Collection place: East Asia / Materials: Iron (metal) / Function: 1.0 Use not specified (Utensils, Implements, and Conveyances) - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Collection place East Asia Materials Iron (metal) Function 1.0 Use not specified (Utensils, Implements, and Conveyances)

Hearst Museum object titled Flintlock pouches, accession number 9-21886a-d, described as Set of pouches for use with a flintlock rifle. Objects (a), (b) and (c) are tubes carefully carved from hardwood with a beaded leather stopper. They are 4 1/2 X 1X 1. Each of these would contain the required amount of gunpowder for one charge of the flintlock. Object (d) 2 3/4X7/8X7/8 is an iron container of approximately the same capacity as objects a-c, and is perhaps used for the same purpose, though it (now) lacks a stopper.These objects are strung on a leather belt (45 inches long) with an iron hook.

Hearst Museum object titled Purba, accession number 9-21926, described as This is a fine bronze purba with an iron blade. The three heads seem to be those of a Mahakala, although it is difficult to identify a deity from the head alone. There is a hole in the very top of the heads that may have held an additional feature of this deity. A small horse head, for example, would reveal the deity to be Hayagriva.A purba, a Tantric ritual dagger, embodies the Tantric means of removing obstacles and defilements. For example, an object representing greed, anger and/or ignorance may be subdued by the yogin using a purba as part of the meditation. In general, a purba is used to dispatch unseen enemies. These may be actual living beings such as non-human demons, or, more typically, inner enemies such as greed, hatred and ignorance. Ordinary enemies may be converted to friends by means such as generosity, kindness and compassion. However unseen enemies, such as the enemies within (e.g., one's own greed, anger and ignorance) cannot be controlled by external means. The purba uses the special methods of Tantric practice to focus the power of a wrathful god, such as Hayagriva or Mahakala, on the unseen enemy. There are a variety of wrathful deities whose practice is given in the Tantras. If one is engaged in the practice of Mahakala, for example, one could use a Mahakala purba such as this in a meditation ritual to isolate and destroy a measure of ones inner enemy of anger, or to subdue an unseen outer enemy such as a demon. This purba also may be used in a ritual involving other deities and other purbas. Mahakala, for example, has a number of secondary wrathful deities in his retinue. A ritual involving Mahakala and his retinue would use this purba together with a number of smaller purbas.