yoni (A. Francke, The meaning of Om maNi padme hUm
>>formula, JRAS, 1915, 0. 397-404.)
>
>
>Burt Thorp
>English Department
>University of North Dakota
>Grand Forks ND 58202-7209

See David L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, London 1987, p. 195, where
he quotes the spell "OM MANIPADME HUM = O thou with the jewelled lotus"
adding a footnote (no. 134): "These "spells" (vidyA) are all feminine in
form, which is entirely normal, and the oft seen translation of "Jewel in
the Lotus" is a later misunderstanding of someone who is unaware of the
nature of such "spells" and the whole feminine context of their
application."

Regards,
G.v.Simson