The University of Nalanda c20.12

c20.12

“It may be seen from the above,” writes Bhattacharyya, “that the Maṇḍala is not an external object but the manifestation of one Lord in the different forms. The magic arch is nothing but a detailed mental exercise on the part of the Lord, for the instruction of the Tathāgatas and the Bodhisattvas assembled near him. The five Dhyāni Buddhas, as we know from other references in the Buddhist Tāntric literature, represent the five Skandhas or elements of which the whole creation is composed.¹ The Dhyāni Buddhas are again associated with their Śaktis which, on the one hand, show that the Skandhas develop power only when associated with their Śaktis, and, on the other hand, show that the Tāntrics who want to develop power should always be associated with their Śaktis or female counterparts.”²