Yamantaka（2）

Yamantaka（2）

Its 34 arms, along with body, word and thought, symbolize the 37 path classes, and are respectively: (1) eight upright paths: upright opinion, upright thinking, upright language, upright karma, upright fate, upright diligence, upright thought and upright concentration (2) four idea staying places: body idea staying place, visualizing the uncleanliness of the body; receiving idea staying place, visualizing sense as suffering; heart idea staying place, visualizing the heart as insecure; dharma idea staying place, visualize dharma as without self (3) four god abilities, and also called the “4 at-will ability”, according to All Giving Up Light Record, the four at-will abilities are: desire at-will, the desire to mediate and achieve god ability; diligence at-will, the diligent meditation of Chan concentration; heart at-will, the single minded concentration without distraction; visualization at-will, also called wisdom god ability, the visualisation according to wisdom (4) Four upright delegacies: according to Increase One Ahan Sutra, the four upright delegacies are: let unborn evil dharma not arise, let born evil dharma perish for ever, let unborn kind dharma arise, let born kind dharma increase (5) Five roots: belief root, believe in Buddha and Buddhism without doubt; diligence root, valiantly work hard to meditate kind dharma; idea root, recall upright dharma, never forget concentration; concentration root, meditate Chan concentration without indulging; wisdom root, thinking over upright dharma (6) five strengths: belief strength, increases belief root and is able to break all evil belief; strength of diligence, increases diligence root and is able to break laziness; idea strength, increases idea root and is able to break all evil thoughts; concentration strength, can increase concentration root and is able to break lethargy and distraction; wisdom strength, can increase wisdom root and is able to eliminate all confusion (7) seven enlightening branches: also called the 7 buddhi branches, the seven equal enlightenment branches, the 7 enlightening minds and the 7 enlightening divisions etc; they are: selecting dharma enlightenment branch, able to use wisdom to tell if the meditated dharma is true or not and whether it is suitable; diligence enlightenment branch, able to valiantly work hard, diligently meditate upright dharma and not fall into laziness; happy enlightenment branch, happiness arises from heart due to receiving good dharma; light peaceful enlightenment branch, due to meditation on good dharma, the body and heart feel light, peaceful and happy; idea enlightenment branch, always hold and recite the meditated concentration and wisdom dharma without forgetting; concentration enlightenment branch, able to control the heart and not be distracted, using it to enter the state of concentration; giving up enlightenment branch, able to give up all wrong ideas, making the heart peaceful.

All 34 hands hold dharma instruments. In the right hands from the top down are respectively: height raise, moon knife, white tube, pestle, hook knife, gavelock, moon axe, sword, arrow, hook knife, staff, human-bone cane, dharma wheel, vajra, mallet, dagger and hand drum. In the left hands from the top down are respectively: elephant skin, human-bone bowl, heaven king’s head, rattan plate, fresh left leg, long rope, bow, human intestines, bell, fresh left arm, funeral cloth, three-tiped lance, oven, skull article, human left arm, army flag and black cloth etc. The embraced consort holds a skull bowl in the left hand and a curved vajra blade in the right.