In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: academia.edu: A Critical Study of the Vajraḍākamahātantrarāja (II)

Vajrabhadra (सुभद्रा) is the husband of Subhadrā: the name of a Ḍākinī (‘sacred girl’) presiding over Lampāka: one of the four Chandoha (‘sacred spot’) present within the Vākcakra (‘circle of word’), according to the 9th-centruy Vajraḍākatantra. The Vākcakra is one of three Cakras within the Tricakra system which embodies twenty-four sacred spots or districts resided over by twenty-four Ḍākinīs whose husbands (viz., Vajrabhadra) abide in one’s body in the form of twenty-four ingredients (dhātu) of one’s body.

Subhadrā has for her husband the hero (vīra) named Vajrabhadra. She is the presiding deity of Lampāka and the associated internal location is the ‘throat’ and the bodily ingredients (dhātu) are the ‘stomach’.

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

Vajrabhadra (वज्रभद्र) is the name of a Vīra (hero) who, together with the Ḍākinī named Subhadrikā forms one of the 36 pairs situated in the Vajracakra, according to the 10th century Ḍākārṇava chapter 15. Accordingly, the vajracakra 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., Vajrabhadra] each have one face and four arms; they hold a skull bowl, a skull staff, a small drum and a knife; they are dark-bluish-black in color.

Source: OSU Press: Cakrasamvara Samadhi

Vajrabhadra (वज्रभद्र) is the name of a Ḍāka (male consort) and one of the deities of the Cakrasaṃvara-maṇḍala or Saṃvaramaṇḍala of Abhayākaragupta’s Niṣpannayogāvalī, p. 45 and n. 145; (Cf. Cakrasaṃvaratantra, Gray, David B., 2007).—The Cakrasaṃvara mandala has a total of sixty-two deities. [...] Three concentric circles going outward, the body, speech and mind wheels (kāya-vāka-citta), in the order: mind (blue), speech (red), and body (white), with eight Ḍākinīs each in non-dual union with their Ḍākas, "male consorts".

Associated elements of Subhadrā and Vajrabhadra:

Circle: vākacakra [=vākcakra?] (speech-wheel) (red);
Ḍākinī (female consort): Subhadrā;
Ḍāka (male consort): Vajrabhadra;
Bīja: laṃ;
Body-part: throat;
Pīṭha: Lampāka;
Bodily constituent: udara (stomach);
Bodhipakṣa (wings of enlightenment): prajñābala (power of wisdom).

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.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Vajra, Bhadra.

Full-text: Lampaka, Prajnabala, Udara, Subhadra, Lam, Subhadrika, Vajracakra.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Vajrabhadra, Vajra-bhadra; (plurals include: Vajrabhadras, bhadras). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)

Part 6: Visit to Sūri Arindama < [Chapter I - Previous incarnation as Vimalavāhana]

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