Tibetan Thangka of Vajrayogini with Real Gold

Vajrayoginī is often described with the epithet sarva-buddha-dakinī, meaning 'the ḍākiṇī who is the Essence of all Buddhas'.Vajrayogini's sādhana, or practice, originated in India between the tenth and twelfth centuries. It evolved from the Chakrasaṃvara sādhana, where Vajrayoginī appears as his yab-yum consort, to become a stand-alone practice of anuttarayoga tantra in its own right. The practice of Vajrayoginī belongs to the Mother Tantra (Tibetan: ma-rgyud) class of anuttarayoga tantra, along with other tantras such as Heruka Chakrasaṃvara and Hevajra.



According to scholar Miranda Shaw, Vajrayoginī is "inarguably the supreme deity of the Tantric pantheon. No male Buddha, including her divine consort, Heruka Chakrasaṃvara, approaches her in metaphysical or practical import."A number of lamas and other contemporary scholars do in fact argue otherwise, as Vajradhāra is widely considered the supreme deity of the Tantric pantheon, but the importance of Vajrayoginī is agreed upon.


Vajrayoginī is visualized as the translucent, deep red form of a 16 year old female with the third eye of wisdom set vertically on her forehead. Vajrayoginī is generally depicted with the traditional accoutrements of a ḍākiṇī including a cleaver (Tib. drigug, Skt. kartṛī) marked with a vajra in her right hand and a kapala (skull cup) in her left hand which is filled with blood that she partakes of with her upturned mouth. Her consort Chakrasaṃvara is often symbolically depicted as a khaṭvāṇga on Vajrayoginī's left shoulder, when she is in 'solitary hero' form. Vajrayoginī's khatvanga is marked with a vajra and from it hang a damaru drum, a bell, and a triple banner. Her extended right leg treads on the chest of red Kālarātri, while her bent left leg treads on the forehead of black Bhairava, bending his head backward and pressing it into his back at the level of his heart. Her head is adorned with a crown of five human skulls and she wears a necklace of fifty human skulls. She is depicted as standing in the center of a blazing fire of exalted wisdom.



Each aspect of Vajrayoginī's form and mandala is designed to convey a spiritual meaning. For example, her brilliant red-colored body symbolizes the blazing of her inner fire (Tib. tummo). Her single face symbolizes that she has realized that all phenomena are of one nature in emptiness. Her two arms symbolize her realization of the two truths. Her three eyes symbolize her ability to see everything in the past, present and future. She looks upward toward the Pure Dākiṇī Land (Skt. Kechara), demonstrating her attainment of outer and inner Pure Dākiṇī Land, and indicating that she leads her followers to these attainments. The curved drigug knife in her right hand shows her power to cut the continuum of the delusions and obstacles of her followers and of all living beings. Drinking the nectar of blood from the kapala in her left hand symbolizes her experience of the clear light of bliss.



In her form as Vajravārāhī, when she is known as 'the Vajra Sow' she is often pictured with a sow's head on the side of her own as an ornament and in one form has the head of a sow herself. Vajrayoginī is often associated with triumph over ignorance, the pig being associated with ignorance in Buddhism. This sow head relates to the origins of Vajravārāhī from the Hindu sow-faced goddess Vārāhī.



The severed-headed form of Vajrayoginī is similar to the Indian goddess Chinnamasta who is recognized by both Hindus and Buddhists