Brahmadanda Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara)

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Avalokiteshvara (Lokeshvara) is the Bodhisattva of great compassion. He has taken vast vows to save all beings. With his special mantra, om mani padme hum, he travels to all realms of the universe in his tireless quest to deliver beings from sufferings. According to Karandavyuha, he actually descends to the hells of Yama and had flowed magic waters and cooled the flames of the molten iron realm. The Tibetans believe that how Avalokiteshvara took a special vow to free the Tibetans, to tame them and turn them away from their violent ways, and to turn their land of barbaric savagery into a land of bright with happiness. Avalokiteshvara is the patron deity of Tibet and his practice was introduced into Tibet from India in the seventh century A.D. All the Dalai Lamas including the Karmpas, Gesar, and other Lamas and Kings are considered manifestation of Avalokiteshvara. With his female consorts, Tara and Bhrikuti, and his fierce form Hayagriva, the Horse-Necked one, as well as many other forms, this Bodhisattva is the most universally beloved divine figure in Mahayana Buddhism.

In the Machchandar Vahal one of the numerous viharas of Kathmandu in Nepal, there are paintings in many colours of one hundred and eight varieties of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, under the name of Lokeshvara or Lokanath, executed on the wooden panel surrounding the main temple on three sides. Among them one is Brahmadanda Lokeshvara. It is said that these painting appear to be at least two hundred years old, and they bear inscriptions in old Newari giving the names of deities they depict. In Nepal Lokeshvara is more easily pronounced than Avalokiteshvara. The various forms of Lokeshvara are perhaps the amalgamation of other Buddhist divinities and Hindu deities.

The term Brahmadanda is here related to the attribute of Lokeshvara. Brahmadanda is actually the tridandi staff in the hands of Avalokiteshvara. The power and strength of Avalokiteshvara's spiritual power is concentrated in this staff. Evil god may release one by one all his powerful weapons. But all of them would be powerless before Avalokiteshvara Brahmadanda. So no would dare to create any obstacle before the path of his benevolent work.

Here serene Lokeshvara is shown seated in easy posture on a flat rock. He is accompanied by his Shakti who sits on his lap. His two right hands show the tridandi and the Varada pose, while upper left hand holds ratnakalasha (vessel containing jewels) and his lower left hand is holding his consort. The Shakti displays the Varada pose in the right hand and the Abhaya in the left. Lokeshvara has sweet-looking oval face. His half open eyes are filled with compassion to see the suffering beings. His hair is partly upswept in a knot with a decoration on it and partly falls on his shoulders. He has five-lobbed gold crown with jewels and gold ornaments. He wears a flowing silk long scarf. An antelope skin is over his left shoulder. Moreover he wears a floral silk dhoti. There is a tree behind him with green leaves. His consort is also beautifully adorned with gold jewelry. The background and middle ground create a peaceful calm mood. The thangka is very much suitable for sadhana and practices.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

B. Bhattacharyya, The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Calcutta, 1968

Ben Meulenbeld, Buddhist Symbolism in Tibetan Thangka, Holland, 2001

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999

Lokesh Chandra, Transcendental Art of Tibet, Delhi, 1996

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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