Chakrasamvara embracing Vajravarahi
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India and Nepal
Orientation 3
Display 4

ABS 148

 Code: ABS 148

  Country: Tibet

  Style: Late Pala Style

  Date: 1400 - 1500

  Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 9.2 x 13.5 x 5.8

  Materials: Brass

Cakrasamvara united with his consort Vajravarahi trampling on Hindu deities Bhairava and Kalaratri
(Four faced, twelve-armed form)
 
Hollow cast in two parts.
All faces have remains of painted cold gold and the hairdo traces of a blue pigment.
The bottom of the pedestal is sealed with a very unusual decorated brass plate.
 
Cakrasamvara (Tib. 'Khor lo sdom pa) is stepping to the left with the left bent and the right one straight (alidhasana), trampling on the prostrate bodies of the Hindu deities Bhairava and Kalaratri placed upon a single pedestal with the lower border decorated with engraved floral patterns. The two principal hands of the twelve-armed Cakrasamvara hold a five-prongued diamond sceptre (vajra) and a prayer-bell (ghanta), with the hands turned inwards and crossed over the chest he enbraces his consort (prajnalingabhinaya) Vajravarahi (Tib. rDo rje phag mo). She holds a ritual chopper (karttrka) and a skull-cup (kapala) and has her left leg wrapped around the waist of Cakrasamvara.
 
Heruka is a collective name for fierce manifestations of the Thatagatas. These images are identified in this publication either as forms of Hevajra (Tib. Kyai rdo rje), Buddhakapala (Tib. Sangs rgyas lo sdom pa), Mahamaya (Tib. sGyu 'phrul chen po), Samvara (Tib. bDe mchog), Cakrasamvara (Tib. 'Khor lo sdom pa), or Vajradaka (Tib. rDo rje mkha' 'gro). The Sandhanamala (SMand Nispannayogavali (NSPcontains sadanas of several variations of Cakrasamvara,Mahamayasamvara, and Vajradaka under various names: with one face and two arms named Samvara (tib. bDe mchong) (SM 255; CBI 565, 578, 978, 2276 (73); with three faces and six arms named Vajradhaka (Tib. rDo rje mkha' 'gro), Heruka( Tib. He ru ka) (SM 250), or Samvara (SM 251), with four faces and four arms named Mahamaya (NSP 9. SM 248), HerukaHevajra (SM 239), or Vajradaka (SM 249); with four faces and twelve arms named Sri Cakrasamvara (Tib. dPal 'kor lo sdom pa) or Cakrasamvara (NSP 12; CBI 3, 977, 1048, 2266 (63).
Cakrasamvara
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
 
Cakrasaṃvara Tibetan: Korlo Demchog (Wylie: khor lo sdom pa / bde mchog) is the principal yidam, or meditational deity, and herukaof the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Cakrasamvara sadhana is considered to be of the mother class of the Anuttara Yoga Tantra. Cakrasamvara is typically depicted with a blue-coloured body, four faces, and twelve arms, and embracing his consort Vajravarahi in the yab-yumposition. Other forms of the deity are also known, with varying numbers of limbs. Cakrasamvara and consort are not to be thought of as two different entities, as an ordinary husband and wife are two different people; in reality, their divine embrace is a metaphor for the union of great bliss and emptiness, which are one and the same essence.
 
Vajrayogini or Vajravarahi
Vajrayogini or Vajravarahi (Tibetan: Dorje Naljorma, English: the Vajra yogini; also Tibetan: Dorje Phagmo, Wylie: rdo-rje phag-mo, English: the Vajra Sow) is a dakini, a tantric Buddhist ishta-deva(Tib. yidam). Her sadhana(practice) originated in India between the 10th and 12th century. It evolved from the Chakrasamvara sadhana, where Vajrayogini appears as his yab-yumconsort, to become a stand-alone practice in its own right.
Vajrayogini is often associated with triumph over ignorance as well as with abandonment (one of her hidden aspects is Varuni, Hindu goddess of alcohol and intoxication). Vajrayogini is key to the advanced sadhanaof Chöd. Vajrayogini is visualized as the translucent, deep red form of a 16 years old female with the third eye of wisdom set vertically on her forehead. Iconographically, Vajrayogini, like most of the Dakini, is often signified with the investiture of Digambar. She is often pictured with a sow and is an important deity for tantric initiation, especially for new initiates - Vajrayogini's practice is said to be well-suited to those with strong desirous attachment, and to those living in the current "degenerate age". Her consort is Chakrasamvara, who is often depicted as a spear on Vajrayogini's shoulder. The seven-headed form of Vajrayogini is similar to the Hindu goddess Chinnamasta. Vajrayogini is the yidamthat a meditator identifies with when practicing Six yogas of Naropa
In Tibet the abbess of Samding monastery, on the shores of the Yamdrok Tso Lake near Gyantse, was traditionally a tulkuof Dorje Phagmo. The current incarnation resides in Lhasa.

Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh , 1958. Indian Buddhist Iconography. Calcutta: K. L. Mukhopadhyay. Pp. 159-165 - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

Bock, Etienne; Falcombello, Jean-Marc; Jenny Magali, 2022. Trésors du Tibet. Sur les pas de Milarépa. Paris: Flammarion. P. 158

Chandra, Lokesh, 1991. Buddhist Iconography of Tibet (CBIT). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture & Aditya Prakashan. Nos. 3, 32, 40, 269, 564-65, 578, 736-37, 976-79, 967, 996, 1048, 1366f, 2266(63), 2270 (67), 2276 (73) - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

de Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse, 1975. Introduction à l'iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique. Paris: Adrien Mainsonneuve (Jean Maisonneuve successeur (1970). Pp. 186-190 - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

Huntington, Susan L. and John C., 1990. Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Påla India (8th–12th centuries) and Its International Legacy, [catalogue of the exhibition held at the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio]. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press. Pp. 535-540 - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

Linrothe, Rob, 1999. Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. . London: Serindia Publ.. Pp. 276-94, figs. 198-216 - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

Mitra, Mallar, 1998. "An Image of twelve-Armed Sambara in the Russeh (Russek) Collection, Switzerland", Facets of Indian Culture. Patna: Bihar Puravid Parishad. Pp. 321-25, 1 fig - References to Cakrasamvara, Mahamaya, Samvara, and Vajradaka

Sèngué, Tcheuky, 2002. Petite Encyclopédie des Divinités et symboles du Bouddhisme Tibétain. Editions Claire Lumiere . Pp. 204-209 - Références françaises: Chakrasamvara

Sèngué, Tcheuky, 2002. Petite Encyclopédie des Divinités et symboles du Bouddhisme Tibétain. Editions Claire Lumiere . Pp. 262-266 - Références françaises: Vajravarahi