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Lot Essay
Nairatmya is a meditational deity and partner to Hevajra, and she is described as the Selfless One or Egoless One. The inscription translates as, "Hail to the Venerable Nairatmya! Choidag Palzangpo prays for blessing." This name could refer to Chokyi Zangpo, a Tibetan Lama of the 14th century, who may have commissioned this image. Chokyi Zangpo was one of the teachers of Tsongkhapa, the great religious scholar and founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. This sculpture would have been part of a set depicting either the abbreviated or extensive lineage of the Sakya Lamdre cycle of teachings. It is common practice when commissioning a large set of sculpture or paintings to solicit friends, family or village families to each sponsor a single object, thus spreading the financial cost.
From the Hevajra tantra:
She is enlightened spontaneity in female form,
A supremely blissful divine yogini.
She is the mansion of enlightened awareness,
Possessor of the five Buddha-wisdom....
She is pure, universal awareness,
The sovereign of the mandala.
She is Nairatmya Yogini,
The essence of ultimate reality.
From the Hevajra tantra:
She is enlightened spontaneity in female form,
A supremely blissful divine yogini.
She is the mansion of enlightened awareness,
Possessor of the five Buddha-wisdom....
She is pure, universal awareness,
The sovereign of the mandala.
She is Nairatmya Yogini,
The essence of ultimate reality.