The vGo-bavi-lha-lnga:A Study on the Body Cognition in Tibetan Culture
In Tibetan culture,it is widely believed that from birth,each person is naturally accompanied by five guardian deities,known as the vGo-bavi-lha-lnga(five guardian deities).This paper reviews Tibetan texts about these deities and finds that the earliest references often appear in ancient Bon religion manuscripts or in folk songs,mainly linked to cosmic origins or human procreation,but lacking systematic features.With the evo-lution of history,society,and culture,the vGo-bavi-lha-lnga,influenced by Tibetan Buddhism,became more structured,with distinct anthropomorphic characteristics and precise depictions in thangka paintings.The article explores various aspects of the vGo-bavi-lha-lnga,including their names,forms,and the places they re-side in the human body.Despite the gradual decline of faith in these deities in everyday cultural practices,re-cent fieldwork reveals that the symbolic significance of vGo-bavi-lha-lnga in Tibetan culture still provides u-nique insights into the connection between the body and the external world.This important cultural theme,known as"embodiment,"merits further exploration.
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