Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Padmasambhava - 8 Forms: Senge Dradog

པད་མ་འབྱུང་གནས། 莲花生大士
(item no. 633)
Origin Location Eastern Tibet
Date Range 1700 - 1799
Lineages Nyingma
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.# F1997.30.8
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Wrathful

Gender: Male

Interpretation / Description

Sengge Dradog (English: Guru Lion's Roar): #8 from the set of Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava, belonging to a nine painting set.

Fiercely wrathful, dark blue in colour, with one face and two hands, he has three eyes and dark yellow hair flaming upward. The right hand holds a gold vajra and the left outstretched in a fierce gesture. Adorned with a skull crown, gold ornaments, a necklace of severed heads and a snow lion skin tied about the neck he wears a tiger skin as a skirt. Standing atop a sun disc and multi-coloured lotus he is completely surrounded by the bright orange flames of pristine awareness fire.

At the top left is Prabhahasti, one of the Eight Indian Vidyadharas. The Vidyadharas were the first teachers in the human lineage for the Eight Heruka Deities of the Nyingma Tradition. Prabhahasti received the Vajrakila Tantra.

Sengge Dradog represents the period of time when Padmasambhava remained for 5 years in a charnel ground teaching to the dakinis and others. At this time he also defeated in debate the Tirthakas from South India.

Art Represented in Art: See bottom right corner where Yeshe Tsogyal is seated in front of a painting of Vajrakila.

Jeff Watt 11-2000

Related Items
Exhibition Appearances
Exhibition: Padmasambhava, the Second Buddha

Thematic Sets
Padmasambhava: Eight Forms Main Page
Subject: Art Depicted in Art
Subject: Art Depicted in Art (Paintings)
Collection of RMA: Painting Masterworks Page
Padmasambhava: Sengge Dradog Masterworks
Padmasambhava: Masterworks (Eight Forms)
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 3
Painting Tradition: Lhatog, Khampa Gar
Padmasambhava: Sengge Dradog Page