Rta mgrin (Hayagriva)
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
Minneapolis Institute of Art
RoomG255Minneapolis, United States
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
In Tibetan Buddhist practice, buddhas and bodhisattvas can express benevolent and wrathful sides. Rta mgrin (Sanskrit: Hayagriva) is a wrathful emanation of Spyan ras gzigs (Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva of compassion. Shown in yabyum (sexual embrace, or “father-mother”) pose with his female consort, Rta mgrin represents compassion; goddess Nges ‘byung (Sanskrit: Nairatmya) represents wisdom. The couple’s union symbolizes the essence of enlightenment, accessed by practitioners through concentrated meditation on such a deity.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 2019.50
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
