Vajrasattva

Vajrasattva is a Sanskrit term meaning a bold and powerful warrior, and is variously rendered in Chinese and Tibetan as Jingangchi//rdo-rje chang, Jingangshou//phyag-na rdo-rje and Puxian//kun-tu bzang-po, for which Sanskrit equivalents are Vajradhara, Vajrapani and Samantabhadra. Since he held off becoming a Buddha and entering nirvana, he is also known as the Bodhisattva Vajrapani or the Vajra-cita Bodhisattva. Vajrasattva is believed to be one of the founding masters of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. Mahavairocana (Tibetan: rnam-par-snang-mdzad) is considered to be the founding master of the dharma-kaya, the Law-body or Essential Bodhi mode in which the universal essence manifests, and the ancestral teacher or first patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism. Vajrasattva is the master of the sambhoga-kaya, the Compensation Body or Reflected Body mode in which the universal essence manifests,and the second ancestral patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism. Historically, other great teachers of Esoteric Buddhism were all incarnations of the founding master. They were adopted into the succession of each school and were constantly perpetuated. This votive thangka belongs to the Nyingmapa school. In the upper register are the ancestral teachers of the school, Four-armed Avalokitesvara, White Tara (Tibetan: sgrol-ma-dkar-po) and Buddha-matri. The eight Indian teachers of Esoteric Buddhism to each side represent the eighty practitioners who have acquired samanvagama. In the lower section are five female immortals who are making offerings of the five "exquisite desires".