Numerous traditions of
Mahayana Buddhism rely on Mahākāla as a guardian deity (
Dharmapala, "dharma protector"). Mahākāla is one of the most popular protector deities in
Tibetan Buddhism and he is also sometimes used as a meditational deity (
yidam) in tantric Buddhist yogas. He is depicted in a number of variations, each with distinctly different qualities and aspects. He is generally depicted as a wrathful deity. Mahākāla is commonly regarded as the emanation of different beings in different cases, such as
Hevajra,
Vajradhara,
Amitabha, and
Avalokiteshvara or
Akshobhya Buddha. Different tantric cycles, like
Guhyasamaja and
Chakrasamvara, each contain Mahakala as an emanation of their central Buddha deity. Mahākāla is almost always depicted with a crown of five skulls, which represent the transmutation of the five
kleśās (negative afflictions) into the
five wisdoms. He also wears a garland consisting of fifty severed heads, the number fifty is in reference to the number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet and is symbolic of the pure speech of Buddha. Mahākāla is also an important deity in
East Asian Buddhism, where he is generally known as a protector figure. In
Japanese Buddhism, Mahākāla transformed into a more friendly wealth and luck deity, known as
Daikokuten. In a
Mantrayana text translated during the
Tang Dynasty, the mantra of Mahākāla appears as:
Oṃ Mahākālāya svāhā. The same mantra also appears in a Tibetan text from
Dunhuang. This mantra (or rather, its Sino-Japanese form:
On Makakyaraya sowaka), is the main mantra of this deity in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhism depictions Two-armed forms The two-armed "Black-Cloaked Mahakala" () is a protector of the
Karma Kagyu school clad in the cloak of a
māntrika "warlock". His imagery derives from terma of the Nyingma school and was adopted by the Karma Kagyu during the time of
Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama. He is often depicted with his consort,
Rangjung Gyalmo. He is often thought to be the primary protector, but he is in fact the main protector of the
Karmapas specifically. Four-Armed Mahakala is technically the primary protector. Six-Armed Mahakala () is also a common dharmapala in the Kagyu school. Pañjaranātha Mahakala "Mahakala, Lord of the Tent", an emanation of
Mañjuśrī, is a protector of the Sakya school. File:Mahakala Bernakchen.jpg|Black-Cloaked Mahākāla File:Mahakala, Protector of the Tent.jpg|Mahakala "Protector of the Tent", Central Tibet, circa 1500.
Four-armed forms There are various Four-Armed Mahakalas (Skt. , , "The Great Black Vajra Lord with Four Hands"), one popular depiction comes from the Arya linegae of
Guhyasamaja. These are the primary protectors of the
Karma Kagyu,
Drikung Kagyu,
Drukpa Lineage and the
Nyingma of Tibetan Buddhism. A four-armed Mahakala is also found in the Nyingma school, although the primary protector of the
Dzogchen (Skt:
Mahasandhi) teachings is
Ekajati. File:Mahakala, 12th century, Rubin Museum of Art.jpg|Mahakala, 12th century,
Rubin Museum of Art File:Mahākāla - AMNH - DSC06235.JPG|Exhibit in the Asian collection of the American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
Six-armed forms Nyingshuk came from Khyungpo Nenjor, the founder of the
Shangpa Kagyu, and spread to all the lineages (
Sakya,
Nyingma, and
Gelug) and to the Kagyu lineages. There are also
terma lineages of various forms of Six-Armed Mahakala. Nyinghsuk, though derived from the Shangpa, is not the major Shangpa one; it is in a dancing posture rather than upright, and is a very advanced Mahakala practice. The White Six-Armed Mahakala (Skt: ; ) is popular among
Mongolian Gelugpas.
Other forms File:Mahakala in the Form of a Brahman - Google Art Project.jpg |Mahakala in the Form of a Brahman File:Brooklyn Museum - Mahakala (m Gon-po).jpg|A red Mahakala
In China Mahākāla is mentioned in many
Chinese Buddhist texts, although iconographic depictions of him in
China were rare during the
Tang and
Song periods. The deity's name was both
transcribed into
Chinese characters as (;
Middle Chinese (
Baxter): ) and
translated as (, with
kāla being understood to mean 'black'; Baxter: ). He eventually became the center of a flourishing cult after the 9th century in the kingdoms of
Nanzhao and
Dali in what is now the province of
Yunnan, a region bordering
Tibet, where his cult was also widespread. Due to Tibetan influence, his importance further increased during the
Mongol-led
Yuan dynasty, with his likeness being displayed in the imperial palace and in Buddhist temples inside and outside the
capital. Mahakala remains a central figure in the minority Buddhist tradition of
Azhaliism. In some texts, Mahākāla is described as a fearsome god, a "demon who steals the vital essence (of people)" and who feeds on flesh and blood, though he is also said to only devour those who committed sins against the
Three Jewels of Buddhism. One story found in the Tang-era monk
Yi Xing's commentary on the
Mahāvairocana Tantra portrays Mahākāla as a manifestation of the
buddha Vairocana who subjugated the
ḍākinīs, a race of flesh-eating female demons, by swallowing them. Mahākāla released them on the condition that they no longer kill humans, decreeing that they could only eat the
heart - believed to contain the vital essence of humans known as 'human yellow' () - of those who were near death. A tale found in
Amoghavajra's translation of the
Humane King Sūtra relates how a heterodox (i.e. non-Buddhist) master instructed
Prince Kalmāṣapāda () to offer the heads of a thousand kings to Mahākāla, the "great black god of the graveyard" (), if he wished to ascend the throne of his kingdom. As time went by, Mahākāla also became seen as a guardian of
Buddhist monasteries, especially its kitchens. The monk
Yijing, who traveled to
Srivijaya and India during the late 7th century, claimed that images of Mahākāla were to be found in the kitchens and porches of Indian Buddhist monasteries, before which offerings of food were made: In China, the god was also associated with fertility and sexuality: during the
Qixi Festival (a.k.a. the Double Seventh Festival) held on the 7th day of the 7th month of the
Chinese calendar, married women traditionally bought dolls or figurines called or - the term probably deriving from 'Mahākāla' - in the hopes of giving birth to a child. Ritual texts also prescribe the worship of Mahākāla to women looking for a male partner or to pregnant women. In addition, he is also commonly invoked as a protective deity in certain mantras, such as the
Śūraṅgama Mantra and the Mahamayuri-vidyarajñi-dharani contained in the
Mahamayuri Vidyarajñi Sutra, which are popular in
Chan Buddhism tradition. The name of the Moheluo doll, a popular toy during the
Song and
Yuan dynasties, is said derive from transliteration of Mahākāla. File:Hangzhou Baochengsi Mahegela Zaoxiang 20120518-07.jpg|Dàhēitiān (center) flanked by the
bodhisattvas
Samantabhadra (left) and
Mañjuśrī (right).
Baocheng Temple,
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China File:Cina, mahakala, guardiano della dottrina (dharmapala), nell'aseptto sitacintamani, xviii sec..JPG|
Qing dynasty statuette of Dàhēitiān. China, 17th Century File:Sichuan o yunnan, mahakala, guardiano della dottrina, xiv sec con piedistallo del xvi sec.JPG|
Ming dynasty statue of Dàhēitiān.
Sichuan, China. 14th Century (with pedestal from the 16th century) File:The Mahakala Temple Kunming.JPG|Mahakala Temple () in
Kunming, Yunnan, China
In Japan Mahakala (known as
Daikokuten ) enjoys an exalted position as a household deity in
Japan, as he is one of the
Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese folklore. The Japanese also use the symbol of Mahakala as a monogram. The traditional pilgrims climbing the holy
Mount Ontake wear
tenugui on white Japanese scarves with the Sanskrit seed syllable of Mahakala. In Japan, this deity is variously considered to be the god of wealth or of the household, particularly the kitchen. He is recognised by his wide face, smile, and a flat black hat, in stark contrast to the fierce imagery portrayed in Tibetan Buddhist art. He is often portrayed holding a golden
mallet, otherwise known as a magic money mallet, and is seen seated on bales of
rice, with
mice nearby (mice signify plentiful food). ==In Sikhism==