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Lot Essay
This illuminated leaf, belonging to a thirteenth-century Dohakosagiti manuscript, shows a dark-skinned Shavaripa dancing in the pose of the two-armed form of Heruka, flanked by two consorts. The hand-written text surrounding the painting reveals the Tibetan and Sanskrit title in the first line. The body of the root-text is beautifully written in a calligraphic standard script (U-chen), while the commentaries are executed in a flowing clerical script (U-me).
Doha, or rhymed couplets, are the earliest Mahamudra literature extant and refers to the highest set of Buddhist teachings in the Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dohakosagiti by Mahasiddha Saraha is a treasury of doha songs expounding upon the direct, or “pointing-out,” instruction of a guru, the non-dual nature of mind, and the negation of conventional means of achieving enlightenment. The core of the text discusses how to attain the realization of the mind's co-emergent nature with the help of a genuine guru. Shavaripa’s presence as the main figure on the first page of the manuscript may be explained by his role in writing down the songs Saraha sang.
One of the eighty-four mahasiddhas of India, Shavaripa was a hunter who turned to the Buddhist path after an encounter with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. He later became a disciple of Saraha, Nagarjuna and a teacher of Maitripa, thus establishing him as a key figure in the transmission of the early Mahamudra lineage. This depiction shows the dark-skinned siddha ecstatically dancing in the posture of the two armed Heruka forms of Hevajra and Chakrasamvara. He holds a bow in his right hand, alluding to his previous occupation as a hunter. Dancing to the sound of the bamboo flute played by the red-skinned female consort on his right, he looks intently at the blue-skinned consort who steps onto the tiger-skin rug on which he stands. She holds the body of a bird over her shoulder, its neck and mouth visible at her breast, its long feathers behind her elbow. The ornaments Shavaripa wears, formed by trails of white dots, represent the bone ornaments of a siddha, gathered from the charnel ground where tantric feasts and meditation takes place.
The large red prabha that envelops all three figures along with the blue background with floral ornamentation points to a thirteenth-century production. This style is heavily influenced by the blue and red palette of Newari painting and aesthetics. Compare the present lot with illuminated pages from a dispersed dharani manuscript at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 1986.509.1a, b). Compare the style of painting with an illuminated sutra page sold at Bonhams New York, 17 Sept 2014, lot 13.
Doha, or rhymed couplets, are the earliest Mahamudra literature extant and refers to the highest set of Buddhist teachings in the Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dohakosagiti by Mahasiddha Saraha is a treasury of doha songs expounding upon the direct, or “pointing-out,” instruction of a guru, the non-dual nature of mind, and the negation of conventional means of achieving enlightenment. The core of the text discusses how to attain the realization of the mind's co-emergent nature with the help of a genuine guru. Shavaripa’s presence as the main figure on the first page of the manuscript may be explained by his role in writing down the songs Saraha sang.
One of the eighty-four mahasiddhas of India, Shavaripa was a hunter who turned to the Buddhist path after an encounter with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. He later became a disciple of Saraha, Nagarjuna and a teacher of Maitripa, thus establishing him as a key figure in the transmission of the early Mahamudra lineage. This depiction shows the dark-skinned siddha ecstatically dancing in the posture of the two armed Heruka forms of Hevajra and Chakrasamvara. He holds a bow in his right hand, alluding to his previous occupation as a hunter. Dancing to the sound of the bamboo flute played by the red-skinned female consort on his right, he looks intently at the blue-skinned consort who steps onto the tiger-skin rug on which he stands. She holds the body of a bird over her shoulder, its neck and mouth visible at her breast, its long feathers behind her elbow. The ornaments Shavaripa wears, formed by trails of white dots, represent the bone ornaments of a siddha, gathered from the charnel ground where tantric feasts and meditation takes place.
The large red prabha that envelops all three figures along with the blue background with floral ornamentation points to a thirteenth-century production. This style is heavily influenced by the blue and red palette of Newari painting and aesthetics. Compare the present lot with illuminated pages from a dispersed dharani manuscript at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 1986.509.1a, b). Compare the style of painting with an illuminated sutra page sold at Bonhams New York, 17 Sept 2014, lot 13.