A LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRABHAIRAVA

Estimated Value:

20.000 € - 30.000 €

Result:

31.080 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

Tibeto-Chinese, 18th/ 19th c.
H. 41 cm
Standing with his multiple legs in pratyalidhasana on divinities and animals reclining on the lotus base, his principle arms embracing his partner, the hands holding karttrika and kapala, the other arms radiating around his body with the hands showing the tarjanimudra and holding various attributes, wearing tiger-skin skirt, mala of severed heads, elephant-skin draped over his shoulders, bejewelled, his head consisting of a central bull-face showing bulging eyes below raised eyebrows, pair of horns and ears, open snout showing a double row of teeth, further heads flanking the central one, his red coloured flaming hairdo with two heads including one of a Buddha secured with a skull tiara and his partner holding karttrika and kapala, re-sealed.
Old and important German private collection, collected since the 1950s
Vajrabhairava is a wrathful form of Manjushri and functions as a meditation deity of the Anuttarayoga classification in Tantric Buddhism. Vajrabhairava is not a protector deity and is not included in any Buddhist classification of protectors. As the main meditation deity, Vajrabhairava belongs to the Vajrabhairava and Yamari class of tantras and arises specifically from the Vajrabhairava Root Tantra (Tib.: jig je tsa gyu). The Vajrabhairava and Yamari tantras belong to the classification of the method (father) of anuttaryoga tantra. The practice of Vajrabhairava is common to the three major Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug. Among the Sakya, he is counted among the four main tantric deities together with Hevajra, Guhyasamaja and Chakrasamvara (Tib.: gyu de shi). Among the various Kagyu schools, the Drigungpa are strong advocates of this practice. In the Gelug school, Vajrabhairava is the main meditation deity taught for anuttarayoga practice, along with the meditation deities Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja and Chakrasamvara. There are numerous forms and styles of practice, from the very complex with numerous deities to the very concise with a single heruka form - one face and two arms. Of the many different lineages and teachings of Vajrabhairava that came to Tibet, it is said that the main lineages were those of Rwa Lotsawa and Mal Lotsawa - Very slightly chipped, minor wear, attributes partly lost

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