ABP 039
Code: ABP 039
Country: Tibet (south)
Style:
Date: 1400
Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 41 x 46
Materials: Glue distemper on cotton
Nine-deity Hevajra Mandala in the tradition of Dombi Heruka of the Sakya tradition
Distemper on cloth (without restorations).
Probably represented is the Nine-deity Hevajra Mandala in the tradition of Dombi Heruka (Tib. Dom bi lugs kyi kyai rdor lha dgu'i dkyil 'khor). The principal deity of this Mandala depicts the sixteen-armed form of the Yi dam Hevajra with eight faces and four legs known as Kapaladhara Hevajra (Tib. Thod pa kyai rdo rje), joined with Nairatmya as a pair (yuganaddha). With his front legs Hevajra is stepping to the left with the left leg bent and the right one straight (alidha). He is trampling on the struggling bodies of the four Maras on the double lotus pedestal. With his rear legs he dances in alidha. In his eight right hands Hevajra holds skull-cups (kapala) containing small effigies of an elephant, a horse, an ass, an ox, a camel, a man, a lion and a cat, all acting as guardians of the eight directions. The skulls-cups (kapala) in his left hands contain small effigies of deities, namely Prthivi (earth), Varuna (water), Vayu (water), Tejas (fire), Candra (moon), Aditya or Arka (sun), Yama or Antaka (death), and Dhanada (wealth). The two principal hands of Hevajra, turned inwards and crossed in front of the chest (prajnalinganabhinaya), embrace his consort Nairatmya (Tib. bDag med ma). In her hands she holds a ritual chopper with a vajra handle (vajrakartrika) and a skull-cup (kapala), and has her right leg wrapped around his waist. Both are naked except for the "six ornaments" (sanmudra), respectively "five ornaments" (pancamudra) carved of bone, while he also wears a garland of severed heads (mundamala) around his neck.
The eight lotus petals, representing the four cardinal and intermediate directions, are each decorated inside in high relief with eight deities, namely Gauri(Tib. Gau ri) (east), Cauri (Tib. Tsau ri) (south), Vetali(Tib. Be ta li) (west), Ghasmari (Tib. Ghas ma ri) (north), Pukkasi (Tib. Puk ka si) (south-east), Sabari (Tib. Sha ba ri) (south-west), Candali (Tib. Tsan da li) (north-west), and Dombi (Tib. Dom bi ni) (north-east). The eight lotus petals are decorated on the outside with representations of the eight cemeteries.
Distemper on cloth (without restorations).
Probably represented is the Nine-deity Hevajra Mandala in the tradition of Dombi Heruka (Tib. Dom bi lugs kyi kyai rdor lha dgu'i dkyil 'khor). The principal deity of this Mandala depicts the sixteen-armed form of the Yi dam Hevajra with eight faces and four legs known as Kapaladhara Hevajra (Tib. Thod pa kyai rdo rje), joined with Nairatmya as a pair (yuganaddha). With his front legs Hevajra is stepping to the left with the left leg bent and the right one straight (alidha). He is trampling on the struggling bodies of the four Maras on the double lotus pedestal. With his rear legs he dances in alidha. In his eight right hands Hevajra holds skull-cups (kapala) containing small effigies of an elephant, a horse, an ass, an ox, a camel, a man, a lion and a cat, all acting as guardians of the eight directions. The skulls-cups (kapala) in his left hands contain small effigies of deities, namely Prthivi (earth), Varuna (water), Vayu (water), Tejas (fire), Candra (moon), Aditya or Arka (sun), Yama or Antaka (death), and Dhanada (wealth). The two principal hands of Hevajra, turned inwards and crossed in front of the chest (prajnalinganabhinaya), embrace his consort Nairatmya (Tib. bDag med ma). In her hands she holds a ritual chopper with a vajra handle (vajrakartrika) and a skull-cup (kapala), and has her right leg wrapped around his waist. Both are naked except for the "six ornaments" (sanmudra), respectively "five ornaments" (pancamudra) carved of bone, while he also wears a garland of severed heads (mundamala) around his neck.
The eight lotus petals, representing the four cardinal and intermediate directions, are each decorated inside in high relief with eight deities, namely Gauri(Tib. Gau ri) (east), Cauri (Tib. Tsau ri) (south), Vetali(Tib. Be ta li) (west), Ghasmari (Tib. Ghas ma ri) (north), Pukkasi (Tib. Puk ka si) (south-east), Sabari (Tib. Sha ba ri) (south-west), Candali (Tib. Tsan da li) (north-west), and Dombi (Tib. Dom bi ni) (north-east). The eight lotus petals are decorated on the outside with representations of the eight cemeteries.
Brief history of the Sakya Lineage and Order
Sakya is one of the four different sects of the Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakyapa tradition takes its name from the monastery founded in 1073 at Sakya (“the place of grey earth”) in south-western Tibet by Konchog Gyalpo, a member of the Khon clan. This influential family had previously owed allegiance to the Nyingmapa tradition but Konchog Gyalpo studied the theories and methods of the new diffusion of tantras current in eleventh century Tibet. The most important of the teachings, which he received from his teacher Drokmi Lotsava, a disciple of the Indian scholar Gayadhara, was the meditational system known as the Path and Its Fruit (Lam-‘Dre).
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Sakya tradition rose to a position of prominence in the religious and cultural life of Tibet. This was due largely to the endeavours of the five great masters:
1. Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158)
2. Sonam Tsemo (1142-1182)
3. Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216)
4. Sakya Pandita (1182-1251)
5. Chogyal Phakpa (1235-1280)
Since that time the tradition and its two principal subsets, the Ngor sub-set founded by Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (1382-1457) and the Tsar sub-set founded by Tsarchen Losal Gyamtso (1502-1556) and Dzongpa sub-set founded by Dorje Denpa Kunga Namgyal have been adorned by the labours and spiritual blessings of numerous illustrious yogis and scholars. Now the Sakya tradition under the compassionate guidance of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin (b. 1945), magnificent incarnation of the Khon line, is putting down roots outside Tibet in India.
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin fled to India in 1959 after the Chinese invasion of Tibet. In exile, His Holiness met all the religious leaders in 1963 including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and took permission to set up a monastery to preserve the Sakya tradition and heritage of Tibetan religion and culture. Thus He created Sakya Centre which is located in Rajpur, North of India. Thereafter Sakya Institute was created at Puruwala to impart higher education in Buddhist philosophy. At Puruwala, a Tibetan settlement was also established for the people of Sakya.
Sakya Centre is regarded as the main monastery of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and the Sakya Lineage outside Tibet.
Sakya Monastery
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Sakya Monastery, also known as dPal Sa skya or Pel Sakya ("White Earth" or "Pale Earth") is a Buddhist monastery situated 25 km southeast of a bridge which is about 127 km west of Shigatse on the road to Tingri in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The seat of the Sakya or Sakyapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, it was founded in 1073, by Konchok Gyelpo (1034-1102), originally a Nyingmapa monk of the powerful noble family of the Tsang and became the first Sakya Trizin. Its powerful abbots governed Tibet during the whole of the 13th century after the downfall of the kings until they were eclipsed by the rise of the new Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Its medieval Mongolian architecture is quite different from that of temples in Lhasa and Yarlung. The only surviving ancient building is the Lhakang Chempo or Sibgon Trulpa. Originally a cave in the mountainside, it was built in 1268 by Ponchen Sakya Sangpo in 1268 and restored in the 16th century. It contains some of the most magnificent surviving artwork in all of Tibet, which appears not to have been damaged in recent times. The Gompa grounds cover more than 18,000 square metres, while the huge main hall covers some 6,000 square metres.
Most of the buildings of the monastery are in Ruins, because they were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
Das Sharat Chandra writes:
“As to the great library of Sakya, it is on shelves along the walls of the great hall of the Lhakhang chen-po. There are preserved here many volumes written in gold letters; the pages are six feet long by eighteen inches in breadth. In the margin of each page are illuminations, and the first four volumes have in them pictures of the thousand Buddhas. These books are bound in iron. They were prepared under orders of the Emperor Kublai Khan and presented to the Phagpa lama on his second visit to Beijing.
There is also preserved in this temple a conch shell with whorls turning from left to right [in Tibetan, Ya chyü dungkar; and in Chinese Yu hsuan pai-lei], a present of Kublai to Phagpa. It is only blown by the lamas when the request is accompanied by a present of seven ounces of silver; but to blow it, or have it blown, is held to be an act of great merit."
A huge library of as many as 84,000 scrolls were found sealed up in a wall 60 metres long and 10 metres high at Sakya (Ch: Sagya) Monastery in 2003. It is expected that most of them will prove to be Buddhist scriptures although they may well also include works of literature, and on history, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and art. They are thought to have remained untouched for hundreds of years. They are being examined by the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences.
Sakya Monastery in India
The current Sakya Trizin, trone holder of the Sakyapa went in exil in India in 1959 and he is now living in Dehra Dun. As all the leaders of the Sakya school, he is married. He has two sons, and the younger ones, Dungsey Gyana Vajra, born July 5, 1979 in Dehra Dun, is a monk and direct the Sakya Monastery constructed in India.
Sakya is one of the four different sects of the Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakyapa tradition takes its name from the monastery founded in 1073 at Sakya (“the place of grey earth”) in south-western Tibet by Konchog Gyalpo, a member of the Khon clan. This influential family had previously owed allegiance to the Nyingmapa tradition but Konchog Gyalpo studied the theories and methods of the new diffusion of tantras current in eleventh century Tibet. The most important of the teachings, which he received from his teacher Drokmi Lotsava, a disciple of the Indian scholar Gayadhara, was the meditational system known as the Path and Its Fruit (Lam-‘Dre).
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Sakya tradition rose to a position of prominence in the religious and cultural life of Tibet. This was due largely to the endeavours of the five great masters:
1. Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158)
2. Sonam Tsemo (1142-1182)
3. Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216)
4. Sakya Pandita (1182-1251)
5. Chogyal Phakpa (1235-1280)
Since that time the tradition and its two principal subsets, the Ngor sub-set founded by Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (1382-1457) and the Tsar sub-set founded by Tsarchen Losal Gyamtso (1502-1556) and Dzongpa sub-set founded by Dorje Denpa Kunga Namgyal have been adorned by the labours and spiritual blessings of numerous illustrious yogis and scholars. Now the Sakya tradition under the compassionate guidance of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin (b. 1945), magnificent incarnation of the Khon line, is putting down roots outside Tibet in India.
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin fled to India in 1959 after the Chinese invasion of Tibet. In exile, His Holiness met all the religious leaders in 1963 including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and took permission to set up a monastery to preserve the Sakya tradition and heritage of Tibetan religion and culture. Thus He created Sakya Centre which is located in Rajpur, North of India. Thereafter Sakya Institute was created at Puruwala to impart higher education in Buddhist philosophy. At Puruwala, a Tibetan settlement was also established for the people of Sakya.
Sakya Centre is regarded as the main monastery of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and the Sakya Lineage outside Tibet.
Sakya Monastery
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Sakya Monastery, also known as dPal Sa skya or Pel Sakya ("White Earth" or "Pale Earth") is a Buddhist monastery situated 25 km southeast of a bridge which is about 127 km west of Shigatse on the road to Tingri in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The seat of the Sakya or Sakyapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, it was founded in 1073, by Konchok Gyelpo (1034-1102), originally a Nyingmapa monk of the powerful noble family of the Tsang and became the first Sakya Trizin. Its powerful abbots governed Tibet during the whole of the 13th century after the downfall of the kings until they were eclipsed by the rise of the new Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Its medieval Mongolian architecture is quite different from that of temples in Lhasa and Yarlung. The only surviving ancient building is the Lhakang Chempo or Sibgon Trulpa. Originally a cave in the mountainside, it was built in 1268 by Ponchen Sakya Sangpo in 1268 and restored in the 16th century. It contains some of the most magnificent surviving artwork in all of Tibet, which appears not to have been damaged in recent times. The Gompa grounds cover more than 18,000 square metres, while the huge main hall covers some 6,000 square metres.
Most of the buildings of the monastery are in Ruins, because they were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
Das Sharat Chandra writes:
“As to the great library of Sakya, it is on shelves along the walls of the great hall of the Lhakhang chen-po. There are preserved here many volumes written in gold letters; the pages are six feet long by eighteen inches in breadth. In the margin of each page are illuminations, and the first four volumes have in them pictures of the thousand Buddhas. These books are bound in iron. They were prepared under orders of the Emperor Kublai Khan and presented to the Phagpa lama on his second visit to Beijing.
There is also preserved in this temple a conch shell with whorls turning from left to right [in Tibetan, Ya chyü dungkar; and in Chinese Yu hsuan pai-lei], a present of Kublai to Phagpa. It is only blown by the lamas when the request is accompanied by a present of seven ounces of silver; but to blow it, or have it blown, is held to be an act of great merit."
A huge library of as many as 84,000 scrolls were found sealed up in a wall 60 metres long and 10 metres high at Sakya (Ch: Sagya) Monastery in 2003. It is expected that most of them will prove to be Buddhist scriptures although they may well also include works of literature, and on history, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and art. They are thought to have remained untouched for hundreds of years. They are being examined by the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences.
Sakya Monastery in India
The current Sakya Trizin, trone holder of the Sakyapa went in exil in India in 1959 and he is now living in Dehra Dun. As all the leaders of the Sakya school, he is married. He has two sons, and the younger ones, Dungsey Gyana Vajra, born July 5, 1979 in Dehra Dun, is a monk and direct the Sakya Monastery constructed in India.
Hevajra
Hevajra is one of the main yidams in Tibetan Buddhism. This tutelary yidam is described, with all the ceremonies used in his worship as well as his sadhana, in the Hevajra tantra, which figured historically in Drogön Chögyal Phagpa's conversion of the Mongolian emperor Khubilai to Tibetan Buddhism in the thirteenth century A.D.
Iconography
Hevajra has four forms described in the Hevajra Tantra and four forms described the Samputa Tantra:
Hevajra Tantra
1. Kaya Hevajra
The two-armed Body (Kaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. His right hand holds a vajra, and his left hand holds a vajra-marked skull cup. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma). A khatvanga staff rests on his left shoulder and he is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments.
In the Sadhanamala 244 this form of Hevajra is single (ekavira) - without a consort.
2. Vak Hevajra
The four-armed Speech (Vak) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. One right hand holds a vajra and one left hand a skull full of blood, the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo).
3. Citta Hevajra
The six-armed Mind (Citta) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture with right leg extended and left bent on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour with three faces - C. blue, R. white and L. red. Each face has three blood shot eyes and four bared fangs, and frowns with knotted brows. His tawny hair streams up surmounted with a crossed vajra. Two right hands hold a vajra and a knife, two left a trident and a bell; the remaining pair of arms embrace his consort Vajrasrnkhala Hevajra is imbued with the nine dramatic sentiments and adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls, a necklace of fifty fresh head and the six symbolic ornaments or “seals”.
4. Hrdaya Hevajra
The sixteen-armed, four-legged eight-faced Heart (Hrdaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands with two legs in ardha-paryanka and the other two in alidha posture (left bent, right extended) on a multi-coloured eight petalled lotus, the four Maras in the forms of yellow Brahma, black Vishnu, white Shiva (Mahesvara) and yellow Indra and a sun disc resting on their hearts.
Sri Hevajra is 16 years old, black in color, naked, with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. His central face is black, the first right white, the first left red, the upper face smoke-coloured and ugly; the outer two faces on each side, black. All have three round blood shot eyes, four bared fangs, a vibrating tongue, and frowning with knotted brows. His lustrous tawny hair streams upward crowned with a crossed vajra. He is adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls. The sixteen hands hold sixteen skull cups. The central pair of arms skulls contain a white elephant and the yellow earth-goddess Prithvi and embrace his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma) whose two legs encircle his body. Her right hands hold a curved knife, while the left is wrapped around the neck of her lord and holds a skull cup. In the other seven skull cups held in Hevajra's outer right hands are: a blue horse, a white-nosed ass, a red ox, an ashen camel, a red human, a blue sarabha deer, and an owl or cat. In the skull cups in the outer seven left hands are the white water-god Varuna, the green wind-god Vayu, the red fire-god Agni / Tejas, the white moon god Candra, the red sun god Surya or Aditya, blue Yama lord of death and yellow Kubera or Dhanada lord of wealth. Hevajra is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments: circlet, earrings, necklace, bracelets, girdle armlets and anklets and smeared with the ashes of the charnel ground. He wears a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads.
Samputa Tantra
The four forms of Hevajra described in the Samputa Tantra all dance on a lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk throne.
1. Kaya Hevajra
The two armed Kaya-Hevajra (sku kyE rdo rje) - "Shaker of all the Three Worlds" ('jig-rten gsum kun-tu bskyod-pa) – stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour, with one face, three round red eyes, and two arms. His right hand wields a five-pronged vajra club and the left hand holds a skull cup brimming with blood. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rdo-rje bdag-med-ma), blue in colour, with one face and two arms, holding curved knife and skull cup.
2. Vak Hevajra
The four-armed Vak-Hevajra (sung kyE rdo rje), stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour with one face, three round red eyes two legs and four arms. The outer right hand wields a five pronged vajra club, the outer left hand holds a blood-filled skull-cup; the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo), who is similar to him.
3. Citta Hevajra
The six-armed Citta-Hevajra (thugs kyE rdo rje) stands in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) with his right toenails pressed against his left thigh on an eight-petaled multi-coloured lotus, corpse, skull-cup brimming with blood, and sun disc. He is black, with three faces: black, white and red - each face having three round blood shot eyes. His light yellowish hair streams upwards crested with a crossed vajra, and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. The first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell embracing is consort Vajrasrnkhala, who is similar to him. The other right hands hold an arrow and a trident. The other left hands hold a bow and a skull cup.
4. Hrdaya Hevajra
The sixteen armed four legged Hrdaya Hevajra (snying po kyE rdo rje) stands with two legs in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) and two in aleedha posture (right leg extended) on an eight-petalled multicoloured lotus are, the four Maras (Skanda Mara in the form of yellow Brahma, Klesa Mara as black Vishnu, Mrtyu Mara as white Shiva, Devaputra Mara as pale yellow Sakra), a blood filled skull-cup and sun disc. He is black in colour with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. The central face is black and laughing loudly, the right is white, and the left is red, and the upper face black and bears its fangs; the other eight faces are black. Each face has three blood-shot eyes. His tawny hair flows upwards crested with a double vajra and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. His first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell, embracing his consort Nairatma blue in colour with two hands holding a curved knife (gri gug) and skull cup. Hevajra's remaining right hands hold a sword, arrow, wheel, skull cup, club, trident and hook; the remaining left hands hold a lotus, bow, trident, skull, jewel, threatening forefinger and noose.
References
* Chandra, Lokesh (2002). Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
* Farrow, G.W. & Menon I. (1992). The Concealed Essence of the hevajra-tantra Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas.
* Pott, P.H. (1969). The Mandala of Heruka in CIBA Journal No. 50, 1969.
* Snellgrove, D.L. (1959). The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study (London Oriental Series, Vol. 6) London: Oxford University Press.
Hevajra is one of the main yidams in Tibetan Buddhism. This tutelary yidam is described, with all the ceremonies used in his worship as well as his sadhana, in the Hevajra tantra, which figured historically in Drogön Chögyal Phagpa's conversion of the Mongolian emperor Khubilai to Tibetan Buddhism in the thirteenth century A.D.
Iconography
Hevajra has four forms described in the Hevajra Tantra and four forms described the Samputa Tantra:
Hevajra Tantra
1. Kaya Hevajra
The two-armed Body (Kaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. His right hand holds a vajra, and his left hand holds a vajra-marked skull cup. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma). A khatvanga staff rests on his left shoulder and he is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments.
In the Sadhanamala 244 this form of Hevajra is single (ekavira) - without a consort.
2. Vak Hevajra
The four-armed Speech (Vak) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. One right hand holds a vajra and one left hand a skull full of blood, the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo).
3. Citta Hevajra
The six-armed Mind (Citta) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture with right leg extended and left bent on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour with three faces - C. blue, R. white and L. red. Each face has three blood shot eyes and four bared fangs, and frowns with knotted brows. His tawny hair streams up surmounted with a crossed vajra. Two right hands hold a vajra and a knife, two left a trident and a bell; the remaining pair of arms embrace his consort Vajrasrnkhala Hevajra is imbued with the nine dramatic sentiments and adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls, a necklace of fifty fresh head and the six symbolic ornaments or “seals”.
4. Hrdaya Hevajra
The sixteen-armed, four-legged eight-faced Heart (Hrdaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands with two legs in ardha-paryanka and the other two in alidha posture (left bent, right extended) on a multi-coloured eight petalled lotus, the four Maras in the forms of yellow Brahma, black Vishnu, white Shiva (Mahesvara) and yellow Indra and a sun disc resting on their hearts.
Sri Hevajra is 16 years old, black in color, naked, with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. His central face is black, the first right white, the first left red, the upper face smoke-coloured and ugly; the outer two faces on each side, black. All have three round blood shot eyes, four bared fangs, a vibrating tongue, and frowning with knotted brows. His lustrous tawny hair streams upward crowned with a crossed vajra. He is adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls. The sixteen hands hold sixteen skull cups. The central pair of arms skulls contain a white elephant and the yellow earth-goddess Prithvi and embrace his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma) whose two legs encircle his body. Her right hands hold a curved knife, while the left is wrapped around the neck of her lord and holds a skull cup. In the other seven skull cups held in Hevajra's outer right hands are: a blue horse, a white-nosed ass, a red ox, an ashen camel, a red human, a blue sarabha deer, and an owl or cat. In the skull cups in the outer seven left hands are the white water-god Varuna, the green wind-god Vayu, the red fire-god Agni / Tejas, the white moon god Candra, the red sun god Surya or Aditya, blue Yama lord of death and yellow Kubera or Dhanada lord of wealth. Hevajra is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments: circlet, earrings, necklace, bracelets, girdle armlets and anklets and smeared with the ashes of the charnel ground. He wears a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads.
Samputa Tantra
The four forms of Hevajra described in the Samputa Tantra all dance on a lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk throne.
1. Kaya Hevajra
The two armed Kaya-Hevajra (sku kyE rdo rje) - "Shaker of all the Three Worlds" ('jig-rten gsum kun-tu bskyod-pa) – stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour, with one face, three round red eyes, and two arms. His right hand wields a five-pronged vajra club and the left hand holds a skull cup brimming with blood. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rdo-rje bdag-med-ma), blue in colour, with one face and two arms, holding curved knife and skull cup.
2. Vak Hevajra
The four-armed Vak-Hevajra (sung kyE rdo rje), stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour with one face, three round red eyes two legs and four arms. The outer right hand wields a five pronged vajra club, the outer left hand holds a blood-filled skull-cup; the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo), who is similar to him.
3. Citta Hevajra
The six-armed Citta-Hevajra (thugs kyE rdo rje) stands in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) with his right toenails pressed against his left thigh on an eight-petaled multi-coloured lotus, corpse, skull-cup brimming with blood, and sun disc. He is black, with three faces: black, white and red - each face having three round blood shot eyes. His light yellowish hair streams upwards crested with a crossed vajra, and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. The first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell embracing is consort Vajrasrnkhala, who is similar to him. The other right hands hold an arrow and a trident. The other left hands hold a bow and a skull cup.
4. Hrdaya Hevajra
The sixteen armed four legged Hrdaya Hevajra (snying po kyE rdo rje) stands with two legs in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) and two in aleedha posture (right leg extended) on an eight-petalled multicoloured lotus are, the four Maras (Skanda Mara in the form of yellow Brahma, Klesa Mara as black Vishnu, Mrtyu Mara as white Shiva, Devaputra Mara as pale yellow Sakra), a blood filled skull-cup and sun disc. He is black in colour with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. The central face is black and laughing loudly, the right is white, and the left is red, and the upper face black and bears its fangs; the other eight faces are black. Each face has three blood-shot eyes. His tawny hair flows upwards crested with a double vajra and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. His first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell, embracing his consort Nairatma blue in colour with two hands holding a curved knife (gri gug) and skull cup. Hevajra's remaining right hands hold a sword, arrow, wheel, skull cup, club, trident and hook; the remaining left hands hold a lotus, bow, trident, skull, jewel, threatening forefinger and noose.
References
* Chandra, Lokesh (2002). Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
* Farrow, G.W. & Menon I. (1992). The Concealed Essence of the hevajra-tantra Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas.
* Pott, P.H. (1969). The Mandala of Heruka in CIBA Journal No. 50, 1969.
* Snellgrove, D.L. (1959). The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study (London Oriental Series, Vol. 6) London: Oxford University Press.
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh , 1958. Indian Buddhist Iconography. Calcutta: K. L. Mukhopadhyay. Pp. 157-159
de Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse, 1975. Introduction à l'iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique. Paris: Adrien Mainsonneuve (Jean Maisonneuve successeur (1970). Pp. 182-187
Sèngué, Tcheuky, 2002. Petite Encyclopédie des Divinités et symboles du Bouddhisme Tibétain. Editions Claire Lumiere . Pp. 214-217 - Hevajra
Snellgrove, David L., 1959. The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study, Part 1: Introduction and Translation; Part 2: Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, London Oriental Series. Vol. 6, Parts 1 & 2.. London: Oxford University Press.