Eight charnel ground ornaments

Eight charnel ground ornaments (Tib. དུར་ཁྲོད་ཆས་བརྒྱད།, Wyl. dur khrod chas brgyad ) of a wrathful deity are:

1. The three garments (Tib.བགོ་བའི་གོས་གསུམ།, Wyl. bgo ba’i gos gsum): elephant, human, and tiger skin;
2. Two fastened ornaments (Tib.གདགས་པའི་རྒྱན་གཉིས།, Wyl. gdags pa’i rgyan gnyis): human skulls and snakes; and
3. Three smeared substances (Tib.བྱུག་པའི་རྫས་གསུམ།, Wyl. byug pa’i rdzas gsum): ashes, blood, and grease.

These also form part of the ten glorious ornaments.

• The three garments:

An elephant skin is a sign that ignorance has been subdued by the ten strengths;

A human skin is a sign that desire has been subdued by desireless great compassion; and

A tiger skin is a sign that anger or hatred has been subdued by wrathful compassion

• The two kinds of fastened ornaments:

Dried and fresh human skull ornaments, which are

The crown of five dry human skulls,

The garland of fifty fresh heads,

The bracelets of fragments of human heads.

Snake ornaments:

The white-spotted snake hair ribbon, which symbolizes the subjugation of the caste of naga kings;

The yellow-spotted snake earrings, which symbolize the subjugation of the caste of naga nobility;

The red-spotted snake necklace which symbolizes the subjugation of the Brahmin caste of nagas;

The green-spotted snake bracelets which symbolize the subjugation of the ordinary caste of nagas; and

The black-spotted snake belt or sash which symbolizes the subjugation of the lowest caste of nagas.

• The three smeared substances which symbolize the subjugation of jealousy, are:

Ashes on the forehead,

Blood on the bridge of the nose, or the cheeks, and

Mouldy grease on the chin.