Vajrapani
Vajrapani (Skt. Vajrapāṇi; Tib. ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Chakna Dorje, Wyl. phyag na rdo rje) — one of the eight great bodhisattvas and lords of the three families. He represents the power of the buddhas and is usually depicted as blue in colour and holding a vajra.
He is especially responsible for transmitting the tantras to the human realm, which is one explanation for his epithet 'Lord of Secrets' (Tib. གསང་བའི་བདག་པོ་, Wyl. gsang ba'i bdag po)[1]. The epithet is also glossed as indicating his role as the lord of the guhyakas, i.e. yakshas.[2]
Notes
- ↑ gsang ba'i bdag po generally translates the Sanskrit guhyakādhipa/guhyakādhipati. Guhyapati, although commonly used in secondary literature, appears to be unattested in Sanskrit sources. The synonymous epithet guhyendra is generally translated gsang dbang, and guhyarāṭ as gsang ba'i rgyal po.
- ↑ See Tribe, Anthony, Tantric Buddhist Practice in India: Vilāsavajra’s commentary on the Mañjuśrī-nāmasaṃgīti, p. 121 n74.
Further Reading
- Jamgön Mipham, A Garland of Jewels, (trans. by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso), Woodstock: KTD Publications, 2008
