Prajñāpāramitā Devī (; ) is a female Buddha that symbolizes and embodies Prajñāpāramitā, the perfection of transcendent wisdom.Lu, Zhao-lin. “Representing Prajñāpāramitā in Tibet and the Indian Himalayas . The iconographic concept in the Temples of Nako, rKyang bu and.” (2013). This is the highest kind of wisdom in Mahayana and Vajrayana, which leads to Buddhahood and is the spontaneous source of Buddhahood. This is the essence of the Prajñāpāramitā sutras of which there are thousands. As such, Prajñāpāramitā Devī is a samboghakaya Buddha, and is known as "Mother of Buddhas" () or "The Great Mother" ().Shaw, Miranda (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India, p. 166. Princeton University Press.
She is a central figure in Vajrayana and appears in various sutra and tantra Buddhist sources, like the Heart Sutra, Sādhanamāla, Niṣpannayogāvali, the Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa tantra, Dhāranisamuccaya, Mañjusrimūlakalpa, and the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra.
Prajñāpāramitā Devī was widely depicted in Indian Buddhist art from around the 9th to 12th centuries, particularly in the art of the Pala Empire. She is also widely found in the Buddhist art of other regions like Java, Cambodia, Tibet and in the Himalayas. Himalayan and Tibetan art may depict her as either a bodhisattva or as a Buddha.
In India
In Indian Mahayana Buddhism, worship of the Prajñāpāramitā sutras (in the form of books, Sanskrit: pustaka) was already an important element which is found in the sutras themselves.Apple, James B. "Prajñaparamita", in Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, ed. by Arvind Sharma (2019). Springer. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra teaches the worship of the sutra on an altar with flowers, lamps, incense and so forth. The Prajñāpāramitā sutras also reference themselves as the highest object of study and worship, claiming that studying, reciting, and worshiping them is superior to worshiping stupas, Buddha relics, and other objects. This is because Prajñāpāramitā, the transcendent knowledge that sees all phenomena as illusory and unborn, is the true source of Buddhahood, the "mother" of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas.Kinnard, Jacob (1999). Imaging Wisdom: Seeing and Knowing in the Art of Indian Buddhism, pp. 79-114. Routledge.
According to Jacob Kinnard, these sutras even present the physical book form of a Prajñāpāramitā sutra as akin to the Buddha's rūpakāya (physical form to be worshiped, like his relics) as well as his dharmakāya (which contains the Dharma, the Buddha's teachings).
A further development in this form of worship occurred when the Prajñāpāramitā scriptures, along with the concept of Prajñāpāramitā itself (a transcendent and perfect wisdom that leads to Buddhahood) became personified as a specific bodhisattva-devi (female bodhisattva-goddess) called Prajñāpāramitā Devī (beginning circa 7th to 8th century CE).Benoytosh Bhattacharyya (1924). The Indian Buddhist Iconography Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals, pp. 197-199. Oxford University Press.Kinnard, Jacob (1999). Imaging Wisdom: Seeing and Knowing in the Art of Indian Buddhism, pp. 114-148. Routledge.
In Buddhist texts According to Miranda Shaw, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā contains verses which seem to personify the concept of "the perfection of wisdom" (which in Sanskrit is a feminine noun - prajña) as a mother and teacher:
She is the Perfect Wisdom that never comes into being, and therefore never goes out of being.
She is known as the Great Mother....She is the Perfect Wisdom who gives birthless birth to all Buddhas.
And through these sublimely Awakened Ones, it is Mother Prajñāpāramitā alone who turns the wheel of true teaching."As Lamotte notes, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā presents Prajñāpāramitā as a mother figure in the following passage:O Subhūti, it is like a woman who has many sons; if she falls sick, all her sons expend great effort to remove all danger of death from their mother. Why? Because, they say, we have been brought up by her; she has accomplished difficult tasks for us; for us she is the giver of life and the revealer of the Loka (taken here in the sense of ‘world’). Similarly, O Subhūti, the Tathāgatas have the same regard for this Prajñāpāramitā. Why? Because she is the mother, the parent of the Tathāgatas; for us she is the indicator of Omniscience and the revealer of the Loka (lokasaṃdarśayitrī, a designation here of the five skandhas).... The five skandhas, as long as they are not broken or disintegrated, are designated here by the Prajñāpāramitā by the name of Loka. What does that say? They are designated as not breaking up and not disintegrating. Indeed, O Subhūti, since the five skandhas do not exist in inherent nature, they have emptiness as nature, and this very emptiness does not break up, does not disintegrate. Thus the Prajñāpāramitā of the Tathāgatas is the revealer of the Loka [understood in this way]. And the signlessness, the wishlessness, the inactivity, the non-arising, the non-existing, the fundamental element, they also, do not break up, do not disintegrate. Therefore, O Subhūti, the Prajñāpāramitā of the Tathāgatas is the revealer of the Loka [understood in this way]. According to Shaw, Prajñāpāramitā was "regarded as the 'mother' of all beings who attain enlightenment, for it is her wisdom that engenders liberation. She is the supreme teacher and eternal font of revelation...Even Buddhas and bodhisattvas pay homage to her, because to her they owe their omniscience." As such, one of her main titles is "Mother of All Buddhas" (sarva-buddha-mata) and is said to be "the genetrix, the mother of the victorious ones" (jinas, i.e. all Buddhas) in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā.Shaw, Miranda (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India, pp. 168-170. Princeton University Press.
The Aṣṭasāhasrikā even states that Buddhas "owe their existence" to her and claims that worshiping her is superior to worshiping stupas or Buddha relics.
The idea of the perfection of wisdom as a being like a mother is also mentioned in the Dà zhìdù lùn (Great Prajñāpāramitā Commentary) translated by Kumarajiva. The text states:Moreover, the prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the Buddhas (buddhamātṛ). The task (yatna, śrama) of the mother is greater than that of the father. This is why the Buddha considers prajñā as his mother, and the Pratyutpannasamādhi as his father.
Worship Worship of the goddess may have been witnessed in India by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian (337–422 CE) who mentions that Mahayanists worshiped Prajñāpāramitā, Manjusri and Avalokiteshvara. However, it is not clear what Faxian saw in India, and some scholars argue this passage is a reference to the worship of the sutra, not an image of the goddess.Kim, Jinah (2013). Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia, pp. 30-31. University of California Press. The earliest images of the deity are from Ellora Caves and date to the 7th century.Shaw, Miranda (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India, p. 172. Princeton University Press.
An early source on Prajñāpāramitā as a devi is Rāhulabhadra's Prajñāpāramitā stotra which is quoted by the Dà zhìdù lùn (The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā).Lamotte, Etienne (French trans.); Karma Migme Chodron (English trans.); The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nagarjuna - Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra, chapter XXIX This stotra (ode) describes the devi as follows:Between you who are so rich in holy qualities and the Buddha, the teacher of the world, honest people see no more difference than between the moon and the light of the moon. Of all the heroes who have dedicated themselves to the good of others, you are the nourisher, the generator and the tender mother. Since the Buddhas, the compassionate teachers of the world, are your own sons, you are, thus, O virtuous one, the grandmother of all beings. Singular although multiform, you are invoked everywhere under various names by the Tathāgatas, in the presence of beings to be converted. Like dew-drops in contact (with starlight) at the blazing rays, the faults and opinions of the theoreticians dissolve at your touch. In your terrifying aspect, you give rise to fear among fools; in your friendly aspect, you give rise to faith in the wise. If he who is clasped to you is not recognized as your husband, how, O mother, would he experience love or hate for another object? You do not come from anywhere and you do not go anywhere; in whatever place there may be, you are not seen by the wise. The person who sees you is fettered, the person who does not see you is also fettered; the person who sees you is liberated, the person who does not see you is also liberated. Oh! You are astounding, you are profound and glorious; you are very difficult to cognize; like a magic show, you are seen and you are not seen.As a fully developed goddess, she appears in the Sādhanamālā (late eleventh or early twelfth century) which describes various forms of the devi.
Iconography Shaw describes the common way that the devi is depicted in Indian art as follows:Prajñāpāramitā is envisioned most often as golden in color and alternately as white. She appears with either two arms or four. As is typical of Mahayana goddesses, Prajñāpāramitā is decked in divine raiment, gems, and a jeweled diadem. Her tiara is sometimes described as a five-Buddha crown, signifying that she encompasses all aspects of enlightened knowledge. She sits in the cross-legged posture of meditative equipoise. Her hands are typically brought together at her heart in a teaching gesture known as vyākhyāna mudrā. The thumb and forefinger of her left hand form a circle, representing the wheel of Dharma. Some portion of her right hand touches the wheel, signifying its turning and thus symbolizing the revelation of religious truths. Her identifying attribute is the Perfection of Wisdom text that she bears, supported on a lotus or clasped in an upraised hand. A popular manner of envisioning and portraying the goddess, in India and beyond, is the two-armed form in which she makes a teaching gesture and clasps the stem of a lotus in each hand. The lotuses blossom above her shoulders and support a pair of Perfection of Wisdom scriptures.Shaw, Miranda (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India, pp. 172-173. Princeton University Press.
In Tantric Buddhism
In Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana) the concept of Prajñāpāramitā (and the feminine deity) took on further esoteric associations. According to James B. Apple, in Vajrayana, Prajñāpāramitā Devī "represented the prototype and essence of all the female figures in Tantric interplay". She is represented by the ritual bell (ghanta), lotus (padma) and by yoginis (female yogis). In tantric contemplative rites called sādhanās ("means of achievement"), a yogi would visualize the deity and recite mantras.
Tantric Buddhism also saw Prajñāpāramitā as being present in all women and promoted an attitude of respect and veneration for the feminine form. As such, all women were seen as embodiments of Prajñāpāramitā. This attitude is promoted by the mahasiddha Laksminkara in her Adhvayasiddhi which states:One must not denigrate women, in whatever social class they are born, for they are Lady Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), embodied in the phenomenal realm. The Sādhanamālā, an important compendium of contemplative rites, contains nine Prajñāpāramitādevi sādhanās (meditative rituals with mantras and visualizations of deities). Asanga is said to have composed a Sadhana for her.
In the Sādhanamālā, Prajñāpāramitādevi appears in three main forms:
Sitaprajñāpāramitā - A white skinned goddess with Akṣobhya Buddha on her crown. She sits in the Vajraparyankasana pose on a white lotus, and carries a red lotus in one hand and a scripture in the other.