The aim of the Bodhimanda Foundation from its conception was to spread knowledge about the material and immaterial culture of Tantric Buddhism. This has been achieved through the publication and display of the collects ion and also through research, publications and lectures. The collects ion and its accompanying story express the hidden power of Buddhist rituals, which are in fact nothing more than highly effective, dramatised forms of meditation. These rituals have been used for centuries to influence the environment positively and as an aid on the road to higher consciousness and inner awakening.

As explained on their website , Bodhimanda means ‘the place of enlightenment’. Every place where our eyes open to the enlightened reality is the place of enlightenment. The logo is the Amrita vase with the elixir of life, from which sprouts the lotus that carries the beggar’s nap containing the Bodhi tree, under which Siddhartha received enlightenment.

The Bodhimanda collects ion encompasses the full breadth of the Tibetan ritual tradition. This magnificent bronze encapsulates the extent to which the greatest emperors of the early Ming dynasty fell under the spell of Vajrayana Buddhism.

In its adamantine glory, it provides us with a lens directly into the heart of the early Ming court. After the sale of the monumental figures of Panjarnata Mahakala and Kapaladhara Hevajra in November 2024, the decision has been made for this magnificent bronze, the last monumental figure in the collects ion, to be released on to the market and entrusted to a new home, so that the proceeds will provide the funds for a permanent display for the collects ion in a museum environment.

Ultimately, everything is impermanent, and as the wheel of t.mes saw this magnificent sculpture created at the heart of the Ming Imperial court embark on a long journey culminating in exhibitions at western museums, now it is also its t.mes to move on to a new home, where we are confident that its priceless role in spreading knowledge of Tantric Buddhism will endure.

Julian King

菩提曼拏羅基金會旨在傳播密宗佛教物質與非物質文化，通過出版、展覽基金會所藏佛教藝術珍品，配以研究、講座，履踐宗旨。基金會藏品及相關故事可彰顯佛教儀軌蘊含之力；佛教儀軌無非冥想法門，行之有效且風格强烈，數世紀以來對佛法宣揚影響積極，在通往更高意識境界與內在覺醒之路上可助修行者一臂之力。

如基金會網站所述，菩提曼拏羅即「開悟之地」。無論何處，凡見開悟實相之地即為開悟之地。基金會標誌為一寳瓶，瓶内盛靈藥、插蓮花，花托一鉢，鉢中生菩提樹；悉達多便於菩提樹下得道成佛。

菩提曼拏羅基金會所藏包羅藏傳佛教儀軌之萬象。此尊鎏金銅造像氣勢恢宏，印證明初帝王崇奉藏傳佛教，其威容金剛不壞，映照明初宮廷禮佛虔心。2024年11月，鎏金銅寶帳大黑天立像及鎏金銅喜金剛立像雙雙易手後，基金會決定將寶蓄中最後一尊大像釋出尋覓新主，所得善款仍供基金會收藏於博物館常設展出。

世間一切，悉是無常。時間巨輪目睹下，此尊明初御製造像曾歷千山萬水，終駐足西方博物館，一段旅程結束，又是踏上新途之時。我們相信，此尊寶像將繼續弘揚密宗佛法，薪火相傳。

王傑安

During the Mongol Yuan period (1279–1368), Tibetan Buddhist hierarchs played an active role in the imperial courts of China. Chogyel Phakpa Lodro Gyeltsen (1235–1280), a figure from the Sakya tradition, served as Kublai Khan’s (r. 1264–1294) imperial preceptor during this t.mes . Prior to Chogyel Phakpa, lesser-known Mongol leaders such as Ariq Boke (r.1259-1264), and Hulagu Khan (r.1256-1265) had already introduced Tibetan Buddhist preceptor-officiants to their courts. However, it was during Chogyel Phakpa’s period that the Newar artist Aniko (1244-1306, memorialized in a sculptural portrait at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing which can be seen today) was brought to China. Aniko catalyzed the development of a Nepalo-Chinese style, influencing Vajrayana Buddhist sculpture in China through contemporary t.mes s.

The protector deity Mahakala was introduced to Eastern China in the Yuan period, during which Mongol emperors such as Kublai Khan were advised - by the aforementioned Tibetan lama Chogyel Phakpa, in this instance - to utilize the image of Mahakala in the same fashion. As a protector in the political realm, Mahakala played a significant role in Tibetan history and governance. In Tibet, Buddhism was closely intertwined with political power, and the protector deities, like Mahakala, were believed to safeguard the state and its rulers. His image was often placed in monastic and administrative buildings to ensure the protection and well-being of the state. It was believed that invoking the power and protection of Mahakala could help ensure political stability and the success of the Tibetan state. In the Ming period, it was the Hongwu Emperor (r.1368–1398) who first pledged to continue engagement with Tibetan Buddhism for the purpose of political legitimacy. Ming dynasty patrons such as the Xuande Emperor (r.1425–1435) – whose name and mark is visible on the Bodhimanda Foundation’s Chaturbhuja Mahakala – continued this tradition, commissioning important sculptures and paintings under the strict iconographical stipulations of pre-established styles of Tibetan paintings and sculptures.

Images of Panjarnata Mahakala are much more frequently found in Tibet and China than those of Chaturbhuja Mahakala. An early depiction of Chaturbhuja Mahakala in stone, created by a Nepalese artisan in the 13^th century in Tibet or Yuan dynasty China, is preserved in the collects ion of the Potala Palace, illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 208A (fig. 1). See also an important early image of a four-armed Mahakala, dated to the 13th century and ascribed to the hand of Aniko (1244-1306), included in the exhibition Tibet: Tradition and Change, The Albuquerque Museum, 1997, cat.no. 55 (Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 30525)(fig. 2). It differs from later depictions of four-armed Chaturbhuja Mahakala, where the protector deity holds a chopper and skull cap in his principle hands, and a sword and khatvanga in the outer ones, and may represent an earlier convention and textual tradition.

Given the Yongle and Xuande Emperors’ espousal of Buddhism, significant works of art such as the present bronze were cast within the imperial court of Beijing. This magnificent figure Chaturbhuja Mahakala offered by the Bodhimanda Foundation, and the Kapaladhara Hevajra and Panjarnata Mahakala sold in these rooms in November 2024, could also have been created for Tibetan Buddhist monasteries along the Sino-Tibetan border (Tib. Drotsang Dorje Chang; see “Qutan Monastery”, Project Himalayan Art, projecthimalayanart. rubinmuseum.org/essays/qutan-monastery-drotsang-dorje-chang) in the northwestern region (present-day Qinghai province), which received continued support from the Ming court. The exceptional size of these bronze figures towers above all others that have ever come to the market. The Xuande mark and period Chaturbhuja Mahakala from the Bodhimanda Foundation, together with the Panjarnata Mahakala are by far the largest early Ming reign-marked bronzes in private hands.

元蒙一朝（1279-1368年），藏傳佛教高僧於中土宮廷頗有作為。薩迦派法王八思巴（1235-1280年）被忽必烈（1264-1294年在位）奉為上師；忽必烈之前，雖有阿里不哥（1259-1264年在位）、旭烈兀（1256-1265年在位）等汗召藏傳佛教大德於朝中任國師，然內瓦爾僧匠阿尼哥（1244-1306年，今北京妙應寺塑有其像）於八思巴時期方來中土，後對漢地密宗造像融合尼泊爾風格影響深遠。

護法大黑天於元代東傳入漢，如忽必烈篤信八思巴，元代君主皆尊上師，施用大黑天形象如出一轍。大黑天護衛國土，於藏地歷史及統治意義重大。在西藏，佛教與政治密不可分，大黑天等護法則被視作安邦定國、護衛君主之神，其形象常置於寺院及行政建築，祝頌福祚。依照信仰，召請大黑天神通護衛可保藏地長治久安。

明代，洪武帝（1368-1398年在位）延續以藏傳佛教為政，永樂帝更加發展，供養藏傳佛教尤勝前朝，所施密宗金銅造像超凡絕倫。而後，宣德帝（1425-1435年在位）亦沿襲西藏塑像傳統，精誠施造，風格鮮明，此尊四臂大黑天帶宣德年款，即屬此類典型。

藏地及漢地所見大黑天多爲寶帳大黑天，四臂大黑天則殊罕無多。參考一尊早期石雕四臂大黑天像，由尼泊爾僧匠造於十三世紀藏地或元代漢地，現奉布達拉宮，錄於烏爾里希・馮・施羅德，《Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet》，卷二，香港，2001年，圖版208A（圖一）。另比一尊早期四臂大黑天唐卡，斷代十三世紀，傳出自阿尼哥之手，展於《Tibet: Tradition and Change》，愛伯克奇博物館，1997年，編號55（喜馬拉雅藝術資源網，編號30525）（圖二）。此後四臂大黑天形象有變，内側兩手各持鉞刀、嘎巴拉盌，外部兩手則持寶劍、天杖，或反映早期制式及文本傳統。

永宣二帝志心崇佛，北京宮廷乃鑄造金銅寶像，此尊便出於此。與2024年11月基金會所出寶帳大黑天及喜金剛一樣，此尊四臂大黑天亦受宮廷扶持，或為西北漢藏邊界一帶（今青海省）佛寺所造（見瞿曇寺，喜馬拉雅藝術項目，projecthimalayanart.rubinmuseum.org/essays/qutan-monastery-drotsang-dorje-chang）。此類鎏金銅大像尺寸魁碩，冠絕市場所見。此尊四臂大黑天與基金會所出寶帳大黑天皆帶宣德年款，為迄今所知私人收藏帶明初年款諸像中最大兩例。

This monumental gilt-bronze sculpture is the largest recorded Chaturbhuja Mahakala from the early Ming dynasty, and a highly important imperial commission.

A number of small-scale Yongle statues depicting Chaturbhuja Mahakala is known, including one in the collects ion of the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 347A (fig. 1). During the Yongle period, these smaller statues were bestowed on Tibetan hierarchs or monasteries, whereas this large temple sculpture is likely to have been commissioned for a Chinese shrine, perhaps in the capital, Beijing. The missions between the Ming court and Tibet increased during the Xuande period, but there are no references published which record Buddhist images among the gifts. In contrast to the large number of Yongle reign-marked bronzes catalogued by von Schroeder in Tibet, only three Xuande reign-marked ones were recorded. The Xuande Emperor was known, however, to continue the commissioning of Vajrayana Buddhist bronzes for shrines within China.

The only other recorded early Ming figure of Chaturbhuja Mahakala of comparable size is the large (57.8cm high) bronze sold in our New York rooms, 26th March 1998, lot 161 (fig. 2) Complete with its base, now lost, and possibly also Xuande reign-marked, its stature would have been close to that of the present example.

The Chaturbhuja Mahakala is one of a select group of monumental early Ming Buddhist gilt-bronze temple statues in public and private collects ions, that include the Panjarnata Mahakala and Kapaladhara Hevajra, sold in these rooms, 26th November 2024, lots 3815 (fig. 3) and 3816, a 145cm Yongle reign-marked bodhisattva in the collects ion of the Qinghai Provincial Museum, and its counterpart, a 136 cm Yongle-reign marked bodhisattva in the Musée Cernuschi, both originally from Qutansi monastery, Qinghai Province, the latter illustrated in Karl Debreczeny, Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, Rubin Museum of Art, 2019, cat. no. 1.17; the 64 cm Xuande-reign marked Udayana Buddha in the Musée Cernuschi; and seven more large and important early Ming tantric gilt-bronze figures, formerly in the Gumpel collects ion, which were offered at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, in 1904, including a Vajrabhairava and consort, later sold in our New York rooms, 25th March 1999, lot 122; an Ekavira Vajrabhairava sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2016, lot 3234; a Vajrabhairava and consort sold at Nagel Auktionen, 23rd June 2021, lot 8; a Shadbhuja Mahakala and a 70 cm Guhyasamaja in Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pls 151A-D; a Mahachakra Vajrapani now in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, ibid, pl. 151B; and an Ekavira Vajrabhairava, present whereabouts unknown but see Jeff Watt, www. himalayanart.org, item no. 30430.

Chaturbhuja Mahakala is a fierce protector deity, wrathful in appearance, generally blue in colour. He is principally a protector deity associated with the Chakrasamvara cycle of tantric literature and practice. Chaturbhuja Mahakala can also function as a meditational deity and be either an emanation of Vajradhara Buddha or Chakrasamvara.

From a general perspective there are many lineages of Chaturbhuja Mahakala within the Nyingma (old) and Sarma (new) traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. In the Sarma tradition most lineages of Chaturbhuja derive from the great pandita Abhayakaragupta to Tsami Lotsawa and Gva Lotsawa. As the special protector for the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras this form of Mahakala is very important to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Some traditions have the form of Chaturbhuja in singular aspect or embracing the consort Chandika. Other traditions and lineages have a full entourage of secondary figures or a mandala configuration.

Chaturbhuja Mahakala would typically hold a khatvanga (Skt.) staff and a sword (Tib. gri) in his upraised hands, as well as a skull cup (Tib. thod pa) and a human heart in his primary hands. He cuts through the poison of ignorance with his sharp sword, demonstrates his overcoming all three poisons (greed, hatred and ignorance) with his wielding of the khatvanga and demonstrates his enlightened status by holding a blood-filled skull and a disembodied organ. He tramples human ego in the form of a prostrate figure beneath his large body. Finally, his four arms indicate his ability to remove obstacles, augment wisdom, protect Dharma (Buddhist teachings) and destroy ignorance.

Mahakala is a class of deities that have a similar appearance, and each manifestation helps practitioners accomplish similar objectives. However, the many different forms of Mahakala are differentiated by varied postures, numbers of heads and arms and hand implements. Chaturbhuja Mahakala or Four-armed Mahakala has just one face and is depicted in a seated posture on a prostrate figure as seen here. This form is presented in the Fifty-Chapter Mahakala Tantra, which presents the deity in all his various forms along with associated analyses on the benefits of practicing the prescribed rituals of meditation, offering and mantra, etc., therein. Innumerable variations on these Indian-derived practices have been produced by esteemed Vajrayana lamas over the centuries.

The original liturgical text within the aforementioned Mahakala Tantra that describes the complex iconography you see here in artistic detail, is known as a sadhana or sgrub thabs (Tib.). This is a meditation script that the practitioner is meant to use to visualize the deity in their mind’s eye and work toward direct identification with that deity. A fully enlightened wrathful deity such as Chaturbhuja Mahakala would require initiation or empowerment by a more esteemed lama prior to participating in the practice; however, Chaturbhuja Mahakala is not only a meditational deity but also a protector, acting as the main protector of the Chakrasamvara cycle of tantras.

Eduardo Lingero (1907-79) was a Belgian optician and a passionate collects or of Buddhist bronzes, active in the London and Paris art market in the 1920s and 30s. He considered himself a reincarnation of a Tibetan lama, and regularly dressed himself in a Tibetan lama coat at home and learned to speak Tibetan. Several of his artefacts are now centre pieces in important museum collects ions, including the Yuan dynasty seated figure of Shakyamuni Buddha as an ascetic, preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession no. 1966.116, and an inlaid gilt-bronze figure of Gandhahastin, now in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., accession no. S1995.96. The present bronze was acquired after his death in the late 1970s, together with the monumental gilt-bronze figure of Kapaladhara Hevajra from the Bodhimanda Foundation, sold in these rooms, 26th November 2024, lot 3816.

此鎏金銅立像為記錄所見四臂大黑天造像中最大一尊，為明初御製，意義非凡。

可尋永樂四臂大黑天造像若干，尺寸較小，其一奉於大昭寺，拉薩，錄烏爾里希・馮・施羅德，《Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet》，卷二，香港，2001年，圖版347A（圖一）。永樂時期，此類較小四臂大黑天像乃獻予藏地領袖或佛寺，而此尊大像應供漢地所龕，或奉於京城天子脚下。明宣德時期，宮廷與藏地之間僧團往來愈加頻繁，然遍尋刊著，未見互通獻禮中含佛造像。相比烏爾里希圖錄所載藏地永樂年款造像之多，宣德年款造像則僅見三尊。宣德帝亦造密宗寳像，然於漢地供奉。

明初所造四臂大黑天體量相當者僅一尊見載，高57.8公分，售於紐約蘇富比1998年3月26日，編號161（圖二）；其底座已失，或同施宣德年款，若與該像合璧，通高或與此尊在伯仲間。

縱覽公共及私人收藏，有以下明初銅鎏金大像可與此尊四臂大黑天相較：寶帳大黑天及喜金剛兩尊，均售於香港蘇富比2024年11月，編號3815（圖三）、3816；永樂年款菩薩兩尊，其一，高145公分，藏青海省博物館，其二，高136公分，藏賽努奇亞洲藝術博物館，兩尊均出自瞿曇寺，青海，後者錄於Karl Debreczeny，《Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism》，魯賓藝術博物館，2019年，編號1.17；宣德年款優塡王佛一尊，高64公分，藏賽努奇亞洲藝術博物館。此外另比七尊，Gumpel家族舊藏，1904年經德魯奧大樓拍賣：一者，擁妃大威德金剛，後售於紐約蘇富比1999年3月25日，編號122；二者，獨雄大威德金剛，後售於香港佳士得2016年11月30日，編號3234；三者，擁妃大威德金剛，後售於德國納高2021年6月23日，編號8；四者及五者，六臂大黑天、密集金剛，錄烏爾里希・馮・施羅德，《Indo-Tibetan Bronzes》，香港，1981年，圖版151A-D；六者，大輪金剛手，現藏林登博物館，斯圖加特，錄前述出處，圖版151B；七者，獨雄大威德金剛，現存處不詳，可見傑夫・瓦特，喜馬拉雅藝術資源網，編號30430。

四臂大黑天乃忿怒相護法，身色青藍，形容怖畏，與勝樂金剛密續息息相關。四臂大黑天亦可作本尊，為金剛總持或勝樂金剛化現。

藏傳佛教寧瑪派（舊派）及沙瑪派（新派）皆見四臂大黑天傳承。據沙瑪派，四臂大黑天源自班智達無畏生護（Abhayakaragupta）。作爲勝樂金剛密續專屬怙主，四臂大黑天於藏傳佛教一切傳統皆踞重要地位，其形象或單獨或擁妃，或配隨侍或居壇城。

四臂大黑天持法器，外側雙臂高舉，一手執天杖，一手握寶劍，内側主臂則手捧嘎巴拉盌及人心。寶劍披斬愚癡，天杖攻剋三毒（貪、嗔、癡），嘎巴拉盌及割截器官象徵覺悟。脚下一人，匍匐在地，譬喻鎮壓我執。四臂彰顯無上法力，可破除障礙、增長智慧、衛護佛法、消滅愚癡。

大黑天面貌相似，各化現於修行者助益亦大同小異，然憑姿勢、幾面幾臂、手持法器可加以區分。四臂大黑天為一面四臂，坐姿，身下匍匐一人，恰如此尊。《五十章大黑天密續》總結大黑天各種形態，闡述修行、供養之利益。數世紀以來，密宗高僧大德演繹出眾多修行法門。

此《大黑天密續》原文對四臂大黑天形象有詳盡描繪，修行者可依照此文觀想四臂大黑天。四臂大黑天既是主尊又是勝樂金剛密續護法，需經喇嘛加持方可修行。

愛德華多・林格羅（1907-1979年）是比利時視光專家，熱衷收藏佛教金銅造像，上世紀二三十年代活躍於倫敦及巴黎藝術市場。他篤信自己乃喇嘛轉世，平日居家亦著密宗僧袍，且研習藏語。其部分舊藏現已納為重要博物館核心藏品，如一尊元代釋迦牟尼佛苦行坐像，藏克利夫蘭藝術博物館，藏品編號1966.116，及一尊鎏金銅嵌寶香象菩薩立像，藏國立亞洲藝術博物館，華盛頓特區，藏品編號S1995.96。愛德華多逝後，此尊四臂大黑天像入藏菩提曼拏羅基金會，同批入藏者亦有鎏金銅喜金剛立像一尊，後售於香港蘇富比2024年11月26日，編號3816。