Mahakala: Bernagchen Page (Black Cloak)
Bernagchen MasterworksSubjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Solitary
- with Retinue
- Shingkyong Yab-yum
- Bamro Yab-yum
- Shri Devi Rangjung Gyalmo & Bernagchen
- Jinasagara (Bernagchen as a retinue figure)
- Bhagavat Mahakala
- Mahakala Main Page
- Confusions: Kartaridhara, Panjarnata (Drag Dzong), Copper-knife Mahakala
- Others...
Video: HAR #65083
Tibetan: Bernag Chen
Bernagchen belongs to the class of Bhagavat Mahakala. Bernagchen, Vajra Mahakala (English: the Great Black-Cloak Vajra Mahakala), the personal protector of the Karmapas and the special protector of the Karma Kagyu (Kamtsang) School of Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapas are a line of successive teachers acknowledged as the first lineage of reincarnating lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. Mahakala is a classification of Buddhist protector deity originating in India. This specific form of Mahakala known as Bernagchen arises from the Nyingma 'Revealed Treasure' Tradition of Tibet and was later introduced into the Karma Kagyu School by the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1206-1283).
The fiercely wrathful, Black Cloak Mahakala is black in colour, with one face, three round bulbous eyes, a large gaping red mouth with bared white fangs. His yellow beard, eyebrows and hair flow upward like flames. The right hand holds aloft a curved flaying knife with a vajra handle. The left holds a white blood filled skullcup to the heart. Adorned with a crown of five dry white skulls, earrings, bracelets and a garland of freshly severed heads, he wears a great black cloak as his unique characteristic. He stands surrounded by black smoke and red licks of the flames of pristine awareness fire.
Lineage Teachers: Dagnyi Heruka, Chog Drup Arnapa, Mal Lotsawa Lodro Drag, Nyal Nyima Bar, Nyal Jose, Drogon Rechen, Gyalse Pomdrakpa, Karma Pakshi, etc.
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Jeff Watt 4-2001 [updated 10-2008, 4-2017, 8-2017]
