Indian Adept: Virupa - A Mystery Solved
Virupa Main PageA Mystery Solved
Virupa, Yogeshvara (Tibetan: nal jor wang chug bir wa pa. English: Lord of Yoga, Ugly One [HAR #101354] ): foremost in magical attainments among all the siddhas. Virupa is surrounded in registers on all sides by the Eighty-four Great Siddhas of India and beyond. An inscription written on the reverse of the composition claims that the painting had been blessed by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251).
Virupa can appear in several different iconographic forms and colours. Typically, he is said to be ugly in appearance, dark with burnt skin, brown, blue or maroon in colour. He typically wears the bone ornaments of a Heruka deity, along with flower garlands and a meditation belt. In this depiction he appears much more as an Indian gentleman, with a sun protecting parasol above, inhabiting a warm climate. In front is a female attendant and behind is a male figure in a similar appearance. There are no bone ornaments, or a skull crown, nor the disheveled look of a Heruka deity synonymous with Siddha Appearance in Himalayan art.
Multi-coloured vertical rock staves give the impression of a mountain cave with a red interior. Pictured at the top center among the staves is red Vajrayogini in a dancing posture. Slightly lower to the left is Hevajra and Vajra Nairatmya. At the right side is Chakrasamvara embracing Vajrayogini.
Virupa can also appear in different contexts such as in a set of lineage teachers, a narrative scene, the various sets of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas, and as a guruyoga meditation practice. Virupa is not unique to any one tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and can be found in the art of the various practice traditions. In the Sakya Tradition after the 15th century Virupa was typically depicted in one of six textually documented forms and a specific iconographic appearance that highlight the six major events from his life story
The Sanskrit term ‘siddha’ refers to an accomplished one, a person who has gained considerable results through the practice of Tantric Buddhism. There are ten or more systems of enumerating the names of the eighty-four siddhas, sometimes referred to as just eighty siddhas. The two most famous systems of the eighty-four are those of the Indian teacher Abhayakara Gupta of the mid-11th century and Vajrasana of the early 12th century. A comparison of the many lists of names reveals that approximately one third to half the names from the popular systems are shared between the various lists.
For a very long time it has been the speculation of many scholars in the field that this composition was based on one of the two popular systems. However, the system of eighty-four represented in this composition is not one of the two famous systems but rather that documented by Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364). The original inspiration and written text for the Buton list is not yet known but clearly has a some relationship to both the Abhayakara and Vajrasana lists of siddhas.
Beginning at the top left side, the figures are read left to right and descend through the registers to the bottom of the composition. There are eighty-two squares alternating in colour, red and dark blue. Many of the squares are occupied by two siddha figures and over-all does not affect the auspiciousness of the number eighty-four.
The first twenty or so siddhas at the top match almost exactly to the Buton text. Many of the siddhas in the middle of the composition are not recognizable, or immediately recognizable, by iconography or attribute. The well-known siddhas at the end of the Buton list loosely follow in positioning within one, two, or three squares, separated, with more than several of the siddhas in the lower two registers.
So, the painting and the Buton list do not match precisely sidhha for siddha, in all cases, but they do match close enough to be able to say that they are related and most probably based on the same early source text. An important finding is the very clear exclusion of the two most popular lists of the eighty-four siddhas the Abhayakara and the Vajrasana systems. Those systems, as was previously suggested for decades, are not the basis for this composition. The Buton system, or possibly more accurately named the Sakya/Shalu system of eighty-four mahasiddhas has now risen to a place of prominence alongside the previously dominant Abhayakara and Vajrasana systems in Himalayan art.
Jeff Watt 10-2024. [Patreon: Jeff Watt 11-2021]
- Sakya/Shalu Mahasiddha System
- List of Siddhas
- Hands of the Dakini
- Tibetan Source Text
