Designed in 1726 by Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne, this painting of Padmasambhava was the centerpiece for his celebrated painting set depicting the Eight Great Tantric Adepts. In his autobiography, Mirror of Stainless Crystal, Situ wrote that he executed the design, coloring, and shading of the paintings by himself in the Gardri style. Conceived at a crucial moment in Situ’s monastic career, Situ offered these thangkas to the ruler of Derge, Tenpa Tshering while formally requesting permission to build a new monastery at Palpung. In part thanks to this painting set, Situ's request met with the king's enthusiastic support. Three years later, in 1729, Situ founded his new monastery at Palpung, which remains the seat of the Situ lineage to this day.
Compared with other surviving paintings of the same composition, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item nos. 60612, 566, 65803, the present work bears closer fidelity to the known style attributed to Situ Panchen. It is thus possible that the present painting belongs to the original set, or was copied shortly thereafter.
This present painting depicts Padmasambhava as a learned Pandita, characterized by his scholar’s hat. Padmasambhava sits in lalitasana, the pose of royal ease. He holds his right hand in the gesture of teaching, while he holds a skull cup in his left hand. This rather unusual form of Padmasambhava may allude to Situ’s affinity towards the scholarly manifestation of the tantric master. He sits atop a Chinese-styled throne supported by two lions at the base and two lifelike dragons flanking each side. Two joyous child-like figures, perhaps derived from Sudhana-esque motifs from Chinese sources, ride atop the dragon. Beams of radiating rainbow light are emitted from the top of his blue nimbus. At the top of the painting, the primordial Buddha Vajradhara is seated atop a lotus supported by multicolored clouds. In the background, jutting mountains painted in monochrome shows Situ’s knowledge and interest in Chinese painting styles.
Often referred to by Tibetan Buddhists as “The Second Buddha,” Padmasambhava is one of the foundational figures of the Tibetan Buddhist faith. According to oral accounts, King Trisrong Destan invited Padmasambhava to Tibet from Uddiyana, a mythical land likely located in northern-eastern India. Tradition explains that he was born on a lotus in the middle of Dhanakosha Lake as an emanation of the Buddha Amitabha. Padmasambhava reportedly exorcized the demons threatening the building of the monastery at Samye, one of the first major Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. The mystic also mediated a local conflict between indigenous religion and Buddhism by incorporating local gods into the Buddhist pantheon as protector deities, helping to popularize Buddhism in Tibet. He is also known for translating numerous Indian texts into Tibetan, and for leaving behind secret writings for his followers to uncover.
The consecration mantra "Om am hum" is inscribed at the back of the painting at the level of the image of Padmasambhava, and the Pratityasamutpada dharani consecration is inscribed at the bottom of the back of the painting, which can be translated as:
"'Those phenomena which arise from a cause,
Whatever is their cause and the cessation of them,
The Tathagata has explained them.'
That is how the great ascetic taught it."
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