Of these Protectors there are two classes, which are not mutually exclusive, namely, the tutelary deities of individuals, and the defenders of the faith or tutelaries of the whole Church.  The former, who are extremely important in the religious life of the Lamas, are called Yi-dam and may be compared with the Ishta-devatas of the Hindus:  the latter or Chos Skyon correspond to the Dharmapalas.  Every Lama selects a Yi-dam either for life or for a period.  His choice must remain a secret but he himself has no doubts, as after fasting and meditation the deity will appear to him.[1035] Henceforth he every morning repeats formulae which are supposed to give him the appearance of his tutelary and thus scare away hostile demons.  The most efficacious tutelaries are tantric forms of the Dhyani Buddhas, especially Vajrasattva, Vajradhara and Amitayus.  The deity is represented not in the guise of a Buddha but crowned, robed, and holding a thunderbolt, and his attributes appear to be derived from those of Indra.[1036] In his arms he always clasps a Sakti.

A second class of tutelaries is composed of so-called Buddhas, accompanied by Saktis and terrific in aspect, who are manifestations of the Buddhahood for special purposes.  I do not know if this description is theologically correct, for these fantastic figures have no relation to anything deserving the name of Buddhism, but Grunwedel[1037] has shown that they are comparable with the various forms of Siva.  This god does not become incarnate like Vishnu but manifests himself from time to time in many shapes accompanied by a retinue who are sometimes merely attendants and sometimes alternative forms of the Lord.  Virabhadra, the terrible being created by Siva from himself in order to confound Daksha’s sacrifice, is a close parallel to the demoniac Buddhas of Lamaism.  Some of them, such as Mahakala and Samvara, show their origin in their names and the rest, such as Hevajra, Buddhakapala and Yamantaka, are similar.  This last is a common subject for art, a many headed and many limbed minotaur, convulsed by a paroxysm of devilish passion.  Among his heads the most conspicuous is the face of an ox, yet this grotesque demon is regarded as a manifestation of the benign and intellectual Manjusri whose images in other lands are among the most gracious products of Buddhist sculpture.

Most tutelary deities of this class act as defenders of the faith and each sect has one or two as its special guardians.[1038] The idea is ancient for even in the Pitakas, Sakka and other spirits respectfully protect the Buddha’s disciples, and the Dharmapalas of Gandharan art are the ancestors of the Chos Skyon.  But in Tibet these assume monstrous and manifold disguises.  The oldest is Vajrapani and nearly all the others are forms of Siva (such as Acala or Mi-gyo-ba who reappears in Japan as Fudo) or personages of his retinue.  Eight of them are often adored collectively under the name of the Eight Terrible Ones.  Several of these are well-known figures in Hindu mythology, for though the Lamas usually give Buddhist titles to their principal deities, yet they also venerate Hindu gods, without any explanation of their status.  Thus hJigs-med-nam-mkha says that he composed his history with the help of Siva.[1039] The members of this group vary in different enumerations but the following usually form part of it.