Item: Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - Khasarpani (Sky Flier)

Lokeshvara, Khasarapani, 17/18th century.

At the center of the composition is Lokeshvara with one face and two arms. The hands hold the stems of flowers blossoming over the two shoulders. The right leg is slightly extended and the left drawn up. The colour of the body is yellow, likely to symbolize the application of gold pigment. Vertically aligned at the right and left are eight further manifestations of Lokeshvara, each in a different colour, and each protecting from one of the eight great fears. At the lower left are the fears of snakes and tigers, elephants at the bottom right, and fear of fire above that.

At the top center is Amitabha Buddha, red in colour. Seated at the right and left sides are two unidentified Gelug teachers wearing yellow hats. At the bottom center is Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo.

There are different lists of the Eight Fears but generally they are: lions, elephants, snakes, ghosts, fire, water, robbers, and false imprisonment.

From the Mind Ornament of Padma (page 86) by Dudjom Rinpoche it says: "Outer obstacles are the sixteen major fears: the [1] earth fear of pride, the [2] water fear of desire, the [3] anger fear of fire, the [4] envy fear of wind, the [5] lightning fear of thunderbolts, the [6] weapon fear of what is sharp and piercing, the [7] tyrant fear of prisons, the [8] enemy fear of bandits and thieves, the [9] ghost fear of flesh-eaters, the [10] wrath fear of elephants, the [11] beast fear of lions, the [12] poison fear of snakes etc., the [13] illness fear of plague etc., the [14] fear of untimely death, the [15] fear of poverty and scarcity, and the [16] fear of vanishing sense pleasures."

Jeff Watt [updated 11-2018]