The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c10.3

c10.3

The conception of Vajradhara presupposes Ādibuddha and, therefore, is later than the first half of the 10th century. Vajrasattva, being a regular development of the Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi emanating from the Dhyāni Buddha Akṣobhya, is a little earlier, although the conception of Vajradhara and Vajrasattva are sometimes inextricably mixed up. In Vajrayāna, Ādibuddha is regarded as the highest deity of the Buddhist pantheon, the originator even of the five Dhyāni Buddhas. When represented in human form, he begets the name of Vajradhara and is conceived in two forms, single and Yab-yum. When single, he is bedecked in jewels, gaudy ornaments and dress, sits in the Vajraparyaṅka or the attitude of meditation with the two feet locked with soles of the feet turned upwards. He carries the Vajra in the right hand and the Ghaṇṭā (bell) in the left, the two hands being crossed against the chest in what is known as the Vajrahuṅkāra Mudra (Fig 12). The Vajra (thunderbolt) here is the symbol for the ultimate reality called Śūnya while the bell represnts Prajñā or wisdom the sounds of which travel far and wide. Sometimes the symbols are shown on a lotus on either side, the Vajra being on the right and the Ghaṇṭā in the left (Fig 13). In Yab-yum, his form remains the same as when single except that here he is locked in close embrace by his Śakti or the female counterpart whose name according to Getty is Prajñāpāramitā. The Śakti is somewhat smaller in size, is richly dressed and bedecked in ornaments, carrying the Kartri (knife) and the Kapāla (skull cup) in the right and left hands respectively (Figs. 14, 15). In these figures the Kartri is the symbol for the destruction of ignorance, the Kapāla stands for oneness absolute, while the double form Yab-yum represents that the distinction between duality and non-duality is unreal, and the two mix themselves into one as salt mixes in water. The deity Vajradhara is an embodiment of the highest reality, Śūnya, while Prajñāpāramitā represents Karuṇā (compassion) and in close embrace they turn into one Śūnya in which Karuṇā merges, and the duality ceases. Vajradhara is widely represented in Tibet. ¹