Mahākāla

Mahākāla denotes several tantric Buddhist protector forms with different origins and practices. The Shangpa six-armed form is associated with Avalokiteśvara; this does not describe every Mahākāla form.

Names and tradition associations

• Six-armed Mahākāla (Shangpa) Tibetan Buddhist · resolvedJeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Six-armed Mahakala: traditions and iconographic differences (secondary)
• White Mahākāla (Shangpa) Tibetan Buddhist · resolvedJeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, White six-armed Mahakala: Shangpa tradition (secondary)

Variant accounts

• Seventy-five LordsWatt distinguishes the seventy-five retinue lords from forms of Mahākāla and rejects conflating those categories.Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, 75 Forms of Mahakala (Erroneous Belief), 2020 (secondary)
• source review correctionReplace the universal seventy-five-forms and universal-origin claim with distinct attested traditions.Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, 75 Forms of Mahakala (Erroneous Belief), 2020 (secondary)
• source review correctionReplace an uncited interpretation of multiple arms with the documented protector function.Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Mahakala introduction: identity, functions and source traditions (secondary)
• source review correctionWealth is specifically represented on the White Mahākāla form; it is not a universal domain of every form.Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Mahakala introduction: identity, functions and source traditions (secondary)

Domains

• dharma protection

Powers

• Protect the Buddhist teaching and remove obstacles

Relations

• identified in account: AvalokiteśvaraApplies to the specified six-armed tradition, not the whole category.Reference treatment of Mahakala, Nagpo Chenpo, 'the Great Black One', regarded in many Tibetan traditions as a wrathful manifestation of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion: more than seventy-five forms are known in Tibet, where he is generally called mGon po, 'Master', 'Lord' or 'Protector'; the six-armed White Mahakala (Gonpo Karpo Chagdrugpa, Shadbhuja Sita Mahakala) is the most popular of these variations and is a wealth deity across all the traditions; his multiple arms are read as his capacity to carry out numerous tasks simultaneously. (secondary); Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Mahakala introduction: identity, functions and source traditions (secondary)
• cult form: Six-armed Mahākāla (Shangpa)Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Six-armed Mahakala: traditions and iconographic differences (secondary)
• cult form: White Mahākāla (Shangpa)Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, White six-armed Mahakala: Shangpa tradition (secondary)

Sources

• The principal dharma protector of Tibetan Buddhism, regarded in many Tibetan traditions as a wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, known in more than seventy-five forms and generally called simply mGon po, the Lord.: Reference treatment of Mahakala, Nagpo Chenpo, 'the Great Black One', regarded in many Tibetan traditions as a wrathful manifestation of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion: more than seventy-five forms are known in Tibet, where he is generally called mGon po, 'Master', 'Lord' or 'Protector'; the six-armed White Mahakala (Gonpo Karpo Chagdrugpa, Shadbhuja Sita Mahakala) is the most popular of these variations and is a wealth deity across all the traditions; his multiple arms are read as his capacity to carry out numerous tasks simultaneously. (secondary)
• Mahākāla denotes several tantric Buddhist protector forms with different origins and practices. The Shangpa six-armed form is associated with Avalokiteśvara; this does not describe every Mahākāla form.: Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, Mahakala introduction: identity, functions and source traditions (secondary)