6.75” Phurba Dorje - Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Mahakal Gold Gilted Dagger~ PRD-O For Sale

Phurba (ritual dagger)

Phurba is a triple sided Tibetan dagger mainlyused for ritual purposes. Its main purpose is to restrain evil and harmfuloccult forces, and fight life obstacles. It can also be used to convert all thenegative energies into positive forces. It is believed in Nepalese and Tibetancultures that these daggers hold magical power that can erase negative emotionslike violence, hatred and other aggressive characteristics that can be held inplace by the weapon’s blade.

Mahakala significance

Mahakala also appears as a protector deity known as a dharmapala in Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahakala is typically black in color. Just as all colors are absorbed and dissolved into black, all names and forms are said to melt into those of Mahakala, symbolizing his all-embracing, comprehensive nature. Black can also represent the total absence of color, and again in this case it signifies the nature of Mahakala as ultimate or absolute reality. Mahakala has four arms, three eyes and is of the brilliance of 10 million black fires of dissolution, dwells in the midst of eight cremation grounds. He is adorned with eight skulls, seated on five corpses, holds a trident, a drum, a sword and a scythe in his hands. He is adorned with ashes from the cremation ground and surrounded by numbers of loudly shrieking vultures and jackals.

Phurba Significance

Phurba dagger is a powerful weapon. Phurbas aremade mostly from wood, bone, or metals such as copper and brass. If more thanone metal is used to make a phurba, it is done in a combination of three ornine metals, which hold numerical significance according to Tibetan and Indianreligious beliefs.

Most commonly, carvings at the top of Phurbasare always present with most popular being Buddha heads or skull heads. But youcan also find Phurbas with carvings of Hindu and Tibetan deities.Interestingly, some Phurbas have 3 heads carved into the handle to mirror theblade, so when the blade is turned, there is always a head facing you.

The three-sided blade segments symbolize thethree spirit worlds, which as a whole represents the “world axis”, and combinesall the three spirit worlds together. It is very similar to ancient Greekbeliefs on “omphalos” (naval), a religious stone artifact with extraordinarypowers.

One of the most important reason the Phurbafocuses on 3 sides is because in Tibetan religious beliefs, it represents the“3 Bodies” of the Buddhas manifestation (also called Trikaya); the Truth Body,the Body of Bliss, and the Emanation Body. Spiritual energy coming from thisnumber helps to destruct an enemy and fight other problems. The lower part ofthe blade represents “Method” while the handle symbolizes “Wisdom”.

Ritualistic Beliefs

Phurba is a believed to be a sacred object inBuddhist beliefs and used in almost every shamanistic ritual and tantricceremonies. It is believed that the god Dorje Phurba or Vajrakilla, which is awrathful deity in Tibetan Buddhism, is part of the dagger. Thus, holding somany supernatural powers used to destroy violence.

Phurba should never be used as a physical weaponto harm anyone which is why its bades are never sharp. It is meant as aspiritual object used in the spiritual realm. In tantric ceremonies, it isbelieved that Phurba can create hallowed or protective ground. The Nepalesebelieve that during these ceremonies, Phurba can become alive when the Jhankri (Nepaleseworkd for shaman) transforms his spiritual body into a Phurba and chases awayevil spirits.

During ritualistic ceremonies, Phurba is oftenstabbed down into a bowl of rice or other grains. Trantric practitioners use itto hold demons in place. It also symbolizes stability. Phurbas can also be usedas decoration in homes and temples, and many use phurbas as part of theirmeditation rooms.