A gilt bronze figure of Mandarava

TIBET, 16TH/17TH CENTURY

細節

A gilt bronze figure of Mandarava
Tibet, 16th/17th Century
Standing on a lotus base, leaning slightly to the side, holding a kapala in one hand, the other in vitarka mudra, wearing a long robe with incised and beaded borders, her headdress, foliate-shaped earrings and garland inset with coral beads
6 in. (15.2 cm.) high

拍品專文

Mandarava was the wife of Padmasambhava, founder of the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism. According to legend, as discussed by Rinpoche Tulku Thondup in Buddhist Civilization in Tibet, 1987, p. 32, Padmasambhava enraged the king of Sahora by preaching Buddhism to his daughter. He was ordered to be burnt alive in a valley filled with wood and oil. However, his miraculous powers saved him by turning the oil into a lake as he emerged accompanied by dancing dakinis on a lotus stalk. The king overwhelmed by the display converted to Buddhism and gave his daughter to Padmasambhava in marriage.