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Palden Lhamo (dpal ldan lha mo) in her "dpal ldan dmag zor rgyal
mo" form (Image)
Thangka, painting
Cotton support with opaque mineral pigments in waterbased (collagen) binder
16.0 x 22.0 inches
Central Tibet
Ca. 18th century
Menri Serma style
Museum #: 91.001.018
By Natalie R. Marsh
10 May, 1998
Like all emanations of this goddess, Palden Lhamo (T. dpal ldan lha mo)
is represented in an angry (Skt. krodha) form in this 18th century, Central
Tibetan example from the SAMA Rezk Collection. Her single face is framed
by wild orange-brown, or reddish hair, above which an array of nine peacock
feathers float.1 She exhibits her ferocious teeth which gnaw on a human
corpse while she strikes a fearful glare with her three blood-shot eyes.
Palden Lhamo's body is covered with ashes, fat, and blood and surrounded
by a halo of flame as is appropriate to her visualized presence in a charnel
field. According to textual sources, and evident upon very close examination,
in her raised right hand this dark-blue form of the deity brandishes a sandalwood
club topped with a vajra. With this weapon the goddess watches over
the oath-bound, insuring their allegience and integrity in upholding the
Buddhist Dharma. The presence of a lion at her proper right ear and a snake
at her proper left ear serves to verify that this example is the dPal ldan
dmag zor rgyal mo form of the goddess. In her left hand, raised to her chest,
she carries the blood-filled skull of a child born out of an incestuous
union. She is shown in a seated position riding on the back of a khyang,
an untrainable wild mule, whose head is usually turned back toward the goddess,
acknowledging Palden Lhamo's loud and fearful shreaks said to resemble thunder.
On the goddess's navel is a small sun disk and above her head a crescent
moon. She is generally shown wearing a black silk scarf that blows around
and behind her, along with a human skin that is worn as a shawl. Her upper
garment is made of black fabric and her lower garment consists of a tiger
skin secured by a belt of intertwined snakes. She wears a long necklace
of freshly severed human heads, the five skull crown, and the other five
bone ornaments of many Heruka class deities, here most recognizably depicted
around the goddess's wrists and ankles. These carved human bone ornaments
represent the necessary release of attachment to one's physical existence;
and the six perfections, or paramitas, required in the process of
attaining enlightenment. The reins of her mule, which wrap around her saddle
of human skin, are also made of venomous snakes. Threaded on additional
snakes and dangling from her mount are a black and white pair of dice used
to determine karmic fate, and a magic ball of string made of rolled up weapons.
A red tablet used to conjure spells is tied to her mount or tucked into
her belt, along with a sack full of diseases, said to have been collected
by the goddess and dispensed when evil has been committed.2 On her mule's
hind quarter is a single eye, which formed from the wound left by an arrow
shot by Palden Lhamo's former husband, the Cannibal King of Sri Lanka. After
failing to convince her people of their evil cannibalistic practices, the
goddess followed through with her vow to kill her son. Seated on the saddle
made of her son's skin, the Cannibal King shot at his wife as she galloped
away, striking her mount instead. 3
Below the main goddess are two figures, the animal-headed female attendents,
Chu srin gdong can and Seng ge'i gdong can, who, by their presence, further
confirm that this is the above stated form of the goddess. Chu srin gdong
can, the "makara-headed" dakini to Palden Lhamo's right, is dark
blue in color and dressed in a human skin. She holds the reins of Palden
Lhamo's mule in her left hand and a snare, or noose, in her right hand.
Seng ge'i gdong can, the "lion-headed" dakini placed to the left
of the central deity, is red in color and holds a noose, and the kapala,
or skull cup. According to textual sources this figure should hold the kartrika,
or flaying knife, in place of the noose, though this type of variation in
attributes is not uncommon. As members within a retinue that make up one
of Palden Lhamo's mandalas these two figures emerge out of the syllable
"bhyo," part of the goddess's mantra.
Palden Lhamo is a complex figure said to function as the "chief guardian goddess" of the dharmapalas, or protectors, of the Tibetan Buddhist religion.4 The eight primary dharmapalas include Palden Lhamo, the only female deity of the group; Yama, the God of Death (T. gShin rje); Mahakala, (T. mGo po or Nag po chen po); Vaishravana, also known as Jambhala or Kubera (T. rNam thos sras); Begste, (T. Beg ste or lCam sring); Sita-Brahma (T. Tshangs pa dkar po); Hayagriva (T. rTa mgrin); and Yamantaka, sometimes identified as Vajrabhairava (T. gShin rje gshed). The dharmapalas are generally understood to have been the native deities of Tibet who initially resisted conversion to Buddhism when the foriegn religion was introduced at the request of the king, Trisong Detsen, in the late 8th century CE. Shantarakshita, the Indian teacher given the responsibility of propogating the religion, was unable to bring the native deities under control, and thus, incapable of building a stable Buddhist community in Tibet. For this reason he called upon Padmasambhava, a great Tantrin from India, to come to his aid. Padmasambhava was successful in this venture and became the true founder of Tibetan Buddhism, through which his teachings are kept alive.
Within the Buddhist context, Palden Lhamo may also
be a form of Mahakala, and thus a distant form of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva
of compassion. She is frequently depicted amongst a retinue of Mahakala
forms. (See # 92.002A and #94.006) As one who has the ability to take any number of forms
in order to aid sentient beings in their path to enlightenment, Palden Lhamo
may be considered a mahasattva bodhisattva, or a transformative deity.
Other forms which Palden Lhamo take number at least eleven, and include
various forms of Remati and Ekajati. In addition, the goddess is frequently
accompanied by numerous subsidiary deities and attendents, many of whom
function as aspects within several of her known mandalas. A possible example
of one of these figures is present in the SAMA collection, # 97.075, Object # 66.
Images of Palden Lhamo frequently indicate her function as a personal deity,
or ishtadevata; "selected-god." In this role, she is depicted
in the lower registers or to the sides of primary figures in paintings and
sculpture. One's ishtadevatas are selected by his or her guru, and
are to be consulted throughout one's entire life. They guide, protect, and
focus specific energies of the practitioner in his or her pursuit of enlightenment.
There are several versions recounting Palden Lhamo's complex and interwoven
history, though many seem to be forced rationalizations and recontextualizations
for the goddess's current role in Tibetan Buddhism. Such is the process
of assimilation and the likely reason behind her complexity. For instance,
aside from her position as a leading dharmapala, she is also said
to be a Hindu deity that was assimilated into the Tibetan pantheon at an
early date. She is thought to be related to Kali, and also has been linked
to the personas of Tara and Sarasvati.5 Her name translated in Sanskrit
is Shri-devi, meaning "great and beautiful goddess of welfare."
Palden Lhamo's current characterization may best be described as a composite
of mystical personifications going back to very early practices and understandings
of the Tibetan people, layered with imported Hindu goddess identities and
Buddhist identities created to correspond to the Dharma.6 . Regardless of
Palden Lhamo's homeland, her ancient roots may go back as far as the period
of goddess worship prior to the development of Hinduism or Buddhism. In
all periods, however, her great power lies in her dual creative and destructive
capacity, a quality that is clearly displayed in her iconography, evident
in her lore, and harnessed by Buddhist proponents.
This painting does not suggest an affiliation with a particular sect of
Tibetan Buddhism, though the goddess is most popularly worshipped among
the Gelugpa. She has been the protector of the Dalai Lamas since becoming
the special protector of the First Dalai Lama, Je Gedhun Drub (1391-1474)
after having guided him to the site of the monastery he was to found.7 Palden
Lhamo is also well-known and recognized by the Nyingmapa and the Bon religion
native to Tibet. Furthermore, Palden Lhamo also became the primary protective
deity of Lhasa and the entire country of Tibet, and was propitiated during
annual ceremonies in order to retain her powerful guard and beneficence.
1 Iconographic identification is based on the following:
Tucci, 591-591, Nebesky-Wojkowitz, 24-29, and Rhie and Thurman, 301.
2Rhie and Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, 301.
3Rhie and Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion, 301.
4 Nebesky-Wojkowitz, 23.
5 Rhie and Thurman, 301
6 Several histories are traced in The Guardian Deities of Tibet by Ladrang
Kalsang, 1996. 7 Kalsang, 26.
References:
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