Ritual dagger

Ritual Implements of Bone

One element in the development of Tibetan Buddhism was the spiritual discipline of ascetics, who wandered the funeral grounds of ancient India practicing meditation. To this day, ritual implements made from human bone are a distinctive feature of Tibetan Buddhism.
To Buddhists, human bone is a reminder that life is brief and death inevitable. Bones have other symbolic dimensions as well. Tibetans see the skull as a natural container. Unshaped by human hands, it represents the fundamental goodness that is the natural condition of the mind. Bone trumpets call fearsome supernatural entities. Aprons of bone beads are counted among the funerary “dancing clothes” that signify a yogin’s heroic victory over life and death.
 
Bone implements are also portrayed in painting and sculpture. In this gallery the goddess Palden Lhamo holds a skull bowl, and Chakrasamvara and his consort as well as the adept Virupa wear bone aprons.

This kind of Tibetan ritual instrument for subjugating demons is known as a phurba. Padmasambhava was credited with its introduction when he brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. This powerful instrument is unusual in having a combination of two metals: a bronze handle and a triangular iron blade. The three heads at the top of the dagger differ slightly from each other, but each has a third eye, frowning eyebrows, and fangs to accentuate the god’s wrathful appearance. A hole is pierced on top so that a tassel or scarf can be attached to it. The handle is formed by a knob with lotus petals situated between two knots, below which is a ritual crocodile called a makara, from whose jaws issue the iron blade and two serpents. The triple blade symbolizes overcoming the three root poisons of desire, ignorance, and hatred.