Narodakini
Encyclopedia
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an deity similar to Vajrayogini (red, striding, bearing a vajra), which no longer appears in the active Tantric
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
pantheon
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
, despite its importance in late Indian Buddhism. In the Sadhanamala, a sacred text, she is said to be a transformation/emanation of Vajrayogini. Nãrodãkinĩ, or Naro Khachöma, is readily recognizable by her lunging posture and raised skull bowl (kapala
Kapala
A kapala or skullcup is a cup made from a human skull used as a ritual implement in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra...
). Her head is uptilted, poised to imbibe the blood that overflows her skull bowl, and her right hand brandishes a curved knife (kartika
Kartika (knife)
A kartika is a small, symbolic crescent knife or 'chopper', used in Vajrayana Buddhist ceremonies. It symbolizes the severance of all material and worldly bonds and is crowned with a vajra, which is said to destroy ignorance, and leads to enlightenment. The kartika is a key ritual implement in the...
). Nãrodãkinĩ's physical attributes are interpreted with reference to long-standing Buddhist principles as well as distinctively Tantric
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 ....
concepts. For example, her freely flowing hair is, in the Indic setting, a mark of a yogic practitioner, especially one who cultivates psychic heat, whereas Buddhist exegetes interpret the unbound tresses as a sign that her mind, free from grasping, is a flowing stream of nonconceptuality. Her crown of five skulls represents her transformation of the five aspects of selfhood into the five transcendental insights of a Buddha
Buddhahood
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
. Her garland of fifty severed heads symbolizes her purification of the fifty primary units of language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
and thought
Thought
"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
. Her bone ornaments represent five of the six perfections of a bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
. Her body itself represents the sixth perfection, transcendent wisdom (prajna
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
), which all female deities implicitly personify. Nãrodãkinĩ carries a mystical Staff (khatvãnga), supported by her left arm or balanced across her left shoulder. The staff indicates that she is not celibate and has integrated eroticism
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
into her spiritual path, mastering the art of transmuting pleasure into transcendent bliss.
She manifested herself in an initiatory vision to the great Indian Teacher and Mahasiddha Naropa
Naropa
thumb|right|NaropaNāropā was an Indian Buddhist yogi, mystic and monk. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. Naropa was the main teacher of Marpa, the founder of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism...
, (A.D. 956-1040) who received teachings from her, and his disciples began calling her Naro Dakini or Vajrayogini Naro Kha Chod or Naro Sky Goer. Moreover she is patroness of Sakya sect and an acolyte of the Dakini
Dakini
A dakini is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language, dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'. The dakini, in...
Vajravarahi
Vajravarahi
Vajrayoginī is the Vajra , literally 'the diamond female yogi'. She is a Highest Yoga Tantra Yidam , and her practice includes methods for preventing ordinary death, intermediate state and rebirth , and for transforming all mundane daily experiences into higher spiritual paths...
.
She is a Sarvabuddhadakini having access to all the Buddhas and thus is more powerful. This form of Vajrayogini or Dakini is the preeminent form of Yogini in the Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi Tantras.
.
See also
- SitatapatraSitatapatraSitātapatrā is the 'Goddess of the White Parasol' - protector against supernatural danger. She manifests as the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara-Names:...
- NairatmyaNairatmyaNairãtmyã , translated as "Lady of Emptiness" or "She Who Has Realized Selflessness." is a female Buddha. Buddhism teaches that to perceive ourselves as independent, separate selves, is an illusion. For in truth we are connected with all that exists in a vast web of communion...
- SaraswatiSaraswatiIn Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
- Queen MayaQueen MayaQueen Māyā of Sakya was the birth mother of the historical Gautama Buddha, Siddhārtha of the Gautama gotra, and sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha. "Māyā" means "illusion" or "enchantment" in Sanskrit and Pāli. Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā and Māyādevī...
- HaritiHaritiHārītī , is a Gandharan ogeress and Bactrian mythological figure who was later transformed in to a symbol for the protection of children, easy delivery, happy child rearing and parenting, harmony between husband and wife, love, and the well-being and safety of the family...
- YakshiniYakshiniYakshinis are mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology.-Description:A yakshini is the female counterpart of the male yaksha, and they both attend on Kubera , the Hindu god of wealth who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. They both look after treasure hidden in the...
- PrithviPrithviPrithvi is the sanskrit name for earth and its essence Prithivi Tattwa, in the form of a mother goddess or godmother. Prithvi is also called Dhra, Dharti, Dhrithri, meaning that which holds everything. As Prithvi Devi, she is one of two wives of Lord Vishnu. His other wife is Lakshmi. Prithvi is...
- Simhamukha
- Vajrayogini
- Tara (Buddhism)Tara (Buddhism)Tara or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements...
Link
- Sarvabuddhadakini (Naro Dakini): The First Feminist taken from Exotic India