Mahapratisara, the Buddhist Protectress
Not on view
The eight-armed goddess Mahapratisara is an emanation of Ratnasambhava, the “jewel-born” meditation Buddha. She sits in deep meditation in a yogic posture (sattvasana), enthroned on a lotus seat and resting on a cloth-draped lion throne. She holds an array of attributes, mostly the weapons employed in the Buddhist notion of “cutting away illusions”—axe, sword, club, and discus—and in her lower hands holds a vajra (thunderbolt scepter) and a rosary. Another lowered hand holds a palm-leaf manuscript (pustaka), an attribute commonly associated with the wisdom goddess Prajnaparamita. An inscription on the backplate provides a passage of Buddhist creed, probably a magical charm (dharani), often found on Pala period Buddhist steles. A kneeling donor is depicted before the lion throne.
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