The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c14.s2.t5.2

c14.s2.t5.2

As has already been pointed out, Kurukullā may have another form with eight arms which is described in the only Sādhana devoted to her worship. This Sādhana is attributted in the colophon to the great Siddhācāryya Indrabhūti, who flourished about 700 A. D. and who had a daughter even more illustrious than himself, Lakṣmīṅkarā by name, well-versed in the doctrines of both Vajrayāna and Sahajayāna. The goddess described in this Sādhana is not terrible like the six-armed Māyājāla Kurukullā or the four-armed Uḍḍiyāna Kurukullā, but is mild, youthful and compassionate. The most important feature of the Sādhana is that it gives the description of a complete Maṇḍala which comprises the principal goddess and twelve surrounding divinities. For a better understanding of the form of this goddess and of the constitution of the Maṇḍala, it is desirable that the Dhyāna should be quoted in extenso and translated:—