Item: Shri Devi (Buddhist Protector) - Magzor Gyalmo

Shri Devi, Magzor Gyalmo (Tibetan: pal den lha mo, mag gyi zor le, gyal mo. English: Glorious Goddess, the Queen who Repels Armies, or the Queen who has the power to turn back armies. Sanskrit: Shri Devi, Yakshi Remati): belonging to the larger class of enlightened protector deities known as Shri Devi. Magzor Gyalmo is regarded as a wrathful emanation of the peaceful goddess Sarasvati, popular in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Tibetan: Magzor Gyalmo

Amongst the many forms of Shri Devi, the specific form of Magzor Gyalmo, blue-black and wrathful, is recognized by having one face and two hands, holding aloft with the right hand a vajra tipped staff and in the left a skullcup held to the heart. She rides side-saddle atop a mule. Above her head is a large peacock feather parasol. In the Sakya and related Traditions there is a snake ornament for the right ear and a lion for the left (see examples). In the Gelug Tradition this is reversed and the lion is an ornament for the right and the snake for the left (see examples). The image above follows the Gelug manner of depiction.

Wrathful in appearance with one face and two hands the right holds upraised a wooden stick. The left hand placed at the heart holds a white skullcup brimming with blood. Hovering above the head is a canopy of peacock feathers. She sits atop a light brown mule above a lake of blood. At the bottom left is a makara faced attendant and at the right a lion-faced attendant.

The textual source for Magzor Gyalmo is the Dakinyagnijihajvala Tantra, Dege Kanjur, volume 98, pp.223-253. It is found in the Nyingma Tantra section, vol.3. TBRC w22084.

Jeff Watt 5-2000 [updated 2-2011]