The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (552 page)

(Skt.).
1
In Hinduism, a magical jewel which has the power to grant every wish, hence an epithet for God.
2
In Buddhism, the same jewel, but now an attribute of
buddhas
and
bodhisattvas
, hence a symbol for the mind which has attained its (proper) desire.

 
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Circumambulation
.

The movement around a holy object, or of a holy object. The completion of a circle of protection, or of community, creates an integrity which is otherwise hard to find in this world. The application of this in religions is diverse: examples include
ajj
(the Muslim circumambulation of the
Ka‘ba
); the
Prayer
Wheel (in Tibet); the
st
pa
and the
Bo
tree in Buddhism (see
RELICS
(BUDDHIST)); the respect shown to the
di
Granth on entering a
gurdw
r
;
L
v
n;
the Hindu ‘following the sun’ round the sacred fire and, in the temple (and, in
pradak
ina
, to go around any sacred object, person, or place, including the whole of India; the seven circuits (
hakkafot
) around a cemetery before a burial by
Sephardi
and
Hasidic
Jews.

 
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