Item: Worldly Protector (Buddhist) - Drogdze Wangmo

Drog Dze Wangmo (English: the Powerful Friend): Mistress of the Charnal Grounds, Nyingma protector of the Terma Tradition.

"...One Mother, Mistress of the Three Realms, with a body maroon in colour, ferocious and frightful in appearance, having one face and two hands. In the right, eating the heart of an enemy, blood dripping and warm. Reflecting the Three Realms - the left holds a mirror. Wearing an upper garment of white silk, a tiger skin lower garment and a fresh human skin cloak. Dark brown hair hanging downward, earrings, a crown of five dry skulls and a necklace of fifty fresh, a garland of bones and a long necklace; standing haughtily with the left leg extended..." (Min-ling Lochen Dharmashri, 1654-1718. Tibetan source text part II, pp.261-262).

Fearsome and wrathful, maroon in colour, she has one face and two hands, three glaring round eyes and a gaping mouth with bared fangs. The right hand holds up to the mouth a fresh heart and the left upraised a mirror reflecting the universe. Adorned with a tiara of five dry skulls, bone earrings, necklace, bracelets, anklets and a long necklace of freshly severed heads she wears an upper robe of human skin and a lower skirt of tiger. She stands with the right leg bent, balanced on the heel, and the left straight, above a corpse and golden sun disc atop a lotus flower, surrounded by the wild flames of pristine awareness. Placed before her as an offering a red triangle torma (stylized food) is arranged in a white skullcup with two skull bowls to the sides.

"Owner of all charnel ground places, baneful Mistress of local protectors and dakas, with unsurpassed power of prescience and magical emanation; homage to the yogini Drog Dze Wangmo." (Nyingma liturgical verse).

Encircled by four attendants; at the upper left is a yellow Dakini holding a heart and mirror attired the same as the Lord Mistress, dancing on a corpse surrounded by flame. To the upper right is a red Dakini, lower left white and lower right green; all have the same basic appearance.

At the top center is the black wrathful meditational deity Krodha Kali Vajrayogini. Seated at the left side are Padmasambhava and Trisong Detsen. Seated at the right are Yeshe Tsogyal and Nyangral Nyima Ozer.

Jeff Watt 10-2003

Front of Painting
Wylie Transliteration of Inscription: chos rgyal khri srong. o rgyan rin po che. khros nag. mthso rgyal. nyang ral. zhing skyong dur khrod ma mo che.