Origins & Early Life

Saraha,Sarhappa, Sarahapa, Sarahapāda (Tibetan: མདའ་བསྣུན་, Wylie: mda' bsnun, THL: danün, lit. 'The Archer'; c. 8th century CE) was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha and poet. The name Saraha means "the one who has shot the arrow.".

Pivotal Works & Achievements

According to one, scholar, "This is an explicit reference to an incident in many versions of his biography when he studied with a dakini disguised as a low-caste arrow smith. Metaphorically, it refers to one who has shot the arrow of non duality into the heart of duality." Saraha is considered to be one of the founders of Vajrayana Buddhism, particularly the Mahāmudrā tradition associated with the mind teachings of Tibet. Saraha was originally known as Rāhula or Rāhulabhadra and was born in Roli, a region of the city-state of Rajni in eastern India, into a Shakya family and studied at the Buddhist monastic university Nalanda. Saraha is normally shown seated and holding an arrow (Skt. śaru).

Enduring Legacy & Impact

It is from a mature nameless woman, often called the Arrow Smith Dakini or the Arrow Making Dakini, who was Saraha's teacher and consort, that the typical iconography of Saraha holding an arrow emerges. Some versions of their meeting say that...

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