Trailokyavijaya

Description

Trailokyavijaya is the protector of the three worlds and conqueror of the evil spirit. A wrathful deity, Trailokyavijaya annihilates ignorance while aiding the sentient beings to follow the Buddhist path. The Sarvatathagatagtattva Samgraha Tantra states that Vajrapani, under orders from Mahavairochana Buddha, assumes the wrathful form of Trailokyavijaya and conquers all the worldly deities in the universe. This stele from Nalanda shows a two-armed form of Trailokyavijaya, holding the vajra and ghanta against the chest exhibiting the vajrahumkara mudra. He stands in warrior pose (alidhasana) while subduing Maheshvara and Umadevi. The deity is adorned with a variety of adornments include a sacred thread (upavita). The back slab acts like the body aureole of the figure, decorated with prominent scarf-like flames. The cult of Trailokyavijaya gained eminence in the Far East and Southeast Asia as the iconography travelled by way of scriptural translations and secret esoteric practices.