The five Tathagatas and their female counterparts

[Nepal - Tantric Buddhism]. [Dharani manuscript].

€ 8,500.00

A complete tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhist Dharani manuscript illustrated with ten miniatures of the Five Wisdom Buddhas and five female deities, these being either the five female Buddhas or the Five Protectors, arranged in pairs to open each section. Written and carefully hand-painted in the Nepalese style, this manuscript is penned in the Newar script on yellow-painted paper and divided into five sections. Due to this five-chapter structure and to its potential association with the Five Protectors, this manuscript could well be a Pancaraksa, a collection of five texts associated with each of five female deities: Mahapratisara, Mahasahasrapramardini, Mahamayuri, Mahasitavati, and Maharaksa mantraanusarini. Each section would evoke a female deity in turn, and employs spells against disease, protection from evil spirits or snakebite, poisonous insects, or astrological portents. Such a manuscript is considered a powerful religious object in its own right, and enjoys particular importance and popularity in Nepal.