Page 46 - Bonhams Himalayan, Indian Art march 2015

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A gilt copper alloy figure of Chakrasamvara
Tibet, 15th century
The deities in yab-yum with twelve-armed Chakrasamvara wearing a tiger skin around his waist
and a garland of severed heads descending between his legs, Vajravarahi wraps her limbs
around him, gazing into the first of his four wrathful faces.
9 in. (22.8 cm) high
$500,000 - 700,000

Through its beauty, complexity, and energy, this masterpiece of Tibetan sculpture expresses
one of the most important transcendental ideals in Buddhist art – the supreme bliss of
enlightenment attained through the perfect union of wisdom and compassion (skillful means).

The male deity, Chakrasamvara, represents Buddha-like compassion. The female deity,
Vajravarahi, embodies Buddha-like wisdom. They are depicted here in ecstatic embrace. He
cradles her in his primary arms, producing vajrahumkara mudra by crossing the vajra and
ghanta in his hands, symbolizing that wisdom and compassion have dissolved into one perfect
interpenetrative union.

Modeled by a master craftsmen, Vajravarahi is fully extended in the union. She would
almost slip through Chakrasamvara’s grasp but for her left arm contouring around his right
shoulder. Her right arm surges upward holding the ritual knife, which signifies the power of her
transcendental wisdom. She presses herself against him fully, her legs suspended above her
pelvis, her toes curling upwards. She vigorously surveys his face, reading the effects of her
position; his tongue is pressed to the roof of his mouth and his eyes pierce forward in a state
of heightened awareness. Meanwhile, his back face shows a more tender expression – almost
wincing at the ecstasy.

Chakrasamvara’s legs are slender and nimble with pendant jewels gracing across his feet.
He and Vajravarahi are youthful and beautifully adorned with opulent gilding and detailed
jewelry, reinforcing the perfection of their bodies and minds. His two-tiered crown is rendered
seamlessly across his four heads. Turquoise-embedded foliate leaves rise above five dried-
skulls, symbolizing that he has flawlessly developed the five transcendent insights of the
Dhyani Buddhas. His crown rests upon his tight curls which converge into a tall jatamukata of
interwoven locks nesting a crisp visvajra, denoting that he acts to serve all sentient beings.

Held between elegant fingers, his attributes are consummately detailed as well. His axe,
which cuts off birth and death, has a serrated face, crosshatched ear, and a vajra-poll. The
head of Brahma swings by his hair in dynamic movement, suggesting the forward arc of
Chakrasamvara’s radiating arms. Even the dome of the ghanta in his primary left hand has
small-pitted marks that replicate the beaded swags that typically embellish these ritual objects.

Chakrasamvara (lit. ‘wheel of bliss’) is the transformative deity (yiddam) at the heart of the
Chakrasamvara tantra – one of the most important Tantric wisdom traditions (a ‘Mother root’
tantra). This sculpture serves to inspire the practitioner to complete his practice and achieve
that same blissful state of mind. Until then, every symbolic nuance of the deity’s iconography
will help him to fully comprehend the deity’s consciousness. The sculptor has therefore
rendered every detail with expert clarity.

Referenced
HAR – himalayanart.org/image.cfm/41262.html

Published
Franziska Rüttimann, ed., Liebeskunst: Liebeslust und Liebesleid in der Weltkunst, Museum
Rietberg, Zurich, 2002, p. 131, no. 93.

Exhibited
Liebeskunst: Liebeslust und Liebesleid in der Weltkunst, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 2002-2003

Provenance
Private European Collection
Acquired from the Private Collection of Ulrich von Schroeder in the late 1980s/early 90s

44 | BONHAMS