ABS 194
Code: ABS 194
Country: Tibet
Style: Nepalese School
Date: 1400 - 1500
Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 13.8 x 20 x 9.3
Materials: Gilt copper; inset with turquoise
Primordial Buddha Vajradhara
Seated legs crossed in vajraparyaṅka on a double lotus pedestal, the primordial Buddha appears young and handsome, of dark blue complexion, adorned with the royal garments and jewellery of the saṃbhogakāya. His two hands holding the vajra and the bell –symbols of the skilful means and wisdom united– are crossed before his chest in his signature mudrā. As the primordial Buddha, Vajradhara, the “vajra holder,” is the original expression of the awakened mind. He is the unique manifestation and source of the five Buddha families who are his emanations. He is considered as the primordial Buddha among the later schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Sa skya, bKa’ brgyud and dGe lugs) whereas the rNying ma school of ancient translations considers Samantabhadra as its primordial Buddha.
Made of gilded copper, his jewellery is inset with turquoise and pearls. A Tibetan inscription in dBu can runs down the lotus pedestal:
བླ་མ་དཾ་པ་བསོད་རྣཾས་རྒྱལ་མཚན་པའི་རྟེན་རྡོར་རྗེ་འཆང་ལ་ན་མོ།
bla ma daṃ [dam] pa bsod rnaṃs [nams] rgyal mtshan pa’i rten rdor [rdo] rje ‘chang la na mo
“This is the statue of Bla ma Dam pa bSod nams rgyal mtshan. Homage to Vajradhara.”
Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312-1375) was the 14th throne holder of Sa skya monastery in Central Tibet. A major religious figure of his time, he was acquainted to the famous Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan and was, among other, one of Tsong kha pa’s teachers. He is also the author of the rGyal rabs gsal ba’i me long, a famous historical work on Tibetan royal genealogy.
For more information, see:
https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Lama-Dampa-Sonam-Gyeltsen-Pelzangpo/2491
Seated legs crossed in vajraparyaṅka on a double lotus pedestal, the primordial Buddha appears young and handsome, of dark blue complexion, adorned with the royal garments and jewellery of the saṃbhogakāya. His two hands holding the vajra and the bell –symbols of the skilful means and wisdom united– are crossed before his chest in his signature mudrā. As the primordial Buddha, Vajradhara, the “vajra holder,” is the original expression of the awakened mind. He is the unique manifestation and source of the five Buddha families who are his emanations. He is considered as the primordial Buddha among the later schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Sa skya, bKa’ brgyud and dGe lugs) whereas the rNying ma school of ancient translations considers Samantabhadra as its primordial Buddha.
Made of gilded copper, his jewellery is inset with turquoise and pearls. A Tibetan inscription in dBu can runs down the lotus pedestal:
བླ་མ་དཾ་པ་བསོད་རྣཾས་རྒྱལ་མཚན་པའི་རྟེན་རྡོར་རྗེ་འཆང་ལ་ན་མོ།
bla ma daṃ [dam] pa bsod rnaṃs [nams] rgyal mtshan pa’i rten rdor [rdo] rje ‘chang la na mo
“This is the statue of Bla ma Dam pa bSod nams rgyal mtshan. Homage to Vajradhara.”
Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312-1375) was the 14th throne holder of Sa skya monastery in Central Tibet. A major religious figure of his time, he was acquainted to the famous Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan and was, among other, one of Tsong kha pa’s teachers. He is also the author of the rGyal rabs gsal ba’i me long, a famous historical work on Tibetan royal genealogy.
For more information, see:
https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Lama-Dampa-Sonam-Gyeltsen-Pelzangpo/2491
Vajradhara
Vajradhara is the ultimate Primordial Buddha, or Adi Buddha, according to the cosmology of Tibetan Buddhism. Vajradhara displaced Samantabhadra Buddha in Gelug and Kagyu mythologies, but is metaphysically equivalent. Achieving the 'state of vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation.
From the primordial Vajradhara/Samantabhadra were manifested the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Dhyani Buddhas):
* Akshobhya
* Amoghasiddhi
* Amitabha
* Ratnasambhava
* Vairocana
Vajradhara and the Widsom Buddhas are often subjects of mandala.
Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are cognate deities with different names, attributes, appearances and iconography. Both are Dharmakaya Buddhas, that is primordial Buddhas, where Samantabhadra is unadorned, that is depicted without any attributes. Conversely, Vajradhara is often adorned and bears attributes, which is generally the iconographic representation of a Sambhogakaya Buddha. Both Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are generally depicted in yab-yum unity and are primordial buddhas, embodying void and ultimate emptiness.
Vajradhara is the ultimate Primordial Buddha, or Adi Buddha, according to the cosmology of Tibetan Buddhism. Vajradhara displaced Samantabhadra Buddha in Gelug and Kagyu mythologies, but is metaphysically equivalent. Achieving the 'state of vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation.
From the primordial Vajradhara/Samantabhadra were manifested the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Dhyani Buddhas):
* Akshobhya
* Amoghasiddhi
* Amitabha
* Ratnasambhava
* Vairocana
Vajradhara and the Widsom Buddhas are often subjects of mandala.
Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are cognate deities with different names, attributes, appearances and iconography. Both are Dharmakaya Buddhas, that is primordial Buddhas, where Samantabhadra is unadorned, that is depicted without any attributes. Conversely, Vajradhara is often adorned and bears attributes, which is generally the iconographic representation of a Sambhogakaya Buddha. Both Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are generally depicted in yab-yum unity and are primordial buddhas, embodying void and ultimate emptiness.
Bock, Etienne; Falcombello, Jean-Marc; Jenny Magali, 2022. Trésors du Tibet. Sur les pas de Milarépa. Paris: Flammarion. p. 55
Sèngué, Tcheuky, 2002. Petite Encyclopédie des Divinités et symboles du Bouddhisme Tibétain. Editions Claire Lumiere . Pp. 106-107 - Références françaises: Vajradhara