Table of content● Who is Goddess Tara?● Origin of Tara● Iconography○ Nagarjuna and Atisha’s Traditions○ Nyingma terma tradition○ Suryagupta Traditions● Twenty–one forms of Tara● Bibliography
Tara is a prominent and revered figure in both Hinduism and Buddhism, but her significance and roles differ somewhat between these two traditions. In Buddhism, Tara is a female bodhisattva, signifying she is an enlightened one who has chosen to continue in the cycle of birth and death (samsara) to aid every human being in reaching enlightenment. Tara is often associated with the virtues of wisdom and empathy. With her profound sympathy for the suffering of all beings, she symbolizes enlightenment. She is renowned for her immediate responsiveness to pleas for assistance from human beings. Her wisdom enables her to provide direction and service to those who seek her help.
It is said that the first manifestation of Tara in the world came from Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the one who looked out for the people from the sky. For thousands of years, his principal meditation has been to reflect on the suffering of living beings and his concern for helping the one who needs his help. Seeing that despite all his efforts, there was still so much pain and suffering, he felt heartache and shed tears. The tear fell to the ground of the earth, and it formed a lake. On that lake, a pale lotus flower emerged; on that lotus, a princess appeared with a light green body. When she opened her jade green eyelids, two beautiful blue eyes revealed, ideally identical to the lotus flower which she emerged from.
In another story, it is said that during the era of Buddha Dundubhi Svara, there was a devoted princess named ‘Moon of wisdom-knowledge.’ She offered daily offerings to the Buddha and the monastic community. Over time, she generated bodhicitta, the compassionate wish for enlightenment to aid all beings. Some monks suggested she dedicate her merit to being reborn as a male, but she firmly declined, asserting that gender distinctions were superficial and held no true essence.
Instead, she made a resolution vow:
“There are many who desire enlightenment in a man’s body, but none who work for the benefit of sentient beings in the body of a woman. Therefore, until samsara is empty, I shall work for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman’s body.”
As commonly known, Tara has five main lineages among the twenty-one Tara forms, which can include variations in color, posture, hand gestures(mudras), and accompanying symbols, emphasizing their unique qualities and attributes. Most of the iconographical descriptions in commentaries always seem to be non-cooperative with the “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras.” The reason is simply three main iconographic traditions formed in Tibet, each one of them describes the Goddesses Tara according to their beliefs:
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In these traditions, the 21 Taras are rarely distinguished; they'll always be depicted in the same position except by colors, peaceful or wrathful expressions, and vases with different colors. Atisha’s tradition is also considered the easiest lineage and the most popular lineage among all other lineages due to its easy visualization. Despite having so much popularity, the Atisha lineage is rare to find in thangkas. This is why the Atisha followers tend to use Nyingma lineage thangkas since they are similar in color and easy to find.
Nyingma terma lineages usually describe Jigme Lingpa and Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa traditions. It depicts itself as Nagarjuna and Atisha’s tradition with some minor changes in appearance in thangkas. The Taras in their paintings seem to be in different colors and holding individual emblems on the top of their lotus on their left hand. On the other hand, the Atisha tradition is more focused on the vases in their thangkas involving Tara. One more notable point is that the Atisha lineage uses Heroic Red Tara as the center of attention on thangkas, while Nyingma uses green Tara as the center of attention.
When depicting Tara, the Suryagupta tradition is always more expressive than any other tradition. Surya Gupta's lineage requires intense visualization; they portray the twenty-one Tara as differentiating all the details such as posture, number of heads and hands, color, implements, and hand gestures. As their iconography is more complicated than other traditions, it is hard to see all the Twenty-One Tara together in one picture. But there isn’t any restriction that one devotee cannot use other lineage thangkas or statues since they all use the same praises of Tara.
The Surya Gupta tradition is extremely expressive and visualized on thangkas and sculptures, as was already noted. The names of Tara may be foreign to people of other traditions or lineage because the descriptions and visualizations of the twenty-one Taras that follow are explained following Suryagupta's lineage.
Sanskrit: Arya Pravita Tara
Tibetan: Jetsun Drolma Nyurma Pamo
According to the 21 Praises of Tara, the very first Tara is Tara Dharani; she is usually portrayed as eight-armed in a red color. Seated on a yellow lotus and moon emanating a mass fire, the first pair of hands, joined at her crown, holds a vajra and a bell, the second pair holds an arrow and a bow, and the third a wheel and a couch, and the fourth a sword and noose. While chanting her dharani, one could feel the power to influence sentient beings positively so that one could lead them to Dharma.
Sanskrit: Chandra Kanti Tara
Tibetan: Karmo a Dang Ge Drolma
The second is Tara, the one who offers to heal everyone from diseases. She is extremely white in color, seated on a lotus on the moon disk, and has one of the most complicated iconography with three heads (blue, white, and yellow from right to left) and 12 arms. The first pair of hands are in contemplation, the other right hand holds a khatvanga(trident), a wheel, a jewel, a vajra, and a garland of flowers. The left hand holds a utpala (lotus), a water pot, a bell, a flask (sometimes a treasure vase), and a book.
Sanskrit: Kanakavarna Tara
Tibetan: Ser Mo Ser dok Chen Ge Drolma
The third Tara is praised for prolonging life; she is portrayed as a yellow or gold Tara seated on a lotus and the sun disk. She has one face and ten arms— her right-hand holds a sword, an arrow, a vajra, a staff, and a rosary, on the left-hand side, a snake, a lotus, a bell, a bow, and a lasso.
Sanskrit: Usnishavijaya Tara
Tibetan: Tsug Tor Nam Pal Gyal We Drolma
The fourth Tara is portrayed in four arms in golden and similar to the third Tara, while the third Tara gives life-long health, and the fourth Tara increases the lifespan. Seated on a yellow lotus and moon disk with a royal posture, with one head and four arms, doing boon-granting and holding a rosary on her right-hand side, a vase, and a club on her left hand.
Sanskrit: Hum Svara Nadini Tara
Tibetan: HUM Dra Dolpi Drolma
The fifth Tara is praised in terms of her suppression of adversity: as she proclaims the sound of hum she has the ability to summon the three worlds together. She is portrayed as a yellow Tara seated on a lotus and a moon disk with one head and two arms— the right-hand refuge and the left hand holding the yellow lotus, depicting the tri ratna mudra.
Sanskrit: Trai Lokya Vijaya Tara
Tibetan: Jig Ten Sum Lay Nam Par Gyal We Drolma
The sixth Tara is known for purifying all obscuration and negativity in the devotee’s life; her visualization is four-armed in a ruby red or reddish-black color. She is seen on a red lotus and sun; the first hand holds a vajra, the second holds a sword on the right side, and the left side the first hand with a threatening forefinger and the second holds a noose.
Sanskrit: Vadi Pramardani Tara
Tibetan: Golwa Jompi Drolma
Seventh, Tara is one of the wrathful Tara visualized in Ruby Black in four arms; she is known for her ability to destroy any obstacles and obscurations. She is seen on yellow lotus and sun, wearing yellow garments, with fierce expressions, upward-streaming hair, and Pratyalidha posture. With one head and four arms—on the right-hand side, she holds a sword and a wheel, and on the left hand, she holds a vajra lotus (sometimes with noose above the yoni), and the other makes a threatening forefinger.
Sanskrit: Mara Sudana Vasitottama Da Tara
Tibetan: Wang Chug Terwe Drolma
Eight Tara, who is the destroyer of Maras(Demons) and enemies, with her four arms and yellow or golden color. Seated on a red lotus, moon, and sea monster stacked together, with one face and four arms. The forehands hold an Ashoka tree and a lotus; the other two pairs are boon granting, with a gem and holding a flask.
Sanskrit: Varada Tara
Tibetan: Chogtsol We Drolma
The ninth Tara is commended for her mudra and the symbols in her hands and is given, the rite for bestowing both common and supreme attainments. She is a Red Tara with four arms, seated on a red lotus and moon. The foreright hand is snapping its fingers, dancing, while the left is holding a branch of an Ashoka tree that rains jewels on sentient beings. The other two hands are holding vajra and bell, making a gesture of joy on the crown of her head.
Sanskrit: Soka Vinodana Tara
Tibetan: Na Nyen Me Pi Drolma
The tenth Tara is praised as she protects devotees against the distraction of worldly activities and dispels all sufferings, she is the conqueror of three worlds. She is a ruby-red Tara seated on a red lotus and moon with four arms. The first pair of hands on her crown in Namaskar mudra, and her other pair of hands are holding a sword and branch of an Ashoka tree bearing red flowers.
Sanskrit: Jag Vasi Vipan Nirbarhana Tara
Tibetan: Dro Wa Gug Pa Am Pungpa Sel We Drolma
The eleventh Tara helps her devotees to increase enjoyment and wealth while eliminating poverty. She is visualized as a color of darkness with a fierce expression and two arms. She holds a hook that summons the eight planets; her left hand also holds a hook that dispels misfortunes with a noose.
Sanskrit: Kalyana Da Tara or Manga Laloka Tara
Tibetan: Tashi Nang We Drolma
The twelfth Tara radiates white light from her crown to eliminate the suffering and yellow light to increase wealth; she is portrayed in yellow color with eight arms. She is seated on poly lotus and moon; her right-hand side holds a trident, a hook, a vajra, and a sword, and the left-hand side holds a jewel pressed to her heart, a hook, a club, and a flask.
Sanskrit: Pari Pacaka Tara
Tibetan: Young Su Min Par Zed Pi Drolma
The thirteenth Tara is portrayed as a red Tara with four arms on a red lotus, surrounded by fire, and her rites are for Subduing hindrance. Her right-hand side holds a sword and an arrow; her left-hand side holds a wheel and bow.
Sanskrit: Bhrkuti Tara
Tibetan: Tro Nyer Yo We Drolma
The fourteenth Tara her name is Tro Nyer which itself means “frowning and warthful” is portrayed as a blue and wrathful Tara with three heads, white, black, and red color, with six arms, on an orange lotus, sun disk, and a corpse seat on a stack. she holds a sword, a hook, a club, a skull, a noose, and Brahma’s head. She is adorned with a crown and a long necklace of human heads and tiger and snakeskin. She is known for removing hindrances to flourish the dharma to the happiness of sentient beings.
Sanskrit: Maha Shanti Tara
Tibetan: She Wa Chen Mo Am Gelek Ter Wi Drolma
The Fifteenth Tara is known for her pacification of negative karma. She is portrayed as a white Tara on a white lotus and six arms; on her right-hand side, she holds a rosary, boon-granting, and a club; the left-hand side holds a lotus, a waterpot, and a book (particularly resting on a utpala according to Surya Gupta lineage.
Sanskrit: Raga Nisudana Tara
Tibetan: Chagpa Jompi Drolma
The sixteenth Tara is praised for expanding the intellect, and she is acclaimed for the effects of both her wrathful and tranquil mantras. She is portrayed as an orange lotus and sun, with three eyes, holding a trident in her right hand and a tree branch with flowers and fruits in her left hand with raised forefinger.
Sanskrit: Sukha Sadhana Tara
Tibetan: Drolma Deydrub Ma
The seventeenth Tara is praised for binding the thieves and eliminating the power of black magic mantras. On a white lotus and sun, the orange Tara, two hands at her heart holding a moon disk.
Sanskrit: Sita Vijaya Tara
Tibetan: Rab Tu Gye Pi Drolma
The eighteenth Tara is praised for curing the Naga disease(leprosy) and dispelling poison of all kinds. White Tara with four arms seated on a white lotus, a moon, and a goose— holding a hook with her first pair of hands joined above her crown, the other boon granting and holding a utpala marked with book.
Sanskrit: Dukha Dahana Tara
Tibetan: Duk Ngal Sek Pi Drolma
The nineteenth Tara is praised for freeing her devotees from poison and dispelling conflict and nightmares. The white Tara, on white lotus and sun, holding a brazier with her two hands at her heart and an extended right leg slightly extended.
Sanskrit: Ngyu Drob Jung Pi Drolma
Tibetan: Tara, Source of All Powerful Attainments
The twentieth Tara is praised for dispelling fevers and epidemics. The orange Tara is seated on a white lotus with two hands holding a pot near her heart.
Sanskrit: Paripurana Tara
Tibetan: Yong Zog Jed Pi Drolma
The twenty-first Tara is praised for subduing evil spirits internally and externally; she is a white Tara on a poly lotus and moon. With one face and eight arms, the right hand holds a trident and an on her right hand.
As mentioned all twenty-one Taras, it might seem unnecessarily complicated to learn about the twenty-one Taras, and one must wonder why there are twenty-one Taras. Buddha gave us twenty-one fundamental practices that allow us to reach enlightenment. The Mahayana Sutra system states that when we practice, we move through the ten levels (Bhumis), eventually arriving where we are right now, with the priceless endowment of our own human body and our own Buddha nature. Tantric doctrine claims that these are found within pairs and hinder or block our passageways. Through repetition, we can achieve a certain sensation or realization as we untie each of these pairs of knots. We are referred to as enlightened beings once we have undone all 21 knots and have gained Buddhahood. Buddhahood exists within each of us and is patiently waiting for order to be restored. It is not some force that exists outside of us.
These twenty-one dharma kaya attributes are manifest as Tara's twenty emanations. The energy by which we untangle our own knots and those of other beings, the energy by which we get enlightenment and aid in the attainment of it for other beings, is thus combined by Tara from all three active kayas.
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