Small Prayer Wheel

A handheld prayer wheel in brass and copper, about five inches with the handle, with a weighted chain and glass detailing. Handmade in Nepal. The body is inscribed with Om Mani Padme Hum.

The idea behind the object is simple and strange. The mantra is written on a scroll wound inside the drum, and turning the drum is held to do what saying it does, so a wheel spun steadily is a recitation running at a speed no mouth could manage. You turn it clockwise, the direction the sun goes, which is the same direction you walk around a stupa.

About the translation, since your page will be the only one that says this. Everybody prints it as the jewel in the lotus. Buddhist scholars have argued about that for a long time, and one reading, argued by Donald Lopez, is that manipadme is a single word in the vocative case: not a jewel sitting in a lotus, but a name, Jewel-Lotus, being called out to. On the grammar it is most likely a feminine name, a figure paired with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, who is Guanyin further east. It is one of several scholarly readings rather than a settled one. What it changes is the feel of the thing: less a description of an object, more like saying somebody's name.

It is a good object for people who find sitting still difficult, because it gives the hands a job.

Good to Know

Approximately 5 by 1 inches (127 by 26 mm). Brass and copper with glass detail and a weighted chain. Handmade in Nepal, so the finish and the inscription depth vary. Turn it clockwise. Brass will darken; leave the patina or bring it back with a cloth, your choice.

Try It With

A tulsi mala or a rudraksha mala for the version you count by hand. A mini singing bowl to open and close. More in altar items.