Dharmapala

They are typically wrathful deities, depicted with terrifying iconography in the Mahayana and tantric traditions of Buddhism.

[3] The wrathfulness is intended to depict their willingness to defend and guard Buddhist followers from dangers and enemies.

The Aṣṭagatyaḥ (the eight kinds of nonhuman beings) is one category of dharmapālas, which includes the Garuda, Deva, Naga, Yaksha, Gandharva, Asura, Kinnara, and Mahoraga.

Principal wisdom protector dharmapalas include:[citation needed] Other dharmapalas include:[citation needed] The main functions of a dharmapāla are said to be to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent spiritual practitioners from attaining spiritual realizations, as well as to foster the necessary conditions for their practice.

Other dharmapālas, notably Mahakala, belong to the Deva realm, the fourth and lowest class in the hierarchy of honorable beings.