Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Mahakala (Buddhist Protector) - Maning (Eunuch)

མ་ཧཱ་ཀཱ་ལ། ནག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ། 玛哈嘎拉
(item no. 90720)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1800 - 1899
Lineages Nyingma
Material Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line, Black Background on Cotton
Collection Tibet House, New York
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Wrathful

Gender: Neuter

Interpretation / Description

Eunuch Lord (Tibetan: pal ye she gyi gon po ma ning nag po. English: the Glorious Lord of Pristine Awareness, Great Black Eunuch): the body emanation of Mahakala and lord of all wisdom and oath-bound worldly protectors of the Nyingma School.

"...Glorious Lord of Pristine Awareness, Black Eunuch, with a body blue-black in colour, one face and two hands. Holding aloft in the right, pointed to the sky, a flaming lance, and in the left a poisoned heart and lasso. With three round red eyes, a curled tongue and hanging black snakes for hair. Having a crown of five dry skulls and a necklace of fifty fresh. Adorned with a garland of hearts and piles of snakes, dressed in silk cloaks, black and layered. Having a gold belt and a girdle of fresh human skin. From the three doors of a great stick of sandalwood, fastened at the waist, an army of snakes is dispersed. Decorated with varieties of colourful flowing streamers and all the frightful ornaments. Standing with the left leg extended atop a corpse seat..." (Terdag Lingpa Gyurme Dorje 1646-1714 and Minling Lochen Dharmashri 1654-1718. Tibetan text 'dod 'jo bum bzang pp.121-123).

Tibetan Source Text

Lineage: Kuntu Zangpo, Chemchog, Palgon, Orgyan Yab-yum, Terton Chowang, Manlungpa, Dagton, Nyenton, Sedingpa Khupon, Paljor Wangchug, Chokyi Wangpo, Karma Guru, Nyadag Trulku, Chowang Kunzang, Rigdzin Tinle Lhundrup, etc. Also see the variant lineages of Dorje Lingpa, Ratna Lingpa, Pema Lingpa and Jatson Nyingpo.

Jeff Watt 2-2000

Secondary Images
Related Items
Publications
Publication: Dojo Bumzang - Images

Thematic Sets
Mahakala: Maning (Eunuch) Main Page
Buddhist Protectors: Enlightened
Collection of Tibet House: New York (Repatriation)
Painting Type: Black Ground Main Page
Buddhist Protector: Mahakala Main Page
Mahakala (Nyingma)