The Powerful Trio – Dukkar Se Sum
Dukkar Se Sum (Main Figure)
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(Top to bottom): Buddha Shakyamuni, Green Tara, Sengdongma, Dukkar, Prajnaparamita, Kalarupa and Dorje Shugden.
Deity: Dukkar (Tibetan)
Alternative names: Sitatapatra (Sanskrit); White Parasol (English)
The awe-inspiring Dukkar is an extremely efficacious female deity. According to scriptural sources, her all-powerful form emerged from the ushnisha or sacred crown protuberance of Buddha Shakyamuni, while he was in deep meditative absorption amidst the assembly of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. For this reason Buddha Shakyamuni is depicted above Dukkar in this thangka. Her supreme practice was popular in ancient India and has managed to retain its popularity to this day because it is extremely potent in averting obstacles for Buddhist practitioners.
In fact, Dukkar is invoked to protect practitioners from a wide range of problems and calamities ranging from attacks from malevolent spirits to unjustified legal suits. Her mantra is also said to repel negative interferences and purify negative defilements. Furthermore, her long mantra or dharani is traditionally worn in an amulet for protection, even in extremely dangerous circumstances, and it also has the power to alter adverse weather conditions. The protective blessings of Dukkar are invoked in a number of rituals such as her torma offering, fire puja, the creation of a protective circle, drawing of her mandala and her dharanis, which are often inserted into stupas and statues as highly sacred items.
Though Dukkar is commonly depicted with a form that has 1,000 heads, 1,000 arms, 1,000 legs and thousands of eyes that oversee sentient beings, the form depicted here is simpler. With her hands, she holds a Dharma wheel and a white parasol from which she takes her name. Her skin is radiant white in colour and her body is adorned with the various accoutrements of a bodhisattva. In Gelug monasteries, prayers to Dukkar, Sengdongma and the Prajnaparamita are recited before a formal debate session in order to eliminate obstacles. This recitation has since become a popular puja employed by the monks to effectively remove obstacles and is colloquially known as Dukkar Se Sum.
Deity: Sengdongma (Tibetan)
Alternative names: Simhamukha (Sanskrit); Lion-Faced Dakini (English)
The great ferocious dakini Sengdongma is an impressive female meditational deity. Within the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug traditions, Sengdongma arises from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras and is considered to be one of the attendant dakinis within the mandala of Vajrayogini. Thus, Sengdongma’s practice belongs to the Highest Yoga Tantra classification. The form of Sengdongma prevalent in the Nyingma tradition is a unique one. In this tradition she is considered the ‘secret’ form of Guru Padmasambhava, according to the inner, outer and secret manifestations of his form.
During the time of Buddha Amitabha which was aeons before Buddha Shakyamuni, there lived a demon by the name of Garab Wangchuk whose daughter was a lion-faced demoness named Tramen Sengdongma. She thrived on killing many innocent beings and her trail of destruction became widespread. She threatened sincere practitioners and undermined Buddha Amitabha’s teachings. It was then that the enlightened beings gathered to manifest an identical-looking being in order to tame the demoness. Through the collective blessings of all the enlightened beings, a wisdom being appeared in the form of a lion-faced dakini, who was empowered by all the Buddhas to subjugate the demoness. The dakini, Sengdongma, was far more powerful than the demoness and when they fought, the demoness began to lose her strength. Furthermore, Sengdongma entered a deep state of concentration called Taming the Maras and thus emanated countless dakinis who continued her work of subduing demons. In this manner Tramen Sengdongma was subdued and took an oath to serve the Dharma and became a protector.
Deity: Prajnaparamita (Sanskrit)
Alternative names: Yum Chenmo (Tibetan)
Prajnaparamita literally means ’Perfection of Wisdom’ in Sanskrit and this refers to perfect non-conceptual wisdom, the last of the Six Perfections; the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, with its central theme on emptiness, was recovered by Nagarjuna from Nagaraja, the King of the Nagas who had been guarding them at the bottom of the sea.
Prajnaparamita also refers to the female deity who is the embodiment of transcendent wisdom and Prajnaparamita is therefore known as the Mother of the Buddhas. It is said that Buddha Shakyamuni himself meditated on Prajnaparamita. In Tibet, Prajnaparamita is known as Yum Chenmo or the ‘Great Mother’ and features prominently in the Chod tantric system created by the Tibetan female master, Machik Labdron.
Deity: Buddha Shakyamuni (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Sangye Shakya Tupa (Tibetan)
Buddha Shakyamuni turned the Wheel of Dharma, giving many different types of teachings including that of the Vajrayana (Adamantine Vehicle) tradition which concentrates on the practice of Tantra. At one time, Buddha Shakyamuni made it known that there was a method to dispel ignorance, and so his bodhisattva disciple Vajrapani requested that he teach this method. Buddha Shakyamuni entered into the meditative state known as Taming the Maras and then taught the entire cycle of teachings centred on Sengdongma. In addition, Buddha Shakyamuni is believed to have manifested Dukkar from his ushnisha or crown protuberance while he was teaching the host of worldly gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.
Deity: Arya Tara (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Green Tara (English); Drolma (Tibetan)
Tara’s name literally means ’She who Liberates’ and she is a female deity associated with compassion and enlightened activity. There are different forms of Tara, such as the Eight Taras who Protect from Fear and the Twenty-One Taras, but the most popular are Green Tara, who is associated mainly with enlightened activity and protection, and White Tara, who is associated with pacification of inner and outer illnesses. She is known to have been particularly close to a large number of great Indian and Tibetan masters like Atisha, Shakya Shri Bhadra and so forth. With her right leg extended in her ever-readiness to assist, Tara is known for swift action and manifests many miracles through her sacred images in both India and Tibet.
Deity: Kalarupa (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Damchen Chogyal (Tibetan)
The Dharma Protector Kalarupa is a manifestation of Manjushri. He is the principle protector of the Vajrabhairava Tantras and also one of the main protectors of the Gelug order. He was one of the main protectors of Lama Tsongkhapa himself and he is propitiated as a Lamrim protector of the lower scope. That means that Kalarupa is relied upon during the study and contemplation of the lowest scope of the Lamrim in order to clear inner obstacles and gain insight into the Lamrim teachings.
Deity: Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden is recognised to be an emanation of the bodhisattva Manjushri and he arose from a long line of incarnated lamas who strove to proliferate and protect the Buddhadharma. Furthermore, Dorje Shugden is a protector of recent origins and hence, he is widely renowned to be efficacious and powerful in overcoming our obstacles and creating favourable conditions for our practice.
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Wow…….the powerful trio – Dukkar Se Sum which consist of Dukkar,Buddha Shakyamuni, Green Tara, Sengdongma, Prajnaparamita, Kalarupa and Dorje Shugden. It’s a beautiful art paintings.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing and explaining in details of each deities for us to understand better.