Buddhist Deity: Aparajita Main Page
Buddhist Iconography Main PageSubjects, Topics & Types:
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Videos:
- Aparajita: the Unconquered
- Kubera, Who Am I?
Aparajita, meaning ‘unconquered,’ is the name of a male deity sometimes characterized as a protector and at other times as a wealth deity. He can be peaceful or wrathful in appearance and is found in a number of different iconographic compendia collections.
As a peaceful figure he is often found as a secondary figure in the lower registers of Taglung and Drigung Kagyu painting compositions - up to the late 14th century. He appears in sculptural form associated with Densatil style art. Aparajita is also found in some groups of the Ten Wrathful Ones. A trampled Aparajita is also found as a prone figure under the feet of some forms of Bhutadamara Vajrapani.
[68] Aparajita.
"[Above] a lotus and sun and the tip of the trunk of Ganapati, ...Arya Aparajita, with a body yellow in colour. The right [hand] is held aloft with the palm extended. The left, a wrathful [gesture] together with a lasso, held at the heart. Having three eyes and bared fangs. Having jewel ornaments and garments of silk. Standing in a manner with the left leg extended. Surrounded by Brahma and the like, and a collection of gods holding umbrellas." (Konchog Lhundrub, Drub Tab Gyatsa).
Jeff Watt 12-2018
