Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Jnana Dakini (Buddhist Deity) - (Three Faces, Six Arms)

ཡེ་ཤེས་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ། ནང་ལྷ། 智慧空行母(佛教本尊)
(item no. 30114)
Origin Location Tibet
Lineages Buddhist
Material Metal, Mercuric Gild, Stone Inset: Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli
Collection Private
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Semi-Peaceful

Gender: Female

TBRC: bdr:W25336

Interpretation / Description

Jnana Dakini (ye shes mkha' 'gro ma): a female Tantric deity from the Chaturpita Tantra (TBRC w25336) belonging to the Anuttarayoga classification of Tantra. She is the consort of the deity Yogambara. (See HAR #21503).

Jnana Dakini, blue in colour (sometimes red or maroon) has three faces and six arms, slightly peaceful and slightly wrathful in appearance. In the three right hands she holds a vajra scepter, axe and katvanga staff. In the left hands she holds bell, skullcup and sword. In a relaxed posture she sits atop a lion.

"Seated above a lion, variously [coloured] lotus and moon seat is Jnana Dakini, blue [in colour], with three faces, blue, white and red, and six arms. Each face has three eyes. The right three hands hold a katvanga staff, axe and vajra scepter. The right three [hands] hold a bell, blood filled skullcup and a sword. Adorned with a skull garland and the five mudras, [she] is seated in sattva posture in the middle of a fiercely blazing mass of pristine awareness fire." (bod brgyud nang bstan lha tshogs chen mo bshugs so, page 388).

Jeff Watt 2-2014

Secondary Images
Related Items
Thematic Sets
Tibet: Densatil (Deities - Miscellaneous)
Subject: Dakini - witches, spirits & deities
Tibet: Densatil (Masterworks)
Buddhist Deity: Jnana Dakini Main Page
Tibet: Densatil Monastery Style Sculpture
Collection of WGA
Buddhist Deity: Jnana Dakini (Masterworks)
Artist: Sonam Gyaltsen & Atelier (Wrathful Figures)
Subject: Dakini (Meditational Deities, Buddhist)
Artist: Sonam Gyaltsen & Atelier (Sculpture)