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Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: archive.org: The Indian Buddhist Iconography

Sumbharāja (सुम्भराज) presides over the nether regions (down below) and represents one of the ten deities of the quarters (Dikpāla) commonly depicted in Buddhist Iconography, and mentioned in the 11th-century Niṣpannayogāvalī of Mahāpaṇḍita Abhayākara.—His Colour is blue; he has three faces and six arms.—The tenth deity in this series, is Sumbharāja who is the embodiment of the Nether regions.

Sumbharāja is described in the Niṣpannayogāvalī (mañjuvajra-maṇḍala) as follows:—

“Below is Sumbharāja who is blue in colour. His three faces are blue, white and red. He holds in his four hands the vajra, the sword, the jewel and the lotus”.

[With the two principal hands he holds the śakti in embrace.In the vajrahūṃkāra-maṇḍala he is known by the name of Vajrapātāla.]

Source: academia.edu: The Structure and Meanings of the Heruka Maṇḍala

Sumbharāja (सुम्भराज) or Sumbharājña is the name of a Vīra (hero) who, together with the Ḍākinī named Sumbharājñī forms one of the 36 pairs situated in the Hṛdayacakra, according to the 10th century Ḍākārṇava chapter 15. Accordingly, the hṛdayacakra refers to one of the four divisions of the sahaja-puṭa (‘innate layer’), situated within the padma (lotus) in the middle of the Herukamaṇḍala. The 36 pairs of Ḍākinīs and Vīras [viz., Sumbharāja] are reddish yellow in color; they each have one face and four arms; they hold a skull bowl, a skull staff, a small drum, and a knife.

context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Sumbharāja (सुम्भराज).—v.l. for Sambha°, q.v.; compare prec.(?)

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Full-text: Vajrapatala, Sumbharajna.

Relevant text

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