Introduction to Ucchuṣma
Introduction to Ucchuṣma
by Stefan Mang
Ucchuṣma “Desiccating Fire”, also known as Bhurkuṃkūṭa, is a wrathful manifestation of Vajrapāṇi associated with the purification of defilements, sickness, and disease. The Kangyur preserves a liturgy related to this deity, entitled The Mantra and Praise of the Wrathful King Bhurkuṃkūṭa. According to this canonical work, the deity is especially potent in purifying skin diseases. He is depicted with pockmarks (sme ba can), which symbolize the transmutation of skin ailments and other impurities. For this reason, his Tibetan name is Mewa Tsekpa (sme ba brtsegs pa), meaning “the pockmarked one.”
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Ucchuṣma is invoked in a practice called Removing All Defilements of Samaya (dam grib nyes pa kun sel), which is especially valued for its power to purify samaya violations and defilements that contaminate the practitioner and obstruct progress on the path. He is called upon to remove these invisible obstacles. While his iconographic features may vary across practice lineages, Ucchuṣma typically appears in a wrathful form—baring sharp fangs and, most notably, crossing his principal hands at the heart in a threatening gesture (mudrā).
Further Reading
Bisschop, Peter and Griffiths, Arlo. “The practice involving the Ucchuṣmas (Atharvavedapariśiṣṭa 36)”, Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 24, 2007, 1–47.
Sanderson, Alexis. "Atharvavedinsin Tantric Territory: The Āṅgirasakalpa Texts of the Oriya Paippalādins and their Connection with the Trika and the Kālīkula, With critical editions of the Parājapavidhi, the Parāmantravidhi, and the Bhadrakālīmantravidhiprakaraṇa." In The Atharvaveda and its Paippalāda Śākhā: Historical and Philological Papers on a Vedic Tradition, ed. Arlo Griffiths and Annette Schmiedchen. (Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2007. Geisteskultur Indiens: Texte und Studien, 11. Indologica Halensis), 195–311.
Version: 1.0-20250621
