Chakrasamvara with His Consort

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Chakrasamvara is an important meditational deity of the heruka class who is invoked in rituals associated with the Highest Yoga Tantra. He can appear in several different forms. This blue-skinned form has one head, four faces, twelve arms, and two legs. Each face has three eyes and wears a fierce expression. His body is clothed with an elephant-skin cloak and a tiger-skin loincloth. His twelve hands hold a variety of tantric weapons and ritual implements that he uses to destroy obstacles and illusions. His feet trample the demons Bhairava and Kalaratri. He stands in yab-yum embrace with his consort Vajravarahi, whose hands hold a ritual knife and a skull cup filled with blood. For Gelug practitioners, in particular, Chakrasamvara and his consort symbolize the perfect union of method and wisdom.

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