Mandāravā

Mandāravā (IPA: [mɐndˈaːrɐʋaː], Skt., mandāravā 'Indian coral tree', Tibetan: མནྡཱ་ར་བཱ་མེ་ཏོག, Wylie: man da ra ba me tog) (also known as Pāṇḍaravāsinī) was, along with Yeshe Tsogyal, one of the two principal consorts of great 8th-century Indian Vajrayana teacher Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), a founder-figure of Tibetan Buddhism. Mandarava is considered to be a female guru-deity in Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana.

According to her biographer Samten Lingpa, she was born a princess in Zahor in northern India. She renounced her royal birthright at an early age in order to practice the Dharma. Mandarava is known as being highly educated at a very young age, a rare accomplishment for a woman at that time. She was the primary student of Yeshe Tsogyal. Mandarava's devotion led her to bring at least 800 women, including her entire personal retinue, to the path of the Dharma, all before meeting her teacher, Padmasambhava.

Mandarava is said to have attained full enlightenment in the company of Padmasambhava in the Maratika Cave in Nepal. She is considered to have been a fully realized spiritual adept, yogini, and spiritual teacher.