Dakini
A Dakini is a type of tantric deity found in Tantric Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Dakinis can take on other forms, but they are frequently portrayed as female beings. Dakini also means female human guru, a vajra master who transmits the Vajrayana teachings or meditational deity in furious female forms. They are regarded as embodiments of enlightened energy or wisdom and are central to Vajrayana practices. They are regarded as protectors and guides for those seeking spiritual enlightenment. According to some traditions, Dakinis are enlightened beings who help practitioners escape the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) and reach enlightenment.
Dakini & Yogini
Following are some notable Dakinis:
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Vajrayogini: She is a Tantric female Buddha and a Dakini who destroys her ego. She is depicted in red color, with three eyes and unbound flowing hair. She has two hands, holding a Kartika in her right hand and a skull bowl in her left hand that she drinks from.
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Machig Labdron: She is a dancing Dakini, depicted in white color and holding a drum in her raised right hand.
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Salgye Du Dalma: She is a Dakini of sleep and protection, depicted in white colour and two hand holding a Kartika and a trident.
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Sinhavaktra: She is a dark blue lion-headed Dakini who disperses obstacles to enlightenment. She is depicted holding a broad-bladed knife and skullcup.
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Vajravarahi: She is a wrathful form of Vajrayogini associated particularly with the Cakrasamara Tantra. She is depicted in red color with one face, and two hands, and standing in a dancing posture on a human corpse. Sometimes is shown with a boar head (Varahi) on either side of her head.
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Niguma: She is depicted in red or brown color, with two hands, and in a sitting posture. She was one of the two female founders of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism, along with Sukhasiddhi.
Forms of Vajrayogini
Across Vajrayāna lineages, Vajrayoginī takes on several forms that reflect variations in geographical development, lineage, and practice focus. Her incarnations are frequently differentiated by posture, such as standing, dancing, or flying forms, which signify various modalities of realisation and yogic function, even if the fundamental identity stays the same.
Vajrayogini
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In the Nāropa Tradition, Khecarī is portrayed as a young, naked crimson Vajrayoginī with a garland of skulls and bone decorations. With one foot on Kālarātri and the other on Bhairava, she assumes a dynamic stance that represents control over both cosmic darkness and angry consciousness. She is holding a skull cup (kapāla) filled with nectar or blood in her left hand and a curved knife (kartěkā) in her right. She is highlighting the completion-stage practice, freedom of movement, and instantaneous realisation that have been passed down via Nāropa's lineage.
Niguma
Maitrī Kācho, connected to Indian Tantric lineages, emphasises balance between movement and stability. Her one-legged elevated position, which expresses controlled mastery over body, breath, and consciousness, sets her apart iconographically. This position represents a state of transition between grounded realisation and total freedom of movement. She is portrayed as being young, crimson, and decorated with bones. She also holds the skull cup (kapāla) and curved knife (kartěkā).
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Jnana Dakini
Within the Buddhist Vajrayāna Tantra, Arthasiddhī is a unique and specialised type of Vārāhī/Vajravārāhī that is linked to achievement and successful realisation. Her scarlet skin and boar's skull highlight her ferocious, transformational qualities. With four arms, Arthasiddhī carries a vajra, goad, noose, and skull bowl, symbols of unwavering determination, mastery over challenges, binding of illusion, and the conversion of impurities into wisdom. Her iconography places her squarely in the context of completion-stage yoginī traditions, where rapid and concrete realisation is achieved through coercive methods rather than gradual advancement.
Kurukulla
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A primary form of Vajrayoginī, she has her roots in the late Indian Buddhist Tantra of the Cakrasaṃvara school. In advanced Tantric traditions, she serves as a main completion-stage meditational deity. Vajravārāhī is portrayed as a young, scarlet deity with two heads: a pig and a human. She is frequently depicted in a dynamic dance position, standing atop creatures that symbolise delusion or ego, and appears naked, decorated with bone decorations and a garland of skulls, carrying a curved knife (kartěkā) and a skull cup (kapāla) filled with nectar or blood.
Mekhala and Kanakhala
Another form of Vajrayoginī is Chinnamastā. She represents the immediacy and unwavering clarity of completion-stage practice and is portrayed in red or orange. Standing erect, her legs firmly presses against Bhairava and Kālarātri, symbolising control over both wrathful consciousness and primaeval darkness. Chinnamastā may show up with two attendants or by himself. Vajra Vārṇanī, a green woman, is standing to her left with her left leg outstretched and a skull cup in her left hand and a curved knife in her right. Vairocanī, who is yellow, is standing to her right with her right leg outstretched and a curved knife and skull cup in her hands.
Sinhavaktra
The Maitrīpa Tradition's Khecarī is a unique kind of Vajrayoginī that emphasises direct realisation through non-dual consciousness and is connected to the Indian mahāsiddha Maitrīpa lineage. Her aerial position, which expresses total freedom from mental, physical, and conceptual constraints, sets her apart iconographically. She is depicted with both legs raised into the air. She resembles other yoginī forms in that she is young, red, decorated with bone ornaments, and carries the skull cup (kapāla) and curved knife (kartěkā).
Achi Chökyi Drölma
Krodhakālī is a wrathful form of Vajravārāhī within Buddhist Vajrayāna, expressing the most forceful aspect of Vajrayoginī’s awakened energy. She embodies enlightened wrath, where fierce appearance serves immediate clarity rather than destruction. Krodhakālī is depicted in dark blue or black hues, with a terrifying yet lucid expression, emphasizing uncompromising wisdom. She stands in a dynamic, trampling posture, subduing forces of ignorance and obstruction, and holds the curved knife (kartṛkā) and skull cup (kapāla). Adorned with bone ornaments and a garland of skulls, she functions as a completion-stage deity, arising when obstacles must be severed instantly.