Item: Yamari, Rakta (Buddhist Deity) - Heruka

Rakta Yamari (Tibetan: shin je she mar. English: the Red Enemy of Death). An emanation of the bodhisattva of wisdom Manjushri, he embraces the consort Vajra Vetali.

Sanskrit: Rakta Yamari Tibetan: Shin je she mar

"... Bhagavan Krodha Yamari with a body red in colour, one face and two hands. The right hand holds aloft a white stick marked with a fresh yellow head. The left holds a blood filled skullcup embracing the Vidya of natural light [Vajra Vetali]; mouth with bared fangs and tongue curled, possessing three round red eyes, yellow mustache, eyebrows and hair flowing upward, wearing a lower garment of tiger skin, adorned with the eight great nagas and a necklace of half a hundred dripping heads and a crown of five dry skulls. Frightful with the resources of a yamari standing above a red buffalo in a manner with the right leg bent and left straight in the middle of a blazing fire of pristine awareness." (Thartse Panchen Namka Palzang, 18th century).

At the top center is the primordial buddha Vajradhara accompanied by Vajrasattva, mahasiddhas (Indian adepts) and Tibetan lamas of the lineage. At the middle left and right are the meditational deities Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja and Mahamaya.

At the bottom center is Heruka Vajrabhairava with Krishna Yamari at the left and 'Secret Accomplishment' Hayagriva on the right.

The Main Indian Lineage: Vajradhara, Manjushri Yamari, Jnanadakini, mahasiddha Virupa, Dombi Heruka, Viratipa, Matigarbha, Gambhiramati, Vajrasana Ashokashri, Nishkalangka Devi, Revendra Prabha, Chag Lotsawa Choje Pal (the first Tibetan in the lineage), etc. There were many lineages of Rakta Yamari to enter Tibet and most are traced back to the mahasiddha Virupa.

Jeff Watt 4-2001 [updated 12-2009]

Numbered List:
Yellow Numbers -
1. Vajradhara
2. Dombi Heruka
3. Vajrasattva
4. Kunkyen Pagpa O
5. Dorje Drag
6. ?
7. Dorje Chang Kyenrabje
8. Virupa
9. Brahmin Paldzin
10. Marpa Lotsawa
11. Tsurton Wanggi Dorje

White Numbers -
1. Rakta Yamari
2. Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja
3. Mahamaya
4. Vajrabhairava Heruka
5. Krishna Yamari
6. Hayagriva 'Secret Accomplishment'