Seula Monastery: Biography of Padmasambhava

BHUTAN, Punakha

This intricate illustration of the life of the great Vajrayana Master Padmasambhava is kept in Seula Monastery. Padmasambhava is painted in the center, sitting on a white lotus throne, and dressed in a delicately patterned red hat and monastic robe. He holds a vajra in his right hand and a skull cup in his left. A tantric staff rests against his left shoulder.
Surrounding the central figure, Padmasambhava’s life story is depicted in a series of compact scenes without any distinct delineation between them. They begin in the center of the upper register with his birth at Dhanakosa Lake, and continue in a clockwise direction, ending in the upper left corner. In the first scene, the naked Padmasambhava is born from a lotus flower that rises from the water. All the surrounding people and auspicious creatures, both in the water and on shore, pay him their respects. King Indrabodhi of Udyana is shown in a boat discovering the miraculous child and bringing him to the palace. Following that, there are scenes of the early life of Padmasambhava, who quickly tires of the secular world and begins self-cultivation. He is shown with a bare upper body sitting in full lotus position beside a white pagoda. The red-bodied Vajravarahi stands on the right and teaches the Dharma to him.
The deeds of Padmasambhava in Northern India and Nepal are depicted on the right side of the middle register. He sits within a palace while several figures appear to debate Buddhist teachings in the courtyard. To the lower left of this scene, Padmasambhava is shown meditating in a cave in Nepal. A skull cup and a torma offering are placed on an altar in front of him. In the lower right corner of the picture, there are depictions of Padmasambhava’s adventures in the kingdom of Zahor in ancient India. While he was there, he took Princess Mandarava as a consort, enraging King Sahuoer. When the king tried to burn Padmasambhava alive, Padmasambhava used his magical powers and transformed the flames into water. From then on, the people of the kingdom practiced Buddhism.
In the upper center of the lower register, Padmasambhava is depicted as Sengye Dradog, a wrathful manifestation with a flame-patterned mandorla. Outside the shrine to the right of the figure of Sengye Dradog, Padmasambhava debates with white and gray figures while below, a dragon rises from a lake, frightening a group of non-Buddhists. To the upper left of this scene, four local deities, shown in white, submit to Dorje Drolo, a red, three-eyed manifestation of Padmasambhava. In the lower left corner, another manifestation of Padmasambhava, Tsokye Dorje, is shown embracing his wisdom consort.
The left side of the picture illustrates stories from the second half of the 8th century, when Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet by Trisong Detsen (reigned 755–797) to teach the Dharma, and established Samye Monastery. He is shown meditating in various caves in snow-capped mountains. The Copper Mountain Paradise is depicted in the upper left corner, where Padmasambhava sits within a palace, teaching the Dharma to a group of creatures and evil spirits.