Rahula (Tibetan: kyab jug): is one of the 'Three Protectors' of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism along with Ekajati and Dorje Legpa.
Appearance[]
The Tibetan protector deity is based on the Indian deity Rahu, an ancient Indian god, a demi-god, of the cosmos, related to the eclipse of the sun, moon and other planets. In the ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma) Rahula became popular as a protector of the 'revealed treasure' teachings (terma). In Buddhist depictions he is portrayed with the lower body of a coiled serpent spirit (Naga) and the upper body with four arms, nine heads, adorned with a thousand eyes. In the middle of the stomach is one large wrathful face. The face in the stomach, belly, is actually the face and head of Rahula. The nine stacked heads depicted above are the nine planets that Rahula has eclipsed, or rather literally swallowed, eaten and now symbolically appear on top of his own face and insatiable mouth. The names of each head and their functions are listed as follows:
1: Vitripatra, who sends down violent hailstorms.
2: Drang srong, who causes hail and thunderbolts.
3: Sgra gcan ’dzin, who cuts the life-force of beings.
4:Du ba mjug ring, who causes anxiety and the collapse of social order.
5: Khyab ’jug chen po, who sends down gods and demons who cause misfortune.
6: Bi nu ra ja, who causes sudden war.
7: Caraka, who causes unexpected violence.
8: Ljang sngon drag po, who also causes thunderstorms and hail.
9: Bdud po rog ti, who causes earthquakes, bitter cold, the destruction of harvests, famine, and any other havoc and illness.
At the crown of the stack of all the heads, is the head of a black raven. In the Nyingma tradition the protector Rahula is considered extremely ferocious and terrifying. He is believed to cause the physical affliction of strokes on those practitioners that do not perform the rituals correctly or if they are done in an untimely manner In India, Rahu was commonly depicted as either a disembodied head, a head with torso and hands grasping the sun and moon, or with the lower body of a snake. His serpentine tail is usually recognized as its own deity, Ketu who causes comets. The Tibetan Rahula is usually depicted with a snake tail, nine heads crowned by a raven head, a face in his belly, and four arms. His two main arms usually carry a bow and arrow. His body is covered with eyes. While the serpentine tail and the face in the belly were likely borrowed from Rahu's Indian depictions, the addition of the nine other heads, which are associated with the nine planets, possibly refer to Vishnu's avatars and their association with the planets in Indian astrology. The eyes covering his body may be a remnant of the Hindu god Indra's iconography, as he is also said to be covered in eyes, and in Vedic mythology is said to have also slain an eclipse demon, named Svarbhanu. One of Indra's main weapons is also a bow and arrow which are associated in Hindu mythology with rainbows. Rahu and Rahula are also thought to cause rainbows. He is also said to rule the great and minor planetary gods.
Myth[]
In a 17th century text called 'The Biographies of the Ocean of Oath-bound Protectors.' It is said that in a valley near Mount Kailash lived a family of Gza (Planetary spirits), a male Gza named Seer A bhan-sha ya, and a female Gza’ named ''Lustrous Golden Planet Woman'' conceive a single son named '' Planet Man''. Prior to the birth of their child, both parents had dreams of mixed good and bad omens, which a fortuneteller interprets as meaning the boy will practice the Dharma, but will have a short life, and will ultimately bring harm to all beings. In the first few years of Planet Man's life, he took the monastic vows of a Buddhist monk, and retreated to a hermitage in the forest. For many years he remained in a deep state of meditation, and in those years he was given the title of "Seer". Not far from his dwelling was a city named "Unsurpassed” which had a king who had four queens. One day the four queens went to the forest to gather flowers and relax. Having met with the seer they engendered faith and took temporary vows. Because the seer preached the Dharma to them, they became disenchanted with cyclic existence. Then they went back to the palace and spoke to the king, applauding the seer’s virtues, and he was invited as royal priest to the palace. The seer accepts this honor, and the king leaves to wage war and is gone for a year. During that time, a rumor spread among the people of the region that the Seer was having an affair with the four queens. When the king returns and hears these rumors from his subjects and ministers, he is enraged and confronts the seer, calling him a fraud and a disgrace to the Dharma. He then declares that the seer will be executed for his crimes. The king built a large pile of 100 loads of sandalwood, and poured three loads of sesame oil on the wood and set it on fire. The seer pointed a golden razor to the sky and yelled a long curse, vowing to be reborn as a demon and take revenge on all the enemies of Buddhism. Having cast the curse, the seer jumped into the middle of the sandalwood fire and was burnt to death. The four queens, having made similar aspirations, simultaneously jumped into the middle of the fire and were all killed. Some time later, the seer is reborn as the son of a Rakshasa named Daśagrīva and a Nagini named named “Frog-Head Blood Eye,” Thus Rahula has a hybrid Rakshasa-Naga appearance. This monstrous creature then begins to terrorize all beings in the universe, the Devas are thrown into a panic, fearing that Rahula will steal their pot of golden ambrosia. The gods send an army of 500 watchmen led by Surya, Soma, and a deity named "Unborn one". Soon the gods catch Rahula trying to steal the pot and raise the alarm, Rahula, enraged, swallows the Sun and the Moon, and spreads 18 kinds of contagious disease amongst the gods, killing the Unborn one. Because of this, Rahula gains the name “Great Planet Demon.” Rahula then swallows the nectar of immortality, but several drops spill from his mouth onto the Earth, which become various kinds of medicinal plants, including myrobalan, nutmeg, and camphor. Śakra, apparently alarmed by all of this, runs to Vajrapāṇi to tell him what had happened. Vajrapāṇi becomes enraged in turn and attacks Rahula, smashing his head into nine pieces with his Vajra thunderbolt. These nine pieces fly up into the sky as birds, but Vajrapāṇi prevents them from escaping by also transforming into a bird, thus apparently explaining that Rahula’s tenth head, which is a crow or raven head, is Vajrapāṇi in bird form. Again Vajrapāṇi struck with his vajra and smashed the body into eight pieces. They became the eight planets, and because Rahula had drunk the ambrosia, the body parts were not devoid of life. Vajrapāṇi put them in an iron net, fixed to a boulder of molten metal, and threw them into the depths of the seas and they became black with corruption and defilement, with a smokey color. After that, the edges of the ocean everywhere churned and the three realms were overwhelmed. At that time, all of the nāgas named him “Long Smoke Tail”. Again he was pulled out of the ocean. Vajrapāṇi saw him, and Rahula offered the essence of his lifeforce. Having offered it with a sacred Mantra. Rahula then made a vow to never cause destruction, and instead protect the Dharma and it's teachings, Vajrapani accepts, and thus Rahula becomes a disciple of Vajrapani.