The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c13.s5: 5. Hālāhala
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c13.s5
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5. Hālāhala
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Colour—White Faces—Three Hands—Six Companion—Prajñā
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Three Sādhanas in the Sādhanamālā are devoted to the worship of Hālāhala Lokeśvara. Images of this divinity are rarely to be met with in India, but in Nepal there are some, though they do not strictly follow the Sādhana. The distinguishing feature of Hālāhala is that he is generally accompanied by his Śakti or female energy whom he carries on his lap. The Sādhanas all enjoin the presence of the Śakti, but in a stone image from Nepal (Fig. 109), he is represented alone. According to the Sādhana the god should be seated, but the image above referred to represents him in a standing attitude. The Dhyāna contained in one of the Sādhanas is in verse and reads as follows :
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"Hrīhkārabījniṣpannaṁ Hālāhalaṁ mahākṛpaṁ I
Trinetraṁ trimukhaṁ caiva jaṭāmukuṭamaṇḍitaṁ II
Prathamāsyaṁ sitaṁ nīladakṣiṇaṁ vāmalohitaṁ I
Śaśāṅkārdhadharaṁ mūrdhni kapālakṛtaśekharaṁ II
Jaṭāntaḥsthajinaṁ samyak sarvābharaṇabhūṣitaṁ I
Sītāravindanirbhāsaṁ śṛṅgārarasasundaraṁ II
Ṣaḍbhujaṁ smeravaktraṁ ca vyāghracarmāmbarapriyaṁ I
Varadaṁ dakṣiṇe pāṇau dvitīye cākṣamālikāṁ II
Tṛtīye śaranarttanaṁ ca vāme cāpadharaṁ tathā I
Dvitīye sitapadmaṁ ca tṛtīye stanameva ca II
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Vāmajānunā sitāṁ Svābhadevīṁ dadhānaṁ. Vāmena kamaladharāṁ dakṣiṇena bhujena Bhagavadalīnganaparāṁ kusumaśobhitajāṭakalāpāṁ. Dakṣiṇapārśve sarpaveṣṭitaṁ triśūlaṁ, vāmapārśve padmasthakapālaṁ nānāsugandhikusumaiḥ sampūrṇaṁ, raktapadmacandre līlākṣepasthitaṁ vibhāvayet Bhagavantaṁ." Sādhanamālā, pp. 65-66.
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¹ K. N. Dikshit : *Six Sculptures from Mahoba*, in the Memoir No. 8 of A.S.I.
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"The worshipper should think himself as Hālāhala, the Great Compassionate, originating from the sacred syllable Hrīḥ, with three eyes, three faces and matted hair rising upwards in the shape of a crown. The first (or the principal) face is white, the right blue and the left red. He bears on his head the crescent and the Kapāla. The Jina Amitābha is within his matted hair and he is decked in all ornaments. He is resplendent like the white lotus and appears beautiful by the sentiment of passionate love he displays. He has six arms, a smiling face and is fond of garments of tiger-skin. He displays the Varada mudrā in the first right hand, the second has the rosary, while the third flourishes the arrow. The first left hand carries the bow, the second the white lotus and the third touches the breast (of his Śakti). He carries the Śakti of his own creation on the left lap. She shows the lotus in the left hand and the right is engaged in the act of embracing the god Her Jaṭā (matted hair) is decorated with flowers. To their right is the Triśūla entwined by a snake, and on the left is the Kāpala on the lotus, full of fragrant flowers. The god sits in the Lalita attitude on the red lotus".
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One image of Hālāhala is found in China ¹.
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¹ Clark : TLP, II, 265.
Cites (1)
- Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit