Item: Vajrabhairava (Buddhist Deity) - Solitary (Ekavira)

Ekavira Vajrabhairava.

Ekavira Vajrabhairava is a meditational deity of the Sarma ‘New’ schools, including the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The figure, dark blue in color, has nine heads, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs. Ekavira denotes his solitary form, without a consort. Known as a wrathful emanation of Manjushri, Vajrabhairava’s iconography is influenced by the Hindu deity Kala Bhairava, a fierce form of the god Shiva. His practice comes from the Vajrabhairava Root Tantra (jig je tsa gyu), classified as a father tantra within the Anuttarayoga system of Vajrayana Buddhism, where death serves as a primary metaphor for enlightenment, similar to the movement of time in the Kalachakra tantra and passion in the Vajrayogini tantras.

Vajrabhairava stands in the middle of the flames of pristine awareness, with his phallus exposed, standing atop eight gods, eight birds, and eight creatures, representing the overcoming of outer, inner, and secret obstacles. A skull-cup filled with wrathful offerings is placed in the foreground beneath the throne.

Below Vajrabhairava are two forms of Yama Dharmaraja, the special protector deity of the Vajrabhairava cycle. To the left, the inner (shinje chogyal nang wa) form is dark blue, with one face and two arms, holding a curved knife in his left hand and a skull-cup filled with blood in the right. To the right side, the outer(shinje chogyal) form is also dark blue, with a buffalo head and a gaping mouth. He holds a bone staff with a vajra tip in his right hand and a lasso in the left. He stands atop a buffalo and a human corpse, supported by sun and moon discs. His consort, Chamundi, blue in color, holds a skull-cup in her left hand and a trident in the right. Both figures wear wrathful attire, bone ornaments, and flayed skins, surrounded by flames.

Above Vajrabhairava are two siddha figures which likely represent lineage masters from the Ra Lotsawa tradition. The painting, executed on a black-ground (nagchang), follows the convention originally reserved for wrathful deities.

Shinzo Shiratori 2-2025