Nairatmya (Selfless One) is a Buddhist Dakini (Female Sky-goer), which is a class of enticing demigoddesses. She is the consort of Hevajra (see M.85.115.3, and M.81.6). She is usually represented as a dancing figure or in union with Hevajra. Occasionally, she is seated alone (see M.70.1.4).
Nairatmya is portrayed in the "half cross-legged" dance posture (ardhaparyanka-nritya), symbolic of a joyous and passionate Buddha nature. She is trampling a corpse atop a double lotus base with a cast devanagari inscription. She has a third eye, an ascetic’s piled hair crowned by a thunderbolt (vajra), a tiara, and profuse jewelry, including a long garland of severed skulls. Serpents are wrapped around her waist. Her upraised right hand holds a flaying knife (kartika) and her left hand holds a skullcup. A ritual staff (khatvanga) rests on her left shoulder. She is backed by a flaming aureole (prabhavali) with a diamond border.
The inscription reads, May Shri Ripumalla live long. (Translation by Ian Alsop.) Ripumalla (r. early 14th century) was a king of the Khasa Malla Kingdom in Western Nepal and Western Tibet, which ruled from the 11th to mid-14th century. Their capital was Semja, located in the Karnali River basin in Western Nepal. A thangka portrait of Ripumalla worshipping White (Sita) Tara dated 1312 is in Tibet Museum, Alain Border Foundation, Gruyères, Switzerland (ABP 038).
