Tshangspa Dkarpo
Tshangs-pa Dkar-po - In Tibetan, Tshangs-pa Dkar-po is the "White Brahma" while in Sanskrit he is the Sita-Brahma. He is the Buddhist view of Brahma and is not usually as ferocious as others.
Tshangs Pa Or White Brahma
Tshangspa Brahma, one of the most important gods of the Hindu pantheon, occupies only a secondary position in Tibetan Buddhism. His Tibetan name is Tshangs pa, and under this term, the ordinary four headed and two handed form of Brahma is understood, represented in accordance with Indian iconographic concepts. More frequently, however, one encounters in Tibetan religious art the representation of a white, one headed and two handed god named Tshangs pa dkar po, "the white Tshangs pa". According to the Sadhanas, this god too is identified with Brahma. He is represented seated on a white horse, brandishing a sword, and sometimes carrying a banner. He is a warrior god, but not so ferocious in aspect. Behind his crown is a turban, in which there is a conch shell, and he wears flowing garments and long sleeves.
Though the legend behind his origin does not detail his association with Brahma, it nevertheless is an interesting one:
Long time in the past, a couple gave birth to a son whom they named Tshangpa karpo. He grew up endowed with full manly attributes, and rode across the cosmos on a super horse of golden velocity. In daytime he rode across the sky and at night he descended to the ground.
At one time he went up into heaven. There he seduced a goddess girl named Dhersang, and stole the gods wish fulfilling jewel. But he was stopped by the guardians of heaven who grabbed him by his tongue and flung him to the ground, took back the jewel in his hand, and also took his life heart. He was also betrothed to the above goddess girl.
Dissatisfied by his "defeat", he continued making cosmic journeys on his unique mount. A moment came when he started killing all males he came across and forcibly fornicated with all the females he saw. One day he came across the goddess Ekazati. Intending to disturb her, he started taking liberties. The goddess became angry and struck him with her turquoise ornamented silk breech cloth. It hit him on his thigh and he became lame. Her striking him thus is fraught with symbolic interpretations since the myth further states that immediately after he was transformed into a protective deity. Her retaliation was not an assault in a physical sense. It was an attack on the negative part of his psyche, which was persuaded to transform itself into unambiguous and affirmative action. Thus his immense energies were channelised into constructive and worthy action, namely guarding the dharma and protection of the faithful. In a historical sense this represents the integration of the uncivilized shamans of the ancient Bon religion of Tibet into the realm of the dharma, by the great master Padmasambhava.
