The lama Khedrup-jey and the great adept Dombi Heruka

The figure dominating the sky in this painting is Dombi Heruka, one of the eighty-four Indian adepts (siddha) instrumental in the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. Scholars have identified Dombi Heruka with the historical king Chakravarman of Kashmir, who gave up his throne to live with an outcaste dancer (dombi). But this visionary Dombi Heruka transcends ordinary physicality or linear temporality. For this is not Dombi Heruka per se, but rather another master, the lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419)—and Tsongkhapa is deceased. What is going on here?

The answer: it is a meditative vision. Traditional histories affirm that after his death, Tsongkhapa appeared five times—and in five different forms—to his disciple Khedrup-jey, in order to comfort him. Here, Tsongkhapa-as-Dombi Heruka rides a pregnant tigress—a symbol of the life-force (kundalini)—as he brandishes the sword of wisdom. At the bottom right, Khedrup-jey presents the mandala offering that has precipitated the vision of his teacher.