Figure 156-157 - Emanations of Vairocana: Uṣṇīṣavijayā

Fig. 156: Uṣṇiīavijayā

Fig. 157: Uṣṇiīavijayā

Colour: white;
Faces: three;
Arms: eight;

Identification mark Buddha on lotus Like Mārīcī, Uṣṇiīavijayā is also said to bear the image of Vairocana on her feet crown and to reside within the womb of a Caitya. She is one of the most-popular deities of the pantheon, and almost every temple in Nepal contains her image. The most artistic specimen, however, belongs to the Indian Museum, Calcutta. A miniature Caitya on the top of the image of Uṣṇiīavijayā signifies that she is an offspring of Vairocana who resides in the centre of the Caitya. It is not improbable that Uṣṇiīavijayā is the deified form of the Dhāriṇī of the same name included in the group of twelve Dhāriṇī goddesses. She may thus represent the deified form of the Uṣṇiīavijayā Dhāriṇī.

The statuette (Fig. 156) of Uṣṇiīavijayā in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, agrees almost in all details with the description given in the Sādhana. The attitude in which she sits here is the Vajraparyaṅka attitude.

The other illustration (Fig. 157) is the reproduction of a painting contained in an illuminated manuscript of Pañcarakṣā in the possession of Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz. In it, the right hand which ought to have carried the Viśvavajra or the crossed thunderbolt, carries the jewel instead. In all other respects the painting follows the description of the Sādhana most accurately.

Images of this deity are also found in Tibet and China.