Item: Vajrapani (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - Mahachakra

Vajrapani, Mahachakra (Tibetan: chag na dor je, kor lo chen po. English: The Great Wheel Vajra Holder). Mahachakra is a Tantric form of the bodhisattva Vajrapani appearing as a meditational deity - regarded as completely enlightened. Just as there are many forms of Vajrapani, so also are there many varieties of Mahachakra both with consort and without.

Textual Description: (from the Mitra Gyatsa) "...above a lotus and sun seat, Brahma and Indra, is Vajrapani with a blue cape, three faces and six hands. The right [face] is white, left red, each with three eyes. With six hands, the first two hold a vajra and a wrathful gesture upraised. The middle two are folded respectfully embracing the consort ... possessed of beauty, blue [in colour], holding a curved knife and skullcup. The lower two grasp a snake, at the [level of the] waist, as food. The right leg is bent, left straight." (Description: rgyud sde kun btus, vol.23, folio 215).

Lineage: Vajradhara, Vajrapani, Dakini Simhamukha, mahasiddha Shavaripa, Maha Pandita Javaripa, Pandita Devapurnamati, the translator Gar Chokyi Zangpo, kalyanamitra Rinchen Ngodrup, Mar Chokyi Gyaltsen, Mar Sherab Dorje, Mar Tubpa Sherab, Mar Tsondru Dorje, Mar Chogyal Sherab, Mar Shakya Drubpa, etc. (Extracted from the rgyud sde kun btus, vol.30, folio 75-6).

Bibliographic reference: Arya Nilambaradhara Vajrapani Rudratri Vinaya Tantra-nama, Toh 454, 455 and No.46 in the Gyu de kuntu set of mandalas.

Jeff Watt [updated 2-2018]