In
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
, wrathful deities or fierce deities are the fierce, wrathful or forceful (Tibetan: ''trowo'', Sanskrit: ''krodha'') forms (or "aspects", "manifestations") of enlightened
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
s,
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
s or
Devas (divine beings); normally the same figure has other, peaceful, aspects as well. Because of their power to destroy the obstacles to
enlightenment, they are also termed ''krodha-vighnantaka'', "Wrathful onlookers on destroying obstacles". Wrathful deities are a notable feature of the
iconography of
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...
and
Vajrayana Buddhism
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
, especially in
Tibetan art
The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and sm ...
. These types of deities first appeared in India during the late 6th century, with its main source being the
Yaksha
The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...
imagery, and became a central feature of Indian
Tantric Buddhism by the late 10th or early 11th century.
Overview
In non-Tantric traditions of
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...
Buddhism, these beings are protector deities who destroy obstacles to the Buddhas and the Dharma, act as guardians against demons and gather together sentient beings to listen to the teachings of the Buddhas. In
Tantric Buddhism, they are considered to be fierce and terrifying forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas themselves. Enlightened beings may take on these forms in order to protect and aid confused sentient beings. They also represent the energy and power that is needed in order to transform negative mental factors into wisdom and compassion. They represent the power and compassion of enlightened activity which uses multiple skillful means (
upaya) to guide sentient beings as well as the transformative element of tantra which uses negative emotions as part of the path. According to
Chogyam Trungpa, "wrathful yidams work more directly and forcefully with passion, aggression, and delusion—conquering and trampling them on the spot."
In Tantric Buddhist art, fierce deities are presented as terrifying, demonic looking beings adorned with bone ornaments (Skt: aṣṭhimudrā) such as human skulls and other ornaments associated with the charnel ground, as well as being often depicted with sexually suggestive attributes. According to Rob Linrothe, the sensual and fierce imagery represents "poison as its own antidote, harnessed obstacles as the liberating force" and notes that they are "metaphors for the internal yogic processes to gain enlightenment".
They often carry ritual implements, or some of the ''
ashtamangala'', or "Eight Auspicious Symbols", and are depicted trampling on the (much smaller) bodies of figures, who usually personify the "obstacles" that the deity defeats.
Tantric deities
Yidams
In Indo-Tibetan
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
, Yidams are divine forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The tantric practitioner is initiated into the mandala of a particular meditational deity (Sanskrit: ''Iṣṭa-devatā'') and practices complex
sadhanas (meditations) on the deity for the purpose of personal transformation. This
Deity Yoga
The fundamental practice of Vajrayana and Tibetan tantra is deity yoga (''devatayoga''), meditation on a chosen deity or "cherished divinity" (Skt. ''Iṣṭa-devatā,'' Tib. ''yidam''), which involves the recitation of mantras, prayers and vi ...
practice is central to tantric forms of Buddhism such as
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
and the
Generation stage
The fundamental practice of Vajrayana and Tibetan tantra is deity yoga (''devatayoga''), meditation on a chosen deity or "cherished divinity" (Skt. ''Iṣṭa-devatā,'' Tib. ''yidam''), which involves the recitation of mantras, prayers and vi ...
of the practice is dependent on visualisation based on the vivid iconography associated with their yidam. Yidams can be peaceful, fierce and "semi-fierce" (having both fierce and peaceful aspects), with each category having its own particular set of associated imagery. Fierce deities can be divided into male and female categories. The
Heruka
:''Heruka is also a name for the deity of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra.''
''Heruka'' (Sanskrit; Tibetan: ), is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient b ...
s (
Tb. ''khrag 'thung'', lit. "blood drinker") are enlightened masculine beings who adopt fierce forms to express their detachment from the world of ignorance, such as
Yamantaka,
Cakrasamvara,
Mahākāla
Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...
, or
Vajrakilaya
In Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrakilaya (Skt. ''Vajrakīlaya''; Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུར་པ་, ''Dorje Phurba'', Wyl. ''rdo rje phur pa'') or Vajrakumara (Skt. ''Vajrakumāra''; Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་གཞོན་ནུ་, '' ...
.
Dakinis (
Tb. ''khandroma'', "sky-goer") are their feminine counterparts, sometimes depicted with a heruka and sometimes as independent deities. The most prevalent wrathful
dakinis are
Vajrayogini
Vajrayoginī ( sa, italic=yes, Vajrayoginī वज्रयोगिनी; , Dorjé Neljorma; mn, Огторгуйд Одогч, Нархажид, ) is a Tantric Buddhist female Buddha and a . The ''Vajrayogini'' cult dates back to the tenth ...
and
Vajravārāhī. A common form of imagery is the
yab-yum of a Buddha and consort in sexual union.
Gallery
File:Yamantaka Vajrabhairav.jpg, Yamantaka, also known as Vajrabhairava.
File:Ekajati.jpg, Ekajati
Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; : one who has one knot of hair), also known as Māhacīnatārā,''The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India'' By David Gordon White. pg 65 is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is ...
, also known as Blue Tara or Ugra Tara.
File:Chakrasamvara - Google Art Project.jpg, Chakrasamvara, a semi-wrathful deity, depicted in yab-yum with consort
File:Vajrakilaya (8557221604).jpg, Vajrakilaya
In Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrakilaya (Skt. ''Vajrakīlaya''; Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུར་པ་, ''Dorje Phurba'', Wyl. ''rdo rje phur pa'') or Vajrakumara (Skt. ''Vajrakumāra''; Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་གཞོན་ནུ་, '' ...
File:Dancing Vajravarahi (Dorje Pagmo) LACMA M.90.195.jpg, Dancing Vajravarahi (''Dorje Pagmo'')
File:Troma Nagmo closeup.jpg, Troma Nagmo
File:Hevajra-Tibetan.jpg, Hevajra
Hevajra ( Tibetan: kye'i rdo rje / kye rdo rje; Chinese: 喜金剛 Xǐ jīngāng /
呼金剛 Hū jīngāng;) is one of the main yidams (enlightened beings) in Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism. Hevajra's consort is Nairātmyā (Tibetan: bdag me ...
File:The Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra.png, The Herukas of the Guhyagarbha Tantra
File:Beijing 2009-1027.jpg, Kalachakra
''Kālacakra'' () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means " wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The ...
statue
File:Samye16.JPG, Kurukullā
File:Yamari, Rakta (Buddhist Deity) 16th century Boston MFA.jpg, Rakta Yamari
Wisdom Kings
In
East Asian Buddhism,
Wisdom King
A Wisdom King (Sanskrit: विद्याराज; IAST: ''Vidyārāja'', ) is a type of wrathful deity in East Asian Buddhism.
Whereas the Sanskrit name is translated literally as "wisdom / knowledge king(s)," the term '' vidyā'' in Vajraya ...
s (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''vidyarāja''), are seen as divine manifestations of the Buddhas, who act as protectors, messengers, and defenders of the Buddhist Dharma. In East Asian
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
and
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist ''Zhenyan'' (, "true ...
the Five Wisdom Kings are regarded as manifestations of the
Five Tathagatas
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
. In
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
, the Eight Wisdom Kings and Ten Wisdom Kings are regarded as manifestations of different bodhisattvas and buddhas.
File:Acala at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.JPG, Acala, "The Immovable One"—manifestation of Buddha Mahavairocana
File:Kongo Yasha wood statue.jpg, Vajrayaksa, "The Devourer of Demons"—manifestation of Buddha Amoghasiddhi
File:Daiitoku myoo painting.jpg, Vajrabhairava, "The Defeater of Death"—manifestation of Buddha Amitābha
File:Gundari.jpg, The Wisdom king Kundali, "The Dispenser of Heavenly Nectar"—manifestation of Buddha Ratnasambhava
File:Gōzanze Kiburi-ji.jpg, Trailokyavijaya
Trailokyavijaya (Vajrayana, , Japanese: Gōzanze Myō-ō; Korean: Hangsamse Myeongwang) is the King of knowledge having conquered the three worlds, one of the five kings of knowledge of Buddhism. His mission is to protect the eastern part of th ...
, "The Conqueror of The Three Planes"—manifestation of Buddha Akshobhya
Protectors
The Protectors (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''pāla'') or
Dharmapāla (Dharma protectors), are powerful beings, often
Devas or
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
s who protect the Buddhist religion and community from inner and outer threats and obstacles to their practice. A Dharmapala can also be a
Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda ...
,
Nāga
The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
,
Yaksha
The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...
,
Gandharva
A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...
, or
Asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...
. Other categories of Protectors include the
Lokapālas or "Four Heavenly Kings" and
or "Protectors of the Region".
Eight Dharmapalas
A common Tibetan grouping of Dharmapāla is 'The Eight
Dharmapala
A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "'' dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are a ...
s' (), who are understood to be the defenders of
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
. They are
supernatural beings with the rank of
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
who "are supposed to wage war without any mercy against the demons and enemies of Buddhism". The Eight Dharmapala are:
[Pearlman, Ellen. ''Tibetan Sacred Dance: A Journey into the Religious and Folk Traditions'', page
]
*
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
, the god of death
*
Mahakala
Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...
, the Great Black One
*
Yamantaka, the conqueror of death
*
Vaiśravaṇa or
Kubera, the god of wealth
*
Hayagriva
Hayagriva, also spelled Hayagreeva ( sa, हयग्रीव IAST , ), is a Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a danava also named Hayagriva (A descendant of Kashyapa and Danu), wh ...
, the Horse-necked one
*
Palden Lhamo, female protectress of Tibet
* White
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
or ''Tshangs pa''
*
Begtse
Begtse (; "Begtse the Great Coat of Mail") is a dharmapala and the lord of war in Tibetan Buddhism, originally a pre-Buddhist war god of the Mongols.
Name
The name Begtse () is a loanword from Mongolian , meaning "coat of mail". He is also give ...
, a war god from Mongolia.
Gallery
File:Vajrapani American Museum of Natural History.jpg, Vajrapani
(Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, meaning, " Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power.
Vajrapāni is also ...
File:Palden Lhamo, Tawang Monastery.jpg, Palden Lhamo
File:Todaiji13s4592.jpg, Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamonten), one of the four Heavenly Kings, at Todaiji
File:Guardian of Phra Meru Mas of Bhumibol Adulyadej - Vessavana (left side).jpg, A thai depiction of Vaiśravaṇa (Vessavana).
File:GanpatiTibetan.jpg, Ganapati
File:Citipati-buddhist-deity.jpg, Citipati
File:Yellow Yama (?) and Consort on Bull, Nyingmapa Buddhist or Bon Ritual Card LACMA AC1998.253.1.jpg, Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
, lord of death
File:Hayagriva Samye Ling July 09.jpg, Hayagriva
Hayagriva, also spelled Hayagreeva ( sa, हयग्रीव IAST , ), is a Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a danava also named Hayagriva (A descendant of Kashyapa and Danu), wh ...
, the "horse-necked"
File:Rahula and his Assembly - Google Art Project.jpg, Rahula, an oath-bound protector of Dzogchen
File:Korea-Gangwon-Woljeongsa Heavenly King 1690-07.JPG, Virūpāksa—King of the West, one of the Four Heavenly Kings at Wolijeongsa, Korea
File:Ho-phap Kuyen-thien.JPG, Dharmapala (Hộ pháp in Vietnamese) statue at Bút Tháp Temple
Bút Tháp Temple ( vi, Chùa Bút Tháp, chữ Hán: 寧福寺, Ninh Phúc tự) is a Buddhist temple located near the dyke of the Đuống River, Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province, Vietnam. The temple is also popularly called Nha ...
, Vietnam
See also
*
Buddhist deities
Great mandala of the Tôji imperial temple in Kyoto
Buddhism includes a wide array of divine beings that are venerated in various ritual and popular contexts. Initially they included mainly Indian figures such as devas, asuras and yakshas, but ...
*
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
*
Hindu mythology
*
Japanese mythology
*
Korean mythology
*
Tibetan art
The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and sm ...
References
External links
Wrathful Guardians of Buddhism—Aesthetics and Mythology''Sacred visions : early paintings from central Tibet'' fully digitized text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries
{{Buddhism topics
Buddhist deities
Dharmapalas
Herukas
Lists of deities
Vajrayana
Yidams
Tibetan art