The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c16.1

c16.1

Compared to the other Dhyāni Buddhas the number of goddesses emanating from the Dhyāni Buddha Akṣobhya is large. Some of the goddesses are well known and popular in the Buddhist countries of the north but many Sādhanas are not assigned to them. It has already been pointed out that the emanations of this Dhyāni Buddha are, as a rule, terrible in appearance and awe-inspiring in character. The goddesses emanating from Akṣobhya are likewise blue in colour, and partake of the fierce nature of the male divinities. The genuinely peaceful and benign deities such as Prajñāpāramitā and Vasudhārā are exceptions to the rule. The goddesses emanating from the Dhyāni Buddha Akṣobhya are described below one by one.