“Mother of all the Victors, endowed with all supreme aspects,
The ‘face’ of Vajravārāhi, symbolising the signs and meaning
With the certain knowing from seeing self-awareness itself
May the primordial wisdom vajra descend here now!”–tr. Adele Tomlin (2020)
རྒྱལ་ཀུན་སྐྱེད་ཡུམ་རྣམ་ཀུན་མཆོག་ལྡན་པའི། བརྡ་དོན་རྟགས་ཀྱི་རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོའི་ཞལ།
རང་རིག་ཉིད་དུ་མཐོང་བའི་ངེས་ཤེས་ཀྱིས། རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྟེན་འདིར་དབབ་དུ་གསོལ།
A Vajravārāhi/Dorje Phagmo artwork gift from a living incarnation of Dorje Phagmo in Bhutan 2025
As I wrote about recently here, the day after the Kālacakra empowerment in Bhutan (15th November 2025), I was spontaneously gifted a stunning Tibetan artwork of the Vajrayana Buddhist female deity, Vajravārāhī (“Vajra/Diamon Sow head”, Tibetan: ་རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ, Dorje Pagmo) by a woman who is considered to be a living incarnation of the deity, Khandro Dorje Phagmo Rinpoche, based in and from Bhutan [1]. For a reel I made of Dorje Phagmo Rinpoche responding to the question “What is a Khandroma?” see here.
In Chod, they say that when you are ready to practice, a Chod bone trumpet and Damaru drum will find you, and you do not have to seek it out, or even purchase it. Perhaps the same is true of one’s first Vajravārāhi thangka too. Although I have always felt close to (and magnetised by) the Vajravārāhī deity, and received the Vajravārāhī empowerment a few years ago (and produced some original research and translations on her), I lost contact with the practice (like Kālacakra) and focused on other practice commitments. However, the meeting with Dorje Phagmo Rinpoche, and the stunning artwork gift, immediately got me back in touch with her and the practice again, in a more powerful way than before!
It also inspired me to write this article and create a couple of short reels (with the artwork gift in the background) about Vajravārāhī, explaining some of the symbolism and meaning of the goddess. I couldn’t decide which one is best content/aesthetic-wise, here and here (you decide!)
Below is a slightly more detailed explanation of Vajravārāhī’s symbolic meaning and the essential qualifications and background in practice needed to practice this highest yoga tantra deity. She cannot be practised by anyone who wants to, and there needs to be a stable practice in the fundamentals of Buddhism, in particular, ethics, the view and pure conduct/vows.
For other original research and translations on Vajrayogini (of which Vajravārāhī in one form, others include the Kacheri form), see the dedicated section of the website, here.
Music? Vajrayogini mantra, Song to the Siren by This Mortal Coil, Flying Dakini by Yungchen Lhamo, Let the Flames Begin by Paramore, and There She Goes by the La-s .
Who is the fully enlightened deity, Vajravārāhī ?
Vajravārāhī is considered a female buddha [Sambhogakāya] form and “the root of all emanations of dakinis” and is a central deity in highest yoga tantra practices, especially in the Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. She is also associated with the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, where she is paired as equal consort in yab-yum union with the Heruka Cakrasaṃvara.
Ultimately all fully awakened deities are not existing inherently as such visualised deities, in the same way humans and other beings are empty of inherent existence. However, the difference between a human being and a fully awakened deity is that they are manifesting full awakening and all the Buddha Nature qualities, as shown in their visual depictions. They represent the energy and infinite awakened qualities of Buddha Nature, which are beyond conditioning and impermanence, such as immeasurable love, compassion, joy, and wisdom.
Vajravārāhī is depicted visually as a female form deity, full-bosomed, red, naked, in a dancing posture, with a kapala (skull cup) in her left hand and a khatvanga on her left shoulder, while her right hand holds a curved knife.
Her most distinguishing feature is the sow’s head (Vārāhī/Phagmo) behind her left ear, or side of the head. As I mention in the reels, her sow’s head is said to be squealing loudly, shaking anyone who hears it to their core, and representing the truth, that is often unpleasant to hear and with many not wanting to hear it. Particularly those who are living in great deception, delusion and corruption.
Qualifications for practising Vajravārāhī
As a highest yoga tantra deity, she cannot (and should not) be practiced by those without an empowerment and transmission from a qualified and authentic lineage master, whom one knows well (has examined) and vice versa.
In addition, for any highest yoga tantra practice it is essential to have completed and attained stability in the foundational practices of:
- ethical conduct based on genuine love and compassion and non-harm towards beings
- five basic Buddhist precepts,
- taking refuge to the three jewels of Buddhism, Buddha, Dharma and Noble Arya community,with prostrations (to reduce arrogance and pride)
- daily generation of the four immeasurables of love, compassion, joy and equanimity to all beings, and the bodhicitta motivation that wishes to attain full awakening for the benefit of oneself and all beings.
- daily purification with Vajrasattva mantra and visualisation
- accumulating merit with mandala offerings
- generating devotion to the guru with guru yoga
- accumulating wisdom with study of the view of emptiness (both the Empty-of-Self and Empty-of-Other) views
Without these present and stable in the mindstreams, with daily practice ongoing, then any highest yoga tantra practice will not bear any real, lasting result. Worse, it may result in serious obstacles and difficulties in practice and no blessings from an authentic lineage and the deity.
Symbols and meaning: blissful, yet wrathful compassion, with the squealing sow’s head of truth
- Sow’s head (Vārāhī/Phagmo): Located behind her right ear or on her crown, is a sow’s head symbolizes the supreme power of a wild sow to uproot things, which in this context is interpreted as victory over ignorance, delusion, and desire. In particular, the sow is taught as squealing loudly, not pleasant to ordinary ears, symbolising the often unpleasant nature of truth to those living within delusion and lies. She is sometimes called the ‘two-faced’ Vajrayogini (shal nyi ma) because of the sow’s head.
- Wrathful appearance: Her wrathful form and dance represent magnetising passion, bliss and a fierce compassion that overcomes ego and attachment to the illusory self.
- Red color: Her red body is often depicted as blazing with wisdom fire, symbolizing the magnetising, blissful, erotic, powerful, transformative energy of her practice. Drawing people in to her passionate embrace and wisdom energy.
- Dancing posture: She is often shown in a dancing pose on a symbolic human corpse, with one leg raised, which signifies her conquering the demons of clinging, arrogance and egoism, and her joyous and passionate nature and a state of enlightened bliss.
- Khatvanga: Her khatvanga staff represents her inseparable male consort, often depicted as Chakrasamvara, and rests on her left shoulder.
- Kapala (skull cup): A skull cup held in her left hand dripping with blood, which she drinks from, representing her transcendence of the material world and her ability to transform negative emotions into wisdom.
- Kartika (curved knife): A curved knife in her right hand symbolizes the severing of mental afflictions, attachment, and ego.
- Garland of skulls: A garland of skull heads symbolizes the transformation of negative emotions and the destruction of ego.
- Inner fire: The short ‘ah’ syllable represents her inner fire, which ignites the central channel in practitioners and leads to enlightenment.
Endnotes
[1] The Dorje Phagmo tulku in Bhutan is recognized by the Sakya lama Rikey Jatrel, considered an incarnation of Thang Tong Gyalpo, who was a close associate of Chökyi Drönma despite his political tensions with the Bodongpa lineage heads of the time. She is currently a member of the monastic community of Thangtong Dewachen Dupthop Nunnery at Zilingkha in Thimphu, which follows the Nyingma and the Shangpa Kagyu traditions. For a report of my meeting with her in Bhutan on 15th November 2025, see here.