Once upon a time, in the great city of Jatumati in the Indian continent, there dwelt a blind king named Indrabodhi or Indrabhuti, who ruled over the country of Udyana. The death of his only son plunges the palace in deepest sorrow. In their distress the king and people cry unto the Buddhas with offerings, and their appeal reaching unto the paradise of the great Buddha of Boundless Light Amitabha this divinity sends, instantly, like a lightning flash, a miraculous incarnation of himself in the form of a red ray of light to sacred lake of that country. That same night the king dreamt a dream of good omen. He dreamt that a golden thunderbolt had come into his hand, and body shone like the sun. In the morning the royal priest reports that a glorious light of the five rainbow tints has settled in the lotus-lake of Dharmakosha. Then the king, whose sight has been miraculously restored, visits the lake and embarking in a boat, proceeds to see the shining wonder, and finds on the pure bosom of the lake a lotus-flower of matchless beauty, on whose petals sits a lovely boy of eight years old, and shining like a god. The king, falling on his knees, worships the infant prodigy exclaiming "Incomparable boy! Who are you? Who are your father and mother?" To which the child made answer, "My father is wisdom. My mother is voidness. Mine is the country of Dharma. I am sustained by clarity and perplexity". He is Padmasambhava. The lake symbolizes his eight manifestations. Seeking an immediately efficacious doctrine, Padmasambhava traveled to the highest heaven. Vajrasattva revealed to him all sound (nama) mantra and all appearances (rupa) as enchantment. He learnt the Mahayoga tantra and contemplated the truths blended into one and activated completion through ritual. Like as Second Buddha, Padmasambhava came into the world, west of Bodhgaya in Udyana by apparitional birth. He is the Dharmakaya or absolute reality. But for the sake of the world he exhibits two kinds of supernatural forms the purity, in which he appears in the divine and human realms, and the impure, in which he appears to the lower orders of beings.
As the HRIH went out from the heart of Amitabha and settled on a lotus flower, an eight year old boy, endowed with all knowledge, was born. Thereafter, he was seen by king Indrabhuti, who invited him to his palace and adopted him as his son. Subsequently he consecrated him as king. He was named Indrasena perhaps after his father's name Indrabhuti. When grown up Indrasena realized that the world was devoid of reality, and renounced his kingship. Padmasambhava after renouncing the kingship went to the cremation ground near Bodhgaya, which was a famous resort of yogins, and gained emancipation of mind through the higher practices. Thence he journeyed to Bengal, Assam and Nepal to preach the Dharma.
When the Tajik king of Multan tried to attack Udyana, he sank the boats of the invading troops by mantra. He was held in high esteem as the greatest master of the occult sciences in India and as such he was recommended to the king of Tibet in the eighth century A.D. by one of the famous Buddhist scholars of the time Shantirakshita. King Trisong Detsen invited Padmasambhava to help in the re-establishment of Buddhism. Padmasambhava arrived in Tibet in 747 A.D. His principal task was there to demonstrate the superiority of the miracle-working power Buddhism to that of Bon. He adopted the new faith to the psychology of the Tibetans and paved the way for its rapid spread throughout the land. As a direct result of his efforts, the people of Tibet were elevated from state of Shamanism to that of unsurpassed spiritual culture. As a great exorcist he was able to overcome local demonic opponents of Buddhism. From a miracle-worker he grew to gigantic proportions and was spoken of as the second Buddha. He accomplished the fusion of the old and new. He is the founder of Nyingma Order. He was renowned for his knowledge of Buddhist tantric dharani and of their efficacious application.
Padmasambhava was deified and incarnated into eight forms, one for each of eight important actions he performed during his lifetime. Among them one is the monk Indrasena. The eight manifestations of Padmasambhava are as follows:
1. Vajradhara of Udyana
2. King Padamavajra
3. King Loden Chogsay
4. Suryaprabha
5. Rdor-je-gro-lod
6. Guru Drakpo
7. The Nyingma Monk Indrasena
8. The Buddha Shakyasimha
Padmasambhava as Nyingma monk indicates his initiation into the Mahayana teachings and his entry into the Bodhisattva path. He studied with many learned masters throughout India, becoming proficient in the five worldly sciences, Mahayana thought, mantric practices, and all the Vajrayana teachings. In the painting sweet-faced Padmasambhava as Nyingma monk Indrasena is seated on cushion in the right centre. His right hand is holding a cranium with jewel in it, and the left hand is in preaching gesture. There is a vase on his left side. He is wearing Tibetan style of blue halo behind his head. The upper portion of his throne back is encircled with leaves and flowers. He has a female attendant who is offering him a golden vase.
On the top perhaps Padmasambhava in his usual simple form is seated on a throne. His both the hands are in meditation position and holding a long-life vase. The upper left corner depicts a flying lama with rainbow light. It is said that Buddhist lamas and monks love to fly, and have done so many times. Buddha personally flew on numerous occasions, as did many of his immediate disciples including Shariputra and Maudgalyayana and also Guru Padmasambhava. The flying theme is very popular in Tibetan and Chinese thangka paintings. The upper right corner is filled with a beautiful green landscape with an antelope. Below the flying lama is a weather lama, who is seated on a throne and is creating clouds which caused to rain in the residential area. The weather lama is also popular in Tibet. It is said that in Tibet Farmers used to hire weather lama to make rain during planting season or to stop it during harvest. In Old Tibet, Dalai Lamas generally kept three weather lamas in their employ. Whenever the Dalai lama was scheduled to give a teaching or initiation somewhere they would be dispatched a few days in advance to perform his weather-control rituals. He would be asked to make a few light sprinkles in places that were overly dry and dusty, or to stop the rain if the, heavy rain had set in.
The lower left corner depicts King Trisong Detsen and the right corner is filled with the figure of one of the sisters of Long-Life Sisters (Tshe-rin-mched lana), ancient Tibetan mountain goddess who were won over by Padmasambhava, and bound by oath to the Buddhist Dharma. The bottom centre depicts the charnel ground and auspicious offerings. All the figures are brilliantly drawn and painted.
This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)".
Click Here to View the Thangka Painting along with its Brocade
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