Himalayan Art Resources

Subject: Dakini - witches, spirits & deities

Female Imagery Introduction

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
--- Buddhist Dakini (below)
--- Nyingma Dakini
--- Shaiva Dakini
--- Bon Kandroma (dakini)
- Outline Page
- Dakini: Meditational Deity
- Dakini Appearance
- Retinue Figure Examples
- Field of Accumulation Painting Examples
- Teachers considered Dakinis
- Sacred Places: external geography
- Sacred Places: internal physiognomy
- Dakini: Abstract Concept
- Confusions: Deities not classified as Dakini, female figures/deities, Offering Goddesses, Mother (wisdom) & Father (method) Tantra
- Others...

Videos:
- Dakini: Meaning, Topics & Types
- The Five Dakinis
- Popular Dakinis in Art
- Dakini Appearance
- Dakini's Warm Breath (book review)
- Yoginis: Goddesses of Tantra by Vidya Dehejia
- Dakini on Wikipedia (Review)

Three Categories of Daka & Dakini in Buddhism:
1. Wisdom Dakini
2. Activity Dakini
3. Mundane Dakini

Five Dakini of the Buddha Families (Wisdom Dakini):
- Buddha Dakini (white, Vairochana)
- Vajra Dakini (blue, Akshobhya)
- Padma Dakini (red, Amitabha)
- Ratna Dakini (yellow, Ratnasambhava)
- Karma Dakini (green, Amoghasiddhi)

Dakini, depending on religious tradition and specific literature, can be a female nature spirit, witch, or deity assisting in spiritual development. The daka is the male counterpart. Originally, and even today in India, dakinis are very low ranked spirits believed to inhabit cemeteries and charnal grounds. In the Tibetan language the term dakini is translated as 'sky flyer or 'sky goer' referring to the ability to fly through the air. In Indian literature the term dakini is believed to be a non-Sanskrit word possibly originating from an indigenous language of India.

In Tantric Buddhism a classification of attendant, retinue deity, or meditational deity, are called dakini based on specific Indian source literature. Not all Indian Buddhist tantras use or include the term dakini.

Dakini are a curious phenomena of Buddhist Tantra that appear to have developed out of the Chakrasamvara literature and other related texts loosely catalogued as belonging to the Wisdom or Mother Tantras (of the Sarma Traditions: Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang, Gelug). The definitions and explanations of Dakini can be very different between the various schools and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

In the Sarma Schools it is predominately the Chakrasamvara Tantras that refer to female retinue figures as dakini. Daka and dakini from the Chakrasamvara mandala are typically found depicted on Gelug Field of Accumulation paintings. They are located above the protector deities. Typically In the literature of the Father and Non-dual Tantras the term goddess (devi) is preferred for accompanying female deities, such as Hevajra and the Eight Goddesses. In those tantras the term dakini is rarely found with reference to female retinue figures.

The "Revealed Treasure' tradition of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is the most invested and uses the term dakini as an honorific for almost any fully enlightened female deity and occasionally for historical female teachers, or any other number of female spirits related to Buddhist practice. Male teachers are rarely referred to as a daka. Goddess and dakini appear to be interchangeable terms with dakini being superior and often preferred. In general the concept of dakini is used as an organizational model.

Jeff Watt 8-2011 [updated 6-2015]

(The images below are only a selection from the links above).