Wrathful Deities of the Bardo: Vajra-Heruka
and his Consort Vajra-Krodesvari Surrounded by Sixteen Wrathful Goddesses
(Image)
Thangka Painting on silk
29" x 24"
One of a set of five paintings
Museum #: 92.053
By Cathleen Cummings
26 May, 1998
Visions of peaceful and wrathful deities appear before the mind of the deceased
during the Chonyid Bardo, the second stage of the "in-between"
or Bardo state separating death and rebirth. These deities
are visions of each individual's own internal buddha-nature which unfold
systematically before the deceased in the Bardo, describing complex deity
mandalas. The mandala of the forty-two peaceful deities is followed by the
fifty-eight wrathful deity mandala. As projections of the consciousness
or fundamental awareness of the deceased these figures have no external,
physical reality; instead, they serve as guides for the consciousness of
the deceased on the path to liberation and enlightenment.
This painting describes Vajra-Heruka who appears in union with his
consort Vajra-Krodhesvari on the ninth day of the visions of the
Chonyid Bardo. Dark blue in appearance, Vajra-Heruka has three heads, six
arms and four legs, and is adorned with the tantric buddha-crown of skulls
and a necklace of severed heads. The implements he carries include a vajra,
kapala (skull cup) and a battle axe in his right hands, and in his
left a ghanta (bell), a kapala and a ploughshare.
Vajra-Heruka is the wrathful manifestation of the Buddha Vajrasattva Aksobhya
and his consort Vajrsa-Krodhesvari is a powerful form of Aksobhya's female
counterpart, Buddha Locana. They preside over the eastern quarter of the
wrathful deity mandala. The term "heruka" indicates the
terrific or powerful form of the deity. Herukas are represented with
the wings of the mythical Garuda bird who is the destroyer of serpent demons.
The presence of Garuda's wings on a heruka deity symbolizes his power
to overcome evil.
In this painting Vajra-Heruka is surrounded by eight Keurima and
eight Phra-Men-Ma deities who manifest on the thirteenth day of the
Chonyid Bardo. These sixteen goddesses are the wrathful aspects of the eight
bodhisattvas and their dakinis, self-generating male-female pairs
who accompany the buddhas of the peaceful deity mandala. Terrifying in appearance,
the Keurima are wisdom dakinis who signify the eight kinds
of awareness. Their function, like that of the male bodhisattvas
to which they appear as counterparts, is the enlightenment of these eight
awarenesses, but the Keurima's powerful aspect indicates a considerable
intensification of this function. The eight Phra-Men-Ma are wrathful
animal-headed females who rule over the eight realms of awareness. They
are the powerful counterparts to the dakinis of the eight male bodhisattvas
of the peaceful deity mandala. The following chart identifies each of these
sixteen goddesses as they appear in the painting, and indicates the direction
in which each resides, her name, color, and signficant attributes.
Although the herukas and the wrathful dakinis appear in a
dangerous form, that danger dissolves if the consciousness of the deceased
does not run in fear from these visions but sees them as projections of
its own intrinsic buddha-nature. In this way the deceased's consciousness
is liberated and enlightenment achieved.
This painting was probably from a set of Five Heruka Deities, that is Buddha-Heruka,
Vajra-Heruka, Ratna-Heruka, Padma-Heruka and Karma-Heruka, each surrounded
by the same group of Keurima and Phra-Men-Ma dakinis who manifest
on the thirteenth day of the Chonyid Bardo.
References:
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