Brahma’s Transformation in Tibetan Beliefs
In Hinduism, Brahma is a significant deity, often depicted with four heads and two arms. However, in Tibetan Buddhism, he assumes a different role as a worldly god, less prominent yet still acknowledged. Among his forms, White Brahma (ལྷའི་གེང་ཆེན་ཚངས་པ་དཀར་པོ) stands out, particularly noted in Tibetan folk tales like the “Gesar” epic, where he’s seen as a righteous deity.
The Mysterious Origin of White Brahma
White Brahma’s divine form and origins are topics of ongoing exploration. Tibetan narratives often delve into the origins of their gods, with classical prayers to White Brahma providing insights into his godhead within Tibetan Buddhism.
White Brahma’s Role in Tibetan Buddhism
Initially blessed by Vajrapani, White Brahma was later incorporated into Buddhism’s system of Dharma protection, under the oversight of Hayagriva, an incarnation of Avalokitesvara. This association with high-ranking gods like King Baihar and Zima protectors underscores his importance and grandeur within the pantheon.
White Brahma’s Integration into Tibetan History
During the era of Tubo Tsanpo Songtsan Gampo, when the Zhenmo Lhakang (now Trantuk Temple in Lhokha) was built, White Brahma was invited to serve as the temple’s financial protector. He later became Songtsan Gampo’s personal guardian. Notably, during the Tang-Tibet conflicts, White Brahma was revered as an invincible war deity.
A classical prayer to White Brahma ( ཚངས་པའི་འཕྲིན་སྐུལ་ཉིན་བྱེད་སྣང་བ ) དཔལ་ཆེན་གསང་བདག་མཐུ་ཡིས་དམ་ལ་བཏགས། ། རྟ་མཆོག་གསུང་གིས་ཐུབ་བསྟན་སྲུམ་མར་བསྐོས། ། བར་དུ་སྲོང་བཙན་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཡི། ། འཁོར་ འཁོར་ ཆོས་ ཁྲ་ འབྲུག་ འབྲུག་ ། ། ། ཕྱི་ནང་གཉེར་གཏད་དམ་ཚིག་རྗེས་སུ་བསྐུལ། ། དེའི་འོག་པད་མ་འབྱུང་གནས་རྗེ་འབངས་ཀྱིས། ། དབང་བསྐུར་རྡོ་རིམ་པ་གཙུག་ཏུ་བཀོད། །
The Oath and the Role in Samye Temple
In Guru Rinpoche’s time, White Brahma pledged allegiance and was enshrined as the “Nanda Chong Kanglin,” the wealth protector at the newly constructed Samye Temple. This reinforced his role as a significant figure in Tibetan spiritual life.
White Brahma’s Revival in Later Periods
With the establishment of the Kadan Pozhang regime during the time of the fifth Dalai Lama, White Brahma’s veneration was rejuvenated. He emerged as one of the Dharma protectors of the Kashag government, reaffirming his longstanding presence in Tibetan religious culture.
White Brahma in Tibetan Buddhism: An Evolving Spiritual Entity
White Brahma: A Synthesis of Tibetan and Buddhist Traditions
The evolution of White Brahma in Tibetan Buddhism exemplifies the integration and transformation of a deity across various epochs. More than just a figure from Tibetan mythology, White Brahma encapsulates the depth and dynamism of Tibetan Buddhism, evolving in worship and significance over time.
Unique Attributes of White Brahma
Recognized as “White Brahma with Conch Bun” (ཚངས་པ་དུང་ཐོད་ ཅན), this deity is distinguished by his conch-shaped hair, a symbol of his conversion to Buddhism under Vajrapani’s guidance.
Iconography of White Brahma
White Brahma is often depicted in white, carrying symbolic items like a crystal sword and a war spear, and sometimes accompanied by a mongoose, indicative of wealth. His attire, featuring golden armor, a Dharma wheel, and a bow and arrow, along with his mount, a white horse, associates him with ancient Tibetan warriors, emphasizing his role as a deity of war.
Jataka Tales and White Brahma
Numerous Jataka tales within classic terma texts detail White Brahma’s narrative, portraying him as a key Dharma protector. These stories, while varied, share thematic elements that illustrate common motifs in Tibetan Buddhist storytelling.
The Royal Link: White Brahma and King Baihar
White Brahma shares a significant connection with King Baihar (པེ་ཧར་རྒྱལ་པོ), both seen as royal deities within Tibetan Buddhism. Literature suggests White Brahma may represent an aspect of King Baihar, though this theory warrants further investigation.
White Brahma’s Role Among Tibetan Deities
White Brahma’s unique position in Tibetan Buddhism is highlighted by his appearances in original form when venerating the main deity, akin to other notable Tibetan gods such as the Lamu protector. This distinct characteristic underscores White Brahma’s important role in the Tibetan spiritual realm.
White Brahma in Tibetan Buddhism: A Diverse and Influential Deity
Deity White Brahma’s Wide Reach and Various Forms
White Brahma, also known as Lamo or Lamo Choekyong, signifies a protector in Tibetan Buddhism, famously known as “ལ་མོ་བྱང ་ཆུབ་ལྕོག་གི་ཆོས་སྐྱོང.” This deity, originating from Bai Brahma, holds significant status within the religion, having multiple forms and roles across various temples and spiritual texts.
The Origins of White Brahma
White Brahma’s initial emergence is tied to the translator Master Lodan Sherab, who encountered a “non-human” entity on his return from India. This entity, later known as White Brahma (or Lamu Protector in its peaceful form), became an integral figure within Tibetan Buddhism.
White Brahma as Dharma Protector
After being designated as the Dharma protector of the Kashag government, White Brahma’s prominence grew. The Lamu Protector oracle, passed down through families as “Lamu Yongjiang,” played a pivotal role in Tibetan political and religious affairs for an extended period.
White Brahma’s Connection with King Baihar
White Brahma shares similarities with King Baihar, including Jataka stories and royal deity status. Tibetan literature suggests a close link between these two figures, with some believing White Brahma to be an aspect of King Baihar.
White Brahma’s Wrathful Aspect: Setrab Armour Protector
In addition to its peaceful image, White Brahma also has a wrathful form known as the Setrab Armour Protector. This deity, often depicted in red with a fearsome appearance, is considered born from the heart rays of Brahma and has its own system of companion gods.
The Layman White Felt God
Another form associated with White Brahma is the Layman White Felt God, regarded as a Dharma protector in Rezhen Temple. This figure is considered part of the Dharma protector system, believed to be an original form of White Brahma.
White Brahma’s Enduring Legacy
White Brahma, through various forms and roles, has significantly influenced Tibetan Buddhism. From being enshrined in Changzhu Temple as Changzhu Great Protector to its widespread veneration, White Brahma demonstrates the rich tapestry of Tibetan spiritual beliefs and practices.
In conclusion, White Brahma’s multifaceted presence in Tibetan Buddhism illustrates the depth and complexity of the religion. From a primary deity to various localized forms, White Brahma’s evolution and propagation reflect the dynamic nature of Tibetan spiritual culture and its theocratic system.
