Kalarupa is one of the emanations of Manjushri, manifesting as a Dharma Protector or Dharmapala. Kalarupa (Sanskrit) or Choegyal (Tibetan) has by his side, his consort, Tsamundi, an emanation of the goddess Saraswati.
Kalarupa’s =Yama Dharmaraja= Lord of Death=King of the Law =Black Karma Yama.
This terrifying form of the Buddha of Wisdom, personifies enlightenment through the conquest of anger.
Although Kalarupa is found in all the Dharma Schools, the Gelugpa tradition holds Yama Dharmaraja in special regard as he is one of the three main Dharma protectors of the Gelugpa- along with the Six-Arm Mahakala and Vaishravana.
Kalarupa is regarded as the protector of the Yamantaka tantras and helps to subdue the afflictions that arise during our practice of the Yamantaka tantras. Kalarupa’s practice helps us also to destroy ignorance and to develop wisdom to overcome our anger and suffering.
How Kalarupa Arose as a Protector
At the time when Buddha Shakyamuni was absorbed in the process of generating the mind of Bodhicitta at Dorje Den (Bodhgaya), it was said that an army of three hundred and sixty million devils manifested to attack him in order to stop him. The Buddha in return meditated on the mandala of Yamantaka and the devils were stopped, subdued and placed onto the path of generating the Bodhicitta mind. It was then that the Buddha imparted the tantric treatise of Yamantaka to those present and entrusted it to Chagna Dorje or Vajrapani.
Buddha Shakyamuni then manifested himself in the form of the assemblage of deities of the wrathful Yamantaka mandala in all its component parts and gave instructions on the tantric treatise. He also caused the manifested emanations of Yamantaka to perform numerous miracle deeds of different kinds to suit the nature and inclination of each of the individual subjects to be subdued and he instructed them, ‘should any one deviate from my instructions, may all their heads and bodies burst.’ Subsequently, it was said that Buddha Shakyamuni in the form of Yamantaka got hold of his handstaff and stirred the ocean. This resulted in an enormous whirlwind, which caused the whole earth to shake.
Choegyal or Kalarupa manifested externally with the face of a buffalo and alongside with his consort Tsamundi, surrounded by four male and four female Shinjes or Yamas, as part of Yamantaka’s entourage. His internal aspect is manifested as solitary and buffalo-faced with his entourage. It is said that in this form, he went to Yama, seven levels below the earth. He trampled upon all the sixteen doorless iron citadels with sixteen feet and by doing so violently subdued its inhabitants. The chiefs of the Yamas individually offered their life-essence to him and were oath-bound. They pledged to protect the Buddha Dharma as long as this aeon endures. They also pledged to work for all deeds of Yamantaka to complete successfully.
Kalarupa, The Way to Enlightenment by the Conquest of Anger
Kalarupa’s terrifying form displays the ugliness that arises from inner obstacles like anger, fear, hatred, pride and jealousy. From these poisons, Kalarupa demonstrates our appearance to others when we use harsh speech and harsh actions or are under afflictive emotions like anger, jealousy or hatred.
The fierceness of his iconography teaches us to remind ourselves that all the causes and effects of anger arising from ignorance are dreadful and distorted.
In his “outer” form, he is depicted with one face and two hands, the head is in the form of a buffalo, blue in colour with three round eyes, sharp horns, whose right hand brandishes a bone stick composed of a fused spine with a skull on top and a lasso in the left hand. He is adorned with a crown of skulls and bone ornaments, wearing a necklace of fifty freshly severed heads. He stands upon a blue-coloured bull with his right leg bent and the left extended. The bull is kneeling on top of a human figure. To the left side of Kalarupa stands frequently his black consort Tsamundi. Her dress is made of ox-skin and black silk. Her breasts are emaciated and her hair are hanging loosely in stripes. Her attributes are a trident and a skull-cup.
The “inner” form is also dark-blue, but here the ruler of the hells has the head of a fierce raksasa , and his hands are holding a chopper and a skull-cup. His feet step upon a corpse. Surrounding the ‘Inner’ Kalarupa are four attendant figures each in a different colour: white, yellow, red and dark blue. Each stands atop a buffalo having the same colour as the mounted figure.
The “secret” aspect is red in colour and he steps upon a bull of the same colour. His attributes are a jewel and a skull-cup.
Kalarupa as a Dharma Protector of the Lamrim
In 1373, Lama Tsongkhapa was advised by his teacher Dondrub Rinchen, to focus on the following Dharma Protectors: Vaisravana, Mahakala and Kalarupa. These three were the special protectors of Lama Tsongkhapa and are also the Dharma Protectors of the Lamrim. Within the Lamrim tradition, there are three scopes of practice:
- The initial scope practitioner is someone who practices for a better future life.
Kalarupa is the Dharma Protector of the small or initial scope. - A middle scope practitioner practices for individual liberation.
Vaishravana also known as Dzambala is the Dharma Protector of the Medium or middle Scope of the Lamrim. - A great scope practitioner practices to attain enlightenment in order to lead other beings to liberation and happiness.
6 Armed Mahakala, an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, Buddha of Compassion is the Dharma Protector of the Great Scope of the Lamrim.
Kalarupa as a Dharma Protector for the Yamantaka Tantras
Yamantaka, is a wrathful, buffalo-headed meditational deity or Yidam of the Highest Yoga Tantra. Yamantaka, also called Vajrabhairava, is one of the principal three meditational deities of the Gelug school.
Yamantaka is specifically the type of practice that is done to overcome death and extend one’s life. Yamantaka: Yama is “death”, the “Lord of Death”, and antaka, “the one who puts an end to”, and so Yamantaka means “the one who puts an end to the Lord of Death”.
Yamantaka is in the form of an extremely strong and forceful figure and has Manjushri in his heart. Other Dharmapalas of the Yamantaka Tantra along with Kalarupa are 6-Arm Mahakala, Palden Lhamo and Vaishravana.
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