Rahula- Tibetan GodDeity"The Mighty Planet"

The Severed Head

Rahula's hunger began in the heavens. When the gods obtained the nectar of immortality, a demon named Rahu disguised himself among them and drank. The sun and moon spotted the deception and called out to Vishnu, who cut Rahu in half before the nectar could pass his throat. His head survived, immortal from the lips up. It flies through the sky still, chasing the two who betrayed him. When it catches them, it swallows them whole, and the world goes dark. But the sun and moon pass through his severed neck and emerge again.

Bound by Oath

Padmasambhava met Rahula and broke him through spiritual combat, then bound him by oath to protect the dharma. His fury, once aimed at the luminaries, now turned against any threat to the teachings. In the Nyingma school, Rahula holds extraordinary rank: he stands alongside Ekajati and Dorje Legpa as one of the three principal protectors of the Dzogchen teachings, a cosmic demon set to guard the tradition's innermost practices.

The Thousand-Eyed Serpent

His bound form is unlike any other protector's. Below the waist he is a coiled serpent, and every scale bears an unblinking eye. Nine heads rise in tiers above, the topmost a raven. His primary face has a single great eye in the forehead and a mouth wide enough to swallow the sun. He carries a bow and arrow that can reach any target.

In Tibetan astrology, Rahula is the lunar nodes themselves: the invisible points where the moon's orbit crosses the sun's path. When the nodes align, the ancient myth plays out overhead. Nyingma monks recite his mantras as the world dims, performing protective offerings until the light returns and the sun or moon passes through the neck that Vishnu cut.