Item: Mandala of Vajrapani (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - Mahachakra

Vajrapani, Mahachakra.

Videos:
- HAR #206211
- Mahachakra Vajrapani

Description: (from the Mitra Gyatsa) "...above a lotus and sun seat, Brahma and Indra, is Vajrapani with a blue cape, three faces and six hands. The right [face] is white, left red, each with three eyes. With six hands, the first two hold a vajra and a wrathful gesture upraised. The middle two are folded respectfully embracing the consort Mamaki...possessed of beauty, blue [in colour], holding a curved knife and skullcup. The lower two grasp a snake, at the [level of the] waist, as food. The right leg is bent, left straight." (Description: rgyud sde kun btus, vol.23, folio 215).

Lineage: Vajradhara, Vajrapani, Dakini Simhamukha, mahasiddha Shavaripa, Maha Pandita Javaripa, Pandita Devapurnamati, the translator Gar Chokyi Zangpo, kalyanamitra Rinchen Ngodrup, Mar Chokyi Gyaltsen, Mar Sherab Dorje, Mar Tubpa Sherab, Mar Tsondru Dorje, Mar Chogyal Sherab, Mar Shakya Drubpa, etc. (Lineage: rgyud sde kun btus, vol.30, folio 75-6).

Jeff Watt 9-2026

The Mahachakra Vajrapani depicted in this mandala belongs to the seventeen-deity configuration, which was transmitted from India to Tibet during the later dissemination (phyi dar) of Tibetan Buddhism, most likely between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. At the center of the mandala resides Mahachakra Vajrapani with three faces and six arms, embracing a consort. Encircling the central figures are four emanations of Mahachakra, each with one face and two arms, representing in total the five wisdoms, five Buddha families and the four enlightened activities. Surrounding that are four male door-keepers, in white, yellow, red, and green, each depicted with a consort. These door-keepers are standard features in many Anuttarayoga mandalas, such as those of Hevajra or Chakrasamvara, functioning to protect the four cardinal directions from negative forces.

Outside the central vajra circle or pavilion lie four protective outer rings that stabilize the pavilion. Proceeding from the inside out, these consist of the lotus, vajra, fire, and the eight great charnel grounds. While the cemeteries are typically positioned between the fire and vajra circles, in this composition they form the outermost ring, a variation more commonly observed in mandalas affiliated with the Gelug tradition (for example, HAR 77116 ). Each charnal ground has an Indian siddha with Virupa in the Western direction (top center).

The early Tantric texts describe the cemeteries as having six major features: the name of each of [1] the Eight Great Charnel Grounds, [2] Eight Great Trees, [3] Eight Direction Guardians, [4] Eight Great Clouds, [5] Eight Great Nagas and [6] Eight Guardian Deities. They further describe the minor features of the cemeteries. "Furthermore, there are headless corpses, hanging corpses, lying corpses, stake-impaled corpses, heads, skeletons, jackals, crows, owls, vultures, and zombies making the sound, "Phaim". There are also siddhas with clear understanding, yakshas, rakshas, pretas, flesh eaters, lunatics, bhairavas, dakas, dakinis, ponds, fires, stupas, and sadhakas. All of these fill the charnel grounds which surround the celestial palace." (Konchog Lhundrub, 1497-1557). For many Sakya mandala paintings Virupa is placed at the top cemetery and the others move clockwise to the right. 1. Virupa, 2. Luipa, 3. Kukkuripa, 4. Saraha, 5. Indrabhuti, 6. Dombi Heruka, 7. Nagarjuna, 8. Ghantapa.

Along the top register, the lineage unfolds from left to right, charting the gradual transmission of the practice from India to Tibet through translators such as Chokyi Zangpo. The inclusion of such early masters served to validate the depicted deity as an authentic, historically grounded practice established centuries prior, thereby instilling confidence in practitioners who adopted the deity for daily meditation. Flanking the exterior of the mandala are four additional forms of Vajrapani, alongside lineage teachers in the top register and retinue deities, supplementary protectors, and the donor figure in the bottom right corner of the register. Two forms of Mahachakra Vajrapani occupy the top corners, accompanied by four retinue deities each. In the bottom register, two single-faced, two-armed forms of Krodha Vajrapani appear: the left holds a vajra and bell, while the right holds a vajra in the right hand with a wrathful gesture in the left. The precise transmission lineage for these specific forms of Vajrapani remains unidentified; they do not share a direct relationship with the seventeen-deity cycle but were likely incorporated into the composition to fulfill the donor's devotional preferences and desire for auspiciousness.

The inclusion of four specific Dharma protectors in the bottom register indicates the painting's very likely institutional affiliation with the famous Shalu Monastery, a branch school of the Sakya tradition. These protectors comprise Vaishravana Riding a Lion, Shri Devi Dorje Rabtenma, and two early forms of Bhagavan (Legden) Mahakala derived most probably from the Nyingma tantras, figures notably more popular at Shalu monastery than at other Sakya-affiliated institutions. Aside from the solitary white female attendant leading Mahakala’s horse, the remaining figures are retinue deities of the seventeen-deity mandala rather than protectors or wealth deities.

Shinzo Shiratori 9-2026

Toh 455. The Triple Dreadful Taming, a Division of the Secret Tantras. རྒྱུད་རྣམས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་འབྱེད་དྲག་པོ་གསུམ་འདུལ། · rgyud rnams kyi rnam 'byed drag po gsum 'dul. vibhaṅgo guhyatantrāṇāṃ trirudradamana (10 pages).