Thursday's wrathful deity, PEHAR

A GILT BRONZE STATUE OF PEHAR
Tibeto-Chinese, 18th Century
The three-headed guardian king seated on the back of a lion over an oval lotus base, his six arms radiating around him, wearing a tiger skin and garland of severed heads, his face with a ferocious expression surmounted by a domed hat with vajra finial.

From Circa Trade days, I'm loosely tied into the Asian arts and get emails for auctions of items I'll never own (in some cases, no one should except the museums): a Ghandaran Buddha, a Tibetan iron mirror...

It's like extreme shopping, or a museum with a a check-out desk (or River City in Bangkok). I kill hours at it - the pictures are excellent (the better to sell) and descriptions reflect the most current scholarship (the better to price).

This fellow jumped out of the latest Christie's catalog. Introducing PEHAR.

I like that he's busily fierce, sort of fierce-on-all-fronts. Don't come up from behind cause he's got you covered there too. Don't mess with his mount, he's chosen a lion.

Googled Pehar (because you can) and, like all Tibetan deities (esp. wrathful ones), discovered his story involves mutiple reincarnations and multiple explanations for his current anger.

In brief, Pehar is angry because:

Pehar was originally a Nyingma protector, but was adopted into Gelugpa practice.
Many eons ago, the dharma protector, Pehar, was a royal prince of the Ashuras called Damaraja. At the time of his birth, another boy was also born -- to one of the king's ministers. The two became fast friends and were ordained as monks together by the abbot called Dawe (moonlight.)

Damaraja's religious name was Dawe Shinu and his friend's was Tunten Nagpo.
Dawe Shinu became a scholar, who enjoyed teaching Dharma; his friend enjoyed meditating.

One day Dawe Shinu went to visit a Hindu Temple where he met a beautiful girl named Zitan Metog Ke. Overwhelmed by physical attraction, they fell into each other's arms and ended up making love in the temple for 7 days and nights.

Dawe Shinu had broken his vows of celibacy.

His friend came and tried to stop them, but he could do nothing. Dawe Shinu got so angry at the intervention that he turned into a lion and threatened to kill his friend. If it had not been for Vajrapani, who protected Tunten Nagpo with his vajra, he would have done so.

Years late, when Dawe Shinu died, he was reborn in hell. There, he was known as Butcher's Horse, and his life was full of suffering.

In his next existence, he was reborn as a human being who was very poor and homeless. One day, as he was wandering he ran into his former friend but they had no liking for each other.

Then Dawe Shinu was born to King Muche Tsampo and his wife, Queen Lamo Tongon. that time, he was named Vajra Kuhe Samati. His former friend, Tunten Nagpo, was a hermit who meditated in cave and for some reason, Vajra Kuhe Samati was moved to turn himself into a rat just to try and disturb him. Once again Vajprapani intervened to protect Tunten Nagpo.

The fourth existence of Dawe Shinu was as the third son of Dudje Tsempo, king of the local demons. His name this time was Mudu Tankhar. (His father also had four other children.)

Pehar is a reincarnation of that demon, Mudu Tankhar. He is described as having three faces, six arms and riding a lion. He is known as a Trinley Gyalpo, or Action King.

C (not wrathful at all)