Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara

Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara, 18th century, Tibet.

Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara (T. seng ge sgra སེང་གེ་སྒྲ་). “The Lion's Roar”. A form of Avalokiteśvara in which the bodhisattva appears seated on the back of a lion.

Simhanada Lokeshvara belongs to the Kriya class of tantras and arises specifically from three different texts, namely the Simhanada Tantra and the text of the Arya Avalokiteshvara Dharani. His primary activity is to remove sickness and disease, especially illness caused by nagas and serpents. There are many different lineages for the practice of Simhanada coming from India, however in Tibet it was principally Jowo Atisha and Mal Lotsawa who popularized the practice.

Iconography

Catherine Dalton states:

Siṃhanāda’s iconography is generally consistent across textual and artistic sources, though many of the details are not clearly elaborated in this text. In the descriptions found in his many sādhanas and praises, Siṃhanāda is white in color, has two legs and two arms, is dressed as an ascetic (tapasvin, dka’ thub ldan pa), and sits on a lion. In most descriptions, a skull-adorned trident rests at his right side, but in some, he holds it in his right hand. This trident is also frequently depicted with a white snake coiled around the shaft. With his left hand, he holds the end of a lotus stalk that rises upwards and has a sword standing upon the open lotus blossom. Nearby and to the left sits what is variously described as a cup (karoṭaka), pot (bhājana, snod), or skull cup (kapāla, thod pa) filled with fragrant flowers. This vessel often sits on a lotus or water lily.

The 5th-century Sādhanamālā describes this form as sitting in the elegant Maharaja Lilasanam posture, riding a lion, and carrying sacred symbols like a sword on a lotus and a snake entwined around a trident.

Influence

Catherine Dalton states:

Siṃhanāda, “Lion’s Roar,” also sometimes called Lokeśvara Siṃhanāda, is a form of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. There are nine Siṃhanāda sādhanas and several other Siṃhanāda praises and ritual texts preserved in the Tibetan Tengyur, attesting to his importance in India. Images of Siṃhanāda have been found at the Mahābodhi temple in Bodh Gaya prior to the temple’s nineteenth-century renovation, and in Sri Lanka where it seems Siṃhanāda was especially popular. The association of Siṃhanāda with curative properties that we find in [The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda] appears to be quite an old one. A tenth-century Nepalese miniature painting depicting Siṃhanāda, which is kept at Cambridge, includes a caption reading, “Lokeśvara of the hospital on the island of Siṃhala.” While Avalokiteśvara in general has a close iconographical association with the deity Śiva, this is even more clear in the case of Siṃhanāda. In The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda, Siṃhanāda‍—just like Śiva‍—holds a brahmin’s skull and a snake-wrapped trident, and wears a sacred thread made of a snake.

And also:

The Siṃhanāda form of Avalokiteśvara continues to be practiced in contemporary Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Two arrangements of practices centered on Lokeśvara Siṃhanāda are found in the Compendium of Sādhanas (sgrub thabs kun btus) compiled by Jamyang Loter Wangpo, and the nineteenth-century scholar Mipham Gyatso wrote a short summary of the story of The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda.

In Nepal, Siṃhanāda is worshipped at the temple Jana Baha (Machindra Bahal) in Kathmandu, especially during the twelve Lokeśvara Vrata rituals held throughout the year.

Gallery

• Avalokiteshvara, Simhanada, Himalayan Art Resources
• Media related to Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara at Wikimedia Commons

Further reading

• The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda, 84000 Collection
• Simhanada Lokeshvara: The Compassionate Lion’s Roar of Enlightenment, Enlightenment Thangka