Rahula Protector 33"x23" Thangka Painting

Rahula - The Protector of the Teachings

Rahula is a wrathful Buddhist deity known as a Dharma Defender. Also called the Protector of the Teachings, he fiercely protects the Buddhadharma and those who have vowed to practice it. Despite Rahula's terrifying appearance, he is a Bodhisattva, an embodiment of compassion who acts for the benefit of sentient beings. His function is to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from attaining spiritual realizations, as well as to foster the necessary conditions for their pratice. It is believed that in some cases the powers arrayed against the Dharma are so strong that a Bodhisattva must appear in wrathful form in order be of assistance. Rahula is the most fearsome and omnipotent of such warrior-defenders.

Symbolism

Rahula is depicted with nine heads, four arms, and one thousand flaming eyes. The multitude of heads and eyes indicate that he is defending the Dharma in all directions and that nothing escapes his terrible gaze. A raven, associated with omniscience and wisdom, is perched at the very top of his heads. Each head wears a crown of five skulls, symbolizing Rahula's transmutation of the five poisions (greed, hatred, ignorance, pride and jealousy) into the five transcendent wisdoms.

He carries a bow and arrow which he uses to deter practitioners from breaking their vows by shooting and destroying the root causes of vow-breaking. The bow is seen as the compassionate means by which the arrow of perfect insight is released. He holds a makara-headed club in his raised right hand with which he pounds excuses for vow-breaking into dust. In his upper left hand he holds a snake lasso with which he throttles all attempts to justify breaches of ethics. The lower part of his body is depicted as a snake, whose tensile coils are poised to spring in any direction with the deadly accuracy of a cobra. He is surrounded by orange flames, symbolizing the incineration of all the human pettiness which leads to deviation from the teachings. Thus, he is the fiercest of protectors for courageous practitioners who are ready and willing to face and eradicate all their hidden faults.