View source for Twenty-eight ishvaris

The '''twenty-eight ishvaris''' (Skt. ''īśvarī''; Tib. དབང་ཕྱུག་མ་ཉེར་བརྒྱད་,  ''wangchukma nyer gyé'', [[Wyl.]] ''dbang phyug ma nyer brgyad'') <noinclude> are found in [[Mahayoga]] mandalas, such as the [[fifty-eight wrathful deities]], and are also considered to be samaya-bound guardians in forms brought about by their own past actions. [[Yukhok Chatralwa Chöying Rangdrol]] explains the latter term by saying that such guardians "transcend the world and yet still appear in worldly forms created by their past [[karma]] and [[disturbing emotions]] like ordinary worldly beings. For example, when Vajra Manushya Rakshasi was the wife of Ravana, king of the [[Rakshasa]]s, she had the face of a rakshasi, but then when she was abducted by [[Rudra]], she transformed her rakshasi face into that of a yak."</noinclude>

The twenty-eight ishvaris are composed of four groups of six [[yogini]]s corresponding to the [[four activities]], and of the four female outer-gate keepers: 


1. The six yoginis corresponding to the activity of pacifying:<br/>
[[Image:white_ishvaris_w.jpg|500px]]
*Rakshasi (white)
*Brahmi
*Mahadevi
*Lobha
*Kumari
*Indrani


2. The six yoginis corresponding to the activity of increasing:<br/>
[[Image:yellow_ishvaris_w.jpg|500px]]
*Vajra
*Shanti
*Amrita
*Chandra
*Danda
*Rakshasi (dark yellow)


3. The six yoginis corresponding to the activity of magnetizing:<br/>
[[Image:red_ishvaris_w.jpg|500px]]
*Bhakshini
*Rati
*Mahabala
*Rakshasi (pale red)
*Kama
*Vasuraksha


4. The six yoginis corresponding to the activity of subjugating:<br/>
[[Image:green_ishvaris_w.jpg|500px]]
*Vayudevi
*Nari
*Varahi
*Nanda
*Mahahastini
*Varunadevi


5. The last group is composed of the four female outer-gate keepers.<br/>
[[Image:4_female_gatekeepers.jpg|500px]]
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[[Category:Buddhas and Deities]]
[[Category:Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities]]
[[Category:Dharma Protectors]]
[[Category:Enumerations]]
[[Category:20s-Twenties]]</noinclude>