Traditional pendant. Ganesh enthroned on a Phurba. Vajrayana Tantric Buddhist protection.
925 silver hallmarked according to international standards
Dimension 61mm long / 18mm wide
PHURBA
The Phurba is a dagger for defeating demons. It was introduced into Tibetan Buddhism by Phadmasambhava and is a symbol of transmutation of negative forces.
Often made of stone, bone, or even iron, the Phurba daggers of Tibetan Buddhism temples are easily recognizable by their triple-sided blade. Used in rituals to drive away unwanted spirits, the Phurba works spiritually to immobilize demonic spirits and sometimes kill them in hopes that they will reincarnate in better places. Each component of Phurba has its own meaning.
The dagger blade represents the method, with each of the three sides representing the three-spirit worlds. The point reconciling all three to form a harmonious global axis. The triple-bladed design is also meant to simultaneously transform the three poisons of the world into positive energies.
These poisons are ignorance, greed and aggression. Enemies of Buddhism that may take a lifetime to overcome in the quest for enlightenment. The blade is often seen as indestructible and ignited with fire to burn above hate.
The handle of the Phurba represents wisdom and is often modeled as an eight-sided bulb with symmetrical knots at each end. There are various interpretations to the presence of these nodes. From the belief that Nirvana is locked within, to the belief that the different sections of the nodes contain the heavens of multiple gods.
By going as far as the desire for a formless form, representing the fact of being formless in the kingdom of the Buddhas. The top of the hilt often displays the three wrathful deities of Yamantaka, Amrita Kundalini, and Hayagriva. Yamantaka, the face of white color, symbolizes the body and the destruction of hatred. Amrita, the face colored blue, symbolizes the mind and the destruction of illusion. Hayagriva, the face of red color, symbol of speech and the destruction of greed.
In many illustrations, Phurba's dagger is depicted in a simple form, due to its small size.
However, in its three-dimensional form, this tiny blade is most often depicted with numerous Buddhist symbols and demonstrates its focus on purging evil.
Vajrakilaya or Vajrakila (tib. Do-rje Phur-ba) "the adamantine dagger", also called Vajrakumara (tib. Dor-je gzhon-nu) "the young diamond". He is the extremely wrathful form of Buddha Vajrasattva, the semi-wrathful form being Vajra Vidharana (Tib. Dorje Namjom) and the wrathful form Vajrapani. Vajrasattva is a Vajrayana Buddha.
Purifier of karma, it concentrates the energies and the wisdom of the five dhyani Buddhas of which it is sometimes described as the essence. Vajrasattva practice is centered on confession and purification. One of the main deities of the ancient tantras, wrathful heruka, Vajrakilaya is the yidam deity who embodies the enlightened activity of all Buddhas and whose practice is famous for being the most powerful in removing obstacles, destroying forces hostile to compassion, purifying spiritual pollution and attaining ordinary and supreme attainments speedily.
He is the deity of the magic dagger phurba, a symbol of the sharp point of motionless wisdom on the power of goodness. This archetype has a very specific yogic use and is not seen simply as an external deity to be worshiped or manipulated into ritual activities. Vajrakilaya is shown in formidable union, or Yab Yum with his consort Diptachakra, together they represent the union of wisdom and method, which is active compassion. His crown with 5 skulls represents the 5 addictions (or Kesla) transformed into 5 wisdoms.
Vajrakilaya is one of the eight Kagye deities, The eight great teachings of Sadhana, sets of Mahayoga teachings or transmissions entrusted to Padmasambhava and the eight vidyadharas of India. The form of this statue, the most common, is taken from the "root tantra of adamantine wrath" (rTsa-rgyud-rdor-rje khros-pas). Heruka with three heads, six arms and 4 legs, brandishing vajra (tib. dorje), thunderbolts pulverizing ignorance with his right hands. A mace of flame and more occasionally a trident from his left hands. With his 4 legs, he tramples the male and female mahadevas (aversion and desire).
It deploys two huge adamantine wings with a sharp edge, and bears the macabre ornaments of mass graves. Diptachakra (tib; Khorlo Gyédepma) offers him with his right hand a kapala (skull cup) filled with blood and with his left a kartika, or kartrika, a small crescent-shaped ritual skinning knife used in the. tantric ceremonies of Vajrayana Buddhism.
The kartari is said to be "one of the quintessential attributes of wrathful tantric deities". It is commonly referred to as the "Knife of the Dakinis". Its shape is similar to the Inuitsulu or woman's knife, which is used for many things, including cleaning hides.
While the kartari is normally held in the right hand of a dakini in Vajrayana iconography and spiritual practice, it can sometimes be seen held by esoteric male deities, such as some forms of Yamantaka
It is also found frequently in the iconography of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual practice of Chöd. In the same way that the bell and the vajra are usually paired ritual elements in spiritual practice and vajrayana iconography (one is held in the right hand and the other simultaneously held in the left), the kartika appears usually as a pair with the kapala or "skull-cup". The shape of the kartika, or trigug, with its crescent shape and the hook at the end, is derived from the shape of a traditional Indian butcher's knife shape .
Enthroned on a lotus and a cushion of sun, Vajrakilaya sits in the midst of a devouring inferno similar to that of a kalpa.
