E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Praying-wheels.
It is said that the Buddhists pray by machinery; that they put prayers into a wheel, and unroll them by the length. This notion arises from a misconception. Saky’a-muni, the Buddha, is said to have “turned the wheel of the law”—i.e. to have preached Buddhism incessantly—we should say as a horse in a mill.
