Unknown
The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040)15th-16th century

On view:

Resnick Pavilion, floor 1

Gilded bronze sculpture of a seated, round-bellied male figure with a topknot, cross-legged on a lotus-petal base with an animal-face relief at the front

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040)
Place Made: Central or Eastern Tibet
Date Made: 15th-16th century
Medium: Gilt copper alloy with paint and silver
Dimensions: 16 1/2 x 11 5/8 x 8 1/8 in. (41.91 x 29.53 x 20.64 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the 2001 Collectors Committee
Accession Number: M.2001.45
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040) was a renowned Buddhist monk and teacher who was instrumental in the creation of the principal Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, which was chiefly responsible for the rise of Buddhism in Central Tibet. His birth name was Samantabhadra (Universal Goodness), which he was given because of the numerous auspicious astrological signs that heralded his nativity. He was born a Hindu prince in eastern India, but as a youth went to Kashmir to study Buddhism. At his father's insistence, he returned home to marry a Brahmin woman, but soon became disillusioned with worldly life and renounced it to become a monk. Naropa then returned to Kashmir to continue his Buddhist studies and was eventually appointed the revered abbot and chancellor of the great monastic university of Nalanda in eastern India, which was the leading center of advanced learning in all of Asia for over 500 years. His most important student at Nalanda was Marpa (1012-1097), who founded the Kagyu order based on Naropa's interpretation of Buddhist doctrine. The lineage of the teacher is paramount in Tibetan Buddhism and forms the basis of its organization into the four major orders and several suborders. Naropa's religious teachings and writings are of such seminal significance to the Kagyu order that, even though he never visited Tibet, he is always represented in their painted and sculpted lineage hierarchies along with his master Tilopa and his student Marpa.
Selected Bibliography: Huntington, John C. and Dina Bangdel. The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art. Columbus: The Columbus Museum of Art; Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003.
Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.

Unknown
The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040)15th-16th century

On view:

Resnick Pavilion, floor 1

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040)
Place Made: Central or Eastern Tibet
Date Made: 15th-16th century
Medium: Gilt copper alloy with paint and silver
Dimensions: 16 1/2 x 11 5/8 x 8 1/8 in. (41.91 x 29.53 x 20.64 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the 2001 Collectors Committee
Accession Number: M.2001.45
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Naropa (956-1040) was a renowned Buddhist monk and teacher who was instrumental in the creation of the principal Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, which was chiefly responsible for the rise of Buddhism in Central Tibet. His birth name was Samantabhadra (Universal Goodness), which he was given because of the numerous auspicious astrological signs that heralded his nativity. He was born a Hindu prince in eastern India, but as a youth went to Kashmir to study Buddhism. At his father's insistence, he returned home to marry a Brahmin woman, but soon became disillusioned with worldly life and renounced it to become a monk. Naropa then returned to Kashmir to continue his Buddhist studies and was eventually appointed the revered abbot and chancellor of the great monastic university of Nalanda in eastern India, which was the leading center of advanced learning in all of Asia for over 500 years. His most important student at Nalanda was Marpa (1012-1097), who founded the Kagyu order based on Naropa's interpretation of Buddhist doctrine. The lineage of the teacher is paramount in Tibetan Buddhism and forms the basis of its organization into the four major orders and several suborders. Naropa's religious teachings and writings are of such seminal significance to the Kagyu order that, even though he never visited Tibet, he is always represented in their painted and sculpted lineage hierarchies along with his master Tilopa and his student Marpa.
Selected Bibliography: Huntington, John C. and Dina Bangdel. The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art. Columbus: The Columbus Museum of Art; Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003.
Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.