9" Silver Tone Fierce Mahakala Tibetan Buddhist Tantric Ritual Dagger Phurba Nepal


“You come from your tree…
You, the Great Black One, the Great Crow.
Glorious Six-Armed One, homage and praise to you!
Sternly protect the doctrine of the Buddha!”


 
  • The energy of the Phurba is fierce, wrathful, piercing, affixing, and transfixing
  • This is a long one, 9.2" long!!
  • Mahakala is a fearsome protector deity, often recognizable by his angry, toothy expression and his crown of 5 skulls
  • He is often seen as an emanation of Chenrezig, just as His Holiness the Dalai Lama is
  • Mahakala appears above a full vajra dorje, and the upper end of a dorje, a horsehead, appears above his head, which is a beautiful design element
  • the phurba or kila was first used by Padmasambhava in the 8th century
  • polished bronze over a beautiful long iron blade
  • traditional 3 sided blade -  the sides of the Phurba destroy the three poisons: attachment, aversion, delusion
  • PLEASE NOTE:  this ritual item has no power of its own.  The power is symbolic and comes through the ritual practice, the practitioner and the teacher in a Buddhist setting ONLY
  • In this category you will find tantric ritual daggers or nails that are known by the name of Phurba in Tibetan or Kila in Sanskrit. The three sided Kila (representing the three root poisons transformed into their enlightened nature) is most typically associated with the wrathful deity Vajrakilaya. He is also known in Tibet as Dorje Phurba and is usually seen depicted with his consort Khorlo Gyedunma. Vajrakilaya is embodied in the kîla as a means of liberating violence, hatred, and aggression
  • the 3 sided blade is held in the mouth of the mythical sea creature Makara and represents the power to transform the "3 poisons", or kleshas, into wisdom
  • I did a great deal of reading about the symbology and use of the phurba and there is a multitude of information out there, quite a fair amount of it contradictory!  Please see the additional information I have attached below the listing.***

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***MUCH MORE ABOUT THE PHURBA:




The fabrication of kīla is quite diverse. Having pommel, handle, and blade, kīla are often segmented into suites of triunes on both the horizontal and vertical axes, though there are notable exceptions. This compositional arrangement highlights the numerological importance and spiritual energy of the integers three (3) and nine (9). Kīla may be constituted and constructed of different materials and material components, such as wood, metal, clay, bone, gems, horn or crystal.

Like the majority of traditional Tibetan metal instruments, the kīla is often made from brass and iron (terrestrial and/or meteoric iron. 'Thokcha(Tibetan ཐོག་ལྕགས, Wylie: thog lcags) means "sky-iron" in Tibetan and denote tektites and meteorites which are often high in iron content. Meteoric iron was highly prized throughout the Himalaya where it was included in sophisticated polymetallic alloys such as Panchaloha for ritual implements. The handle generally has a triune form as is common to the pommel and blade. The blade is usually composed of three triangular facets or faces, meeting at the tip. These represent, respectively, the blade's power to transform the negative energies known as the "three poisons" or "root poisons" (Sanskrit: mula klesha) of attachment/craving/desire, delusion/ignorance/misconception, and aversion/fear/hate.

In Sanskrit it is called the kilaya or the kila, and in Tibetan it is called the phurba, phurpa. The phurba is also called 'the magic dagger'. 'Phur' is translated from the Sanskrit 'kila' and it means peg or nail. Padmasambhava is widely assumed to have invented the phurba. Padmasambhava used the phurpa to consecrate the ground when he established the Samye monastery in the 8th century. The phurba is a three-sided stake that is used in Buddhist rituals. Because Tibet has always been a nomadic culture, the tent is an important part of Tibetan lives, and placing the tent pegs into the ground is always seen as sacrificing the ground. The shape of the phurpa may have come from the stake used to hold down tents.



The three-sided style of the phurba comes from an ancient vedic tool used to pin down sacrifices. The phurba has three segments on its blade. The three segments represent the power of the phurba to transform negative energies. These energies are known as the 'three poisons,' and are attachment, ignorance, and aversion. The three sides of the phurba also represent the three spirit worlds, and the phurba itself represents the axis of the three spirit worlds. The phurba brings the three spirit worlds together. The handle of the phurba represents 'wisdom', while the blade represents 'method'.

The phurba is often stabbed down into a bowl of rice or other grains in Tibetan rituals. Phurbas can be made from wood, bone, or metals such as copper and brass. If more than one metal is used to make a phurba, it is done in a combination of three or nine metals, which are both meaningful combinations numerically.

There are always carvings at the top of phurpas. Some popular images are skull heads or Buddha heads. Sometimes the Buddha heads come in threes to mirror the blade, so that each way the blade is turned, there is always a Buddha's head facing you.

The phurba symbolizes stability, and it is often used during ceremonies. The phurba is often used by Tantric practitioners. The phurba can also hold demons in place. Only those who are empowered to use the phurpa may use it in these rituals. The phurba can be used to tether negative energies during ceremonies, or as a stabilizer. The blade on a phurba is never sharp, it is only used as a ritual dagger, not an actual weapon.

The phurpa is also used by Dorje Phurba a.k.a. Vajrakilaya, who is the wrathful form of Vajrapani (who is one of the wrathful deities). Vajrakilaya is often seen holding the phurba on Buddhist statues and thangkas (Buddhist paintings). Vajrakilaya is a wrathful deity who removes obstacles. Vajrakilaya's consort is Khorlo Gyedunma, and she is a manifestation of the Green Tara.

Phurpas are only to be used ritualistically by Shamans or those who have been taught how to properly do so. To use the phurba, practitioners first meditate, then they recite the sadhana of the phurba, and invite the deity to enter the phurba. They then stab the phurba into the ground, or into a bowl of rice or grain, and imagine that the evil spirits or negative energies are underneath the blade. Phurpas can also be used as decoration in homes and temples, and many use phurbas as part of their meditation rooms


The Tibetan Buddhist phurba represents a dagger (although phurbas are not sharp) and is used in Buddhist Tantric philosophy to represent the ability to overcome obstacles and destroy evil. The phurba is also called a kila or kilaya. The kilaya is used in Himalayan shamanic ceremonies as well as in Buddhism.