Ekajati
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Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is one of the most powerful and fierce protectors of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends[citation needed], her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.
Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tārā", "Black Tārā", "Vajra Tārā" or "Ugra Tārā".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).
Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the
Ekajati is the protector of secret
According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]
Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6]
Origin
Ekajaṭī is found in both the Buddhist and Hindu pantheons; it is most often asserted that she originated in the Buddhist pantheon but some scholars argue this is not necessarily so.
It appears that, at least in some contexts, she is treated as an emanation of Akshobhya.[9]
Iconography
She can have dark red or dark blue skin, with a high, red
)In another form, her hair is arranged in the same single bun with a turquoise forehead curl. This and her other features signify her blazing allegiance to
In her most common form she holds an axe,
.Her demeanor expresses determination. With her right foot, she steps upon corpses, symbols of the
When Ekajati appears to yogis in hagiographies, she is especially wrathful. She speaks in sharp piercing shrieks, her eye boiling as she gnashes her fang. At times, she appears twice human size, brandishing weapons and served by witches drenched in blood.
Troma Tantra
The 'Troma Tantra' or the 'Ngagsung Tromay Tantra', otherwise known as the 'Ekajaṭĭ Khros Ma'i rGyud', focuses on rites of the protector, Ekajati and is subsumed within the
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-486-25575-0.
- ^ a b The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India By David Gordon White. pg 65
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8147-9708-2.
- ^ a b Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism By Judith Simmer-Brown. pg 276
- ISBN 1-55939-135-9.
- ^ Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism By Judith Simmer-Brown. pg 278
- ^ "The Goddess Mahācīnakrama-Tārā (Ugra-Tārā) in Buddhist and Hindu Tantrism" by Gudrun Bühnemann. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 59, No. 3 (1996), pp. 472
- ^ Kooij, R. K. van. 1974. "Some iconographical data from the Kalikapurana with special reference to Heruka and Ekajata", in J. E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw and J. M. M. Ubaghs (ed.), South Asian archaeology, 1973. Papers from the second international conference of South Asian archaeologists held in the University of Amsterdam. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974 pg. 170.
- ^ "The Cult of Jvālāmālinī and the Earliest Images of Jvālā and Śyāma." by S. Settar. Artibus Asiae, Vol. 31, No. 4 (1969), pp. 309
- ISBN 1-56957-134-1, p.362
External links
- Ekajati (protector) on HimalayanArt.com - an image of a tanka of Ekajati