The Dadar or arrow often though not always dressed with rainbow ribbon is a teaching tool, ritual instrument and potent polyvalent

Polyvalent

In chemistry, polyvalence or multivalence refers to species that are not restricted to a distinct number of valence bonds....

 symbol for Nyingmapa and Bonpo Dzogchen

Dzogchen

According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...

pa and is a particular attribute for Mandarava

Mandarava

Mandarava is, along with Yeshe Tsogyal, one of the two principal consorts of Padmasambhava and is considered a female guru-deity. Mandarava, born a princess in Mandi, Himachel Pradesh, India in the 8th Century CE, renounced her royal birthright in order to practice the Dharma, and became a fully...

 and Saraha

Saraha

Saraha , Sarahapa , or Sarahapāda , originally known as Rāhula or Rāhulbhadra, was the first sahajiya and one of the Mahasiddhas, and is considered to be one of the founders of Buddhist Vajrayana, and particularly of the Mahamudra tradition. His dohas are compiled in Dohakośa, the 'Treasury of...

.

An aphorism "to shoot the arrow" of Jigme Lingpa

Jigme Lingpa

Jigme Lingpa was one of the most important tertöns of Tibet. He was the promulgator of the Longchen Nyingthik, the Heart Essence teachings of Longchenpa, from whom, according to tradition, he received a vision in which the teachings were revealed...

 is rendered into English by Gyatso (1998: p. 85), it refers:

...to the need to seek students with whom there is a "karmic connection"; the point is that the bodhisattva cannot always be helpful to everyone, and so one should direct one's efforts at those who are already predisposed to one. Khanpo Palden Sherab commented that the tantric master does not remain isolated but wanders in the world and occasionally is on the mark, that is, has the satisfaction of helping others attain buddhahood.

Simmer-Brown (2001: p. 359) asserts that linguistic device such as a pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

 are common teaching tools in tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 and vajrayana

Vajrayana

Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 and provides the following homonym

Homonym

In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...

ic example:

The word for arrow is mda', which is identical in pronunciation to the word for symbol, brda'.

See also

• Iconography
  Iconography
  Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
  
  

Dadar is a symbol of our life, it is as fast as the arrow flies. Also the silk of 5 colors symbolize 5 elements: space, air, water, fire and earth, which all connected with different illnesses and ways to cure it. It is needed to be 5 jewels also on the end of dadar which means the strong concentration of energy which helps practitioners to overcome illnesses. And the essence of what dadar means is the non duality of method and wisdom.