17.25" Long x 13.25" Yamantaka Thangka Painting

Yamantaka - Conqueror of Death

Yamantaka, also called Vajrabhairava, is one of the eight Dharmapalas, or Dharma Protectors, who are sworn to defend the Buddha's teachings for all time. He is also a wrathful manifestation of the Bodhisattva Manjushri and a deity of Highest Yoga Tantra. It is said that in the form of Yamantaka, Manjushri defeated the demon king Yama, the Lord of Death. Yamantaka symbolizes the victory of wisdom over death through direct realization of the ultimate nature of reality.

Gestures and Attributes

Yamantaka is portrayed in many forms; this form is called Yamataka Ekavira, meaning "solitary hero". He is depicted with 34 arms, 16 legs, and a bull's or buffalo's head with long horns as the central head among many. In total there are eight main heads, plus a ninth small crowned head of the Bodhisattva Manjushri at the apex. Yamantaka wears an elephant-skin cloak, a garland of freshly-cut human heads, a garland of snakes, and bracelets, necklaces and a girdle made of interlaced bone ornaments. He is unclothed except for his adornments. His erect phallus has a red tip, and there is a flame aureole behind him. His central main hands hold a chopping knife ( kartika ), representing his ability to cut the root of delusion, and a human skull bowl (kapala) filled with blood, symbolizing his victory over the forces of death.