Himalayan Art Resources

Buddhist Deity: Lokeshvara, Khasarpani (Meaning of the Term)

Khasarpani (Meaning of the Term) | Khasarpani Main Page | Avalokiteshvara (Types & Forms)

Meanings of the term Khasarpana (Khasarpani):

- In Sanskrit the term is rendered as 'khasar pana'. However in the Tibetan texts the term is generally written as 'khasar pani'.

- A term often applied generically to different forms of Avalokiteshvara.

- A term applied to the (Khasarpani) Pagpa Lokeshvara of the Potala Palace, Lhasa.

- Appearance: Any Lokeshvara with one face and two hands that typically performs the gesture of generosity with the right hand and holds a lotus stem with the left, having the right leg pendant. (This is like a male version of the typical appearance of Green Tara).

- A term applied to several specific forms of Lokeshvara: [1] Khasarpani Amoghapasha and [2] Lokeshvara 'Resting in the Nature of Mind.' Both of those belong to the Kriya Classification of Tantra. The term is also applied to a form of [3] Lokeshvara arising from the Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra (Yoga Classification).

- A name for Lokeshvara after he provided money and resources (pana) to an upasaka practitioner named Shantivarman. Later, once the resources were exhausted Lokeshvara flew (khasar) to meet the practitioner. Or, the name is also explained as 'the exhausting of the panas.'

- The name of a famous Lokeshvara temple in India which was built after Lokeshvara is said to have visited the practitioner (above), with exhausted resources, in the hills of Pundavardhana (North Bengal). A brief narrative for this story is found in the 'History of Buddhism in India' by Jonang Taranata. Several of the retinue figures from the Khasarpana Five Deity configuration are also mentioned in the narrative as helpers and guides for the practitioner who was trying to reach the Potalaka Mountain to visit with Lokeshvara and receive teachings.

Jeff Watt 4-2017

Bibliography:

Taranatha's History of Buddhism in India. Lama Chimpa and Alaka Chattopadhaya. Motilal Banarsidass. Simla, 1970. (Pages 191-195. The story of Upasaka Santivarman).

Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal. The fifteenth century reformation of Newar Buddhism. Will Tuladhar-Douglas. Routlage, 2006.