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This is a beautiful and unusual Chuchepa Mahakala statue with
consort. Chuchepa Mahakala is worshiped for the fulfillment of
wishes.
Mahakala is a form of the Protector of all Tibetan Buddhism. He is four-armed and extremely wrathful in appearance. He holds an upraised sword which symbolizes the wisdom, knowledge or ability to cut through delusion or obstacles. His lower right hand holds a kartika symbolizing the destruction of negativities or evil beings, and the pulling or driving of all beings out of samsara and towards liberation. His uppermost left hand holds a khatvanga, a magic wand held by tantric deities (which is missing from the photo but we have) and his lower left hand holds a skull-cup which serves as a libation vessel for wrathful and protective Vajrayana deities. As a receptacle for sacrificial offerings presented to wrathful deities, the kapala parallels the precious tray or bowl containing auspicious substances. Chuchepa Mahakala's hair flows upward as he stares with glaring eyes and a wide gaping mouth. Adorned with the bone ornaments of a wrathful deity he wears a necklace of freshly severed heads and a tiger skin. He is completely surrounded by the flames of pristine awareness.
His three eyes symbolize his knowledge of the past, present and future, and also the manifestation of the three bodies of Buddha. The crown adorned with five skulls symbolizes the transformation of the five poisons of anger, desire, ignorance, jealousy and pride into the five wisdoms. His two feet are the means and the wisdom to accomplish his task. Mahakala is seen standing on the corpses of a human bodies, thus symbolizing the death of negativity and the complete uprooting of negative patterns to such a point that, like a dead body, they will not come to life.
It is very important that we know these symbols of Mahakala because many times there are mistaken notions that he may be a clinging spirit or harmful, evil being, perhaps even the Lord of Death ready to devour and attack. One would find great difficulty in relating to the various symbols without understanding that our awakened compassion is the essential quality of the being of Mahakala. Mahakala is constantly benefiting beings through the continuous play of the enlightened mind.
Note: The Sanskrit descriptive name, Mahakala (Great Time or Great Dark One) is also used to refer to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god whose tandava dance sustains, but can also destroy, the universe of appearances, and who is associated with time, the other meaning of kala. The teaching known as the Kalachakra or Wheel of Time, is a Buddhist tantric system thought of as the key to reality that unites the universe, time and the breath of life.
Mahakala is a form of the Protector of all Tibetan Buddhism. He is four-armed and extremely wrathful in appearance. He holds an upraised sword which symbolizes the wisdom, knowledge or ability to cut through delusion or obstacles. His lower right hand holds a kartika symbolizing the destruction of negativities or evil beings, and the pulling or driving of all beings out of samsara and towards liberation. His uppermost left hand holds a khatvanga, a magic wand held by tantric deities (which is missing from the photo but we have) and his lower left hand holds a skull-cup which serves as a libation vessel for wrathful and protective Vajrayana deities. As a receptacle for sacrificial offerings presented to wrathful deities, the kapala parallels the precious tray or bowl containing auspicious substances. Chuchepa Mahakala's hair flows upward as he stares with glaring eyes and a wide gaping mouth. Adorned with the bone ornaments of a wrathful deity he wears a necklace of freshly severed heads and a tiger skin. He is completely surrounded by the flames of pristine awareness.
His three eyes symbolize his knowledge of the past, present and future, and also the manifestation of the three bodies of Buddha. The crown adorned with five skulls symbolizes the transformation of the five poisons of anger, desire, ignorance, jealousy and pride into the five wisdoms. His two feet are the means and the wisdom to accomplish his task. Mahakala is seen standing on the corpses of a human bodies, thus symbolizing the death of negativity and the complete uprooting of negative patterns to such a point that, like a dead body, they will not come to life.
It is very important that we know these symbols of Mahakala because many times there are mistaken notions that he may be a clinging spirit or harmful, evil being, perhaps even the Lord of Death ready to devour and attack. One would find great difficulty in relating to the various symbols without understanding that our awakened compassion is the essential quality of the being of Mahakala. Mahakala is constantly benefiting beings through the continuous play of the enlightened mind.
Note: The Sanskrit descriptive name, Mahakala (Great Time or Great Dark One) is also used to refer to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god whose tandava dance sustains, but can also destroy, the universe of appearances, and who is associated with time, the other meaning of kala. The teaching known as the Kalachakra or Wheel of Time, is a Buddhist tantric system thought of as the key to reality that unites the universe, time and the breath of life.