The 21 Taras: A Complete Guide to Tara in Tibetan Buddhism — and Their Connection to Dzi Beads
By AncientDziShop.com — Understanding Buddhism Blog
Tara is one of the most beloved deities in Tibetan Buddhism — a figure of swift, active compassion who responds to the needs of practitioners with immediate grace. Her name in Sanskrit means "star," and like a star she is understood to guide those who call on her through darkness, fear, and difficulty.
Unlike some Buddhist deities whose practice is primarily reserved for advanced practitioners, Tara is universally accessible. Her simplest mantra — Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha — is among the most commonly recited in all of Tibetan tradition. Mothers teach it to children. Monks recite it before sleep. Pilgrims carry it across mountain passes. Tara is, in the truest sense, a deity of the people.
But Tara is not a single figure. Tibetan Buddhism recognizes twenty-one distinct manifestations of Tara, each with her own color, qualities, sphere of activity, and mantra. Understanding who these Taras are opens a door into one of the richest devotional traditions in all of Buddhist practice — and, for collectors and practitioners of dzi beads, illuminates a meaningful connection between these sacred Himalayan talismans and the deity they have been used alongside for centuries.
Who Is Tara? The Origin Story
The origin of Tara is described in several traditional accounts. The most widely known tells of a princess named Yeshe Dawa — "Moon of Primordial Awareness" — who lived countless eons ago during the time of a previous Buddha. Through years of devoted practice, she accumulated vast merit and was told by monks that she should pray to be reborn in a male body to better advance on the spiritual path. She refused.
She vowed instead to always manifest in female form until the cycle of existence itself was emptied of suffering. From that vow, Tara was born — a bodhisattva of inexhaustible compassion who has since manifested in twenty-one forms to address every kind of obstacle and suffering that beings encounter.
In some Tibetan Buddhist traditions, Tara is described as having arisen from a tear of Avalokiteshvara — the Bodhisattva of Compassion — making her the active, embodied expression of his boundless care for all beings. Where Avalokiteshvara hears the cries of the world, Tara acts.
Tara and Dzi Beads: A Historical and Devotional Connection
In Tibetan Buddhist practice, dzi beads have been carried and worn as protective talismans for centuries, used alongside deity practice, prayer, and devotion. The beads are understood to attract protective forces, support the merit of the wearer, and act as a tangible focus for spiritual intention. In this context, they have long been used by practitioners of Tara alongside their devotional practice — not as a replacement for practice, but as a physical companion to it.
The Green Tara Motif dzi bead is perhaps the most direct expression of this connection: a dzi bead etched with the image of Green Tara herself, used as a talisman by devotees of her practice. Beyond this specific motif, the qualities of the various Taras — protection, healing, wealth, transformation, longevity — align closely with the qualities attributed to specific eye-number dzi beads in Tibetan tradition.
What follows is our attempt to draw these connections thoughtfully and honestly. These alignments are based on shared thematic qualities in the Tibetan tradition — they are not rigid ancient correspondences, but they are meaningful ones that practitioners and collectors have long recognized.
The Major Taras and Their Dzi Bead Connections
Green Tara — Swift Protectress of All
Green Tara is the root and mother of all twenty-one Taras. She is depicted in emerald green, seated with her right leg extended — always ready to rise at a moment's notice in response to a call for help. Her mantra, Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha, is the foundation from which all other Tara mantras derive.
Green Tara is invoked for protection from the eight great fears: pride, delusion, hatred, envy, wrong views, miserliness, desire, and doubt. She is considered the most approachable of all Taras, and her practice is recommended for practitioners at every level.
Dzi connection: The Green Tara Motif dzi bead is the most direct expression of Tara in the dzi tradition — a bead etched with her image, used by devotees as a protective companion to Tara practice. Among eye dzi, the two eye dzi — associated with harmony, balance, and compassionate relationship — resonates with Green Tara's quality of active, relational compassion: the deity who is always present and always responsive.
White Tara — Longevity and Healing
White Tara is luminously white, seated in full lotus, with seven eyes — one on her forehead, one in each palm, and one on each sole — representing her all-seeing compassion. She is associated with longevity, healing, and serenity, and her practice is central to long-life rituals throughout the Tibetan world. Her mantra is Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayur Punye Jnana Pustim Kuru Svaha.
Dzi connection: White Tara's qualities of healing and longevity align naturally with the seven eye dzi bead, which is traditionally associated with health, wealth, harmonious relationships, and long life. The seven eyes of the bead mirror, in a sense, the seven eyes of White Tara — both are symbols of all-seeing, encompassing protection. The one eye dzi, associated with clarity of wisdom and vision, also carries resonance with White Tara's quality of clear, serene awareness.
For a deeper exploration of White Tara, read our dedicated post: Who is White Tara?
Blue Tara — Wrathful Protectress and Transformer
Blue Tara is one of the most powerful and fierce manifestations of Tara. With her deep blue complexion and wrathful expression, she embodies the fierce face of compassion — the energy required to cut through deeply rooted delusion and harmful influences that peaceful methods cannot address. Her wrath is entirely in service of liberation.
Blue Tara is invoked for powerful protection, the removal of deep obstacles, and the transformation of negative energy. Her practice is considered particularly effective for those facing serious threats or persistent harmful influences. Her mantra is Om Tare Hrih Svaha.
Dzi connection: Blue Tara's fierce protective power aligns most closely with the nine eye dzi bead — the most powerful of all dzi, known as the King of Dzi, associated with comprehensive protection, the removal of all obstacles, and blessings across every dimension of life. The nine eye dzi is the dzi for moments when full, unconditional protection is what is needed — which is precisely Blue Tara's sphere. The eight eye dzi, associated with protection from disasters and harmful forces, also carries strong resonance with Blue Tara's wrathful protective activity.
For a deeper exploration of Blue Tara, read our dedicated post: Who is Blue Tara?
Black Tara — Power and Overcoming Obstacles
Black Tara is depicted with a deep blue-black complexion and multiple arms, conveying her unconquerable power over negative forces. Like Blue Tara she is wrathful, but her specific sphere relates to overcoming obstacles rooted in power imbalances, harmful external influences, and deeply entrenched negative patterns. She embodies strength, command, and the transformation of aggression into protection.
Dzi connection: Black Tara's qualities of power and the removal of entrenched obstacles align with the six eye dzi bead, associated with emotional balance, the removal of negative emotions, and the cultivation of steady inner strength. The four eye dzi — associated with overcoming negative energies and the four major bodhisattvas of Buddhism — also connects meaningfully to Black Tara's role as an obstacle-remover in the bodhisattva tradition.
For a deeper exploration of Black Tara, read our dedicated post: Who is Black Tara?
Yellow Tara — Wealth and Abundance
Yellow Tara, depicted in warm golden tones and often holding a wish-granting jewel, is invoked for material prosperity, abundance, and the removal of poverty. Her practice understands that freedom from material suffering is itself a form of liberation — and that abundance, used with wisdom and generosity, supports the conditions for spiritual practice.
Dzi connection: Yellow Tara's sphere of wealth and abundance aligns directly with the three eye dzi bead — known as the Bead of Wealth, associated with the Tibetan wealth deity Kubera and the three great fortunes of prosperity, health, and happiness. The five eye dzi, associated with the granting of wishes and attracting the five blessings, also connects naturally to Yellow Tara's wish-fulfilling quality.
Orange Tara (Vajra Tara) — Removal of Conflict and Harm
Orange Tara, also known as Vajra Tara, is associated with the removal of conflict, dispute, harmful speech, and the damage caused by broken vows or relationships. She is invoked by practitioners facing interpersonal conflict, legal difficulty, or harm caused by the negative intentions of others. Her name connects her to the vajra — the indestructible quality of enlightened awareness that cuts through all conflict.
Dzi connection: Orange Tara's quality of cutting through conflict and harmful speech connects thematically to the tiger tooth dzi — a motif associated with protection from harm and the courage to face and overcome threatening forces. Among eye dzi, the two eye dzi's association with harmony and balanced relationship also resonates — Orange Tara working to restore what the two eye dzi embodies.
For a deeper exploration of Orange Tara, read our dedicated post: Who is Orange Tara?
Red Tara (Kurukulla) — Magnetizing and Attraction
Red Tara, sometimes called Kurukulla, is associated with magnetizing favorable circumstances — attracting loving relationships, positive influences, and supportive conditions into one's life. She is depicted in vivid red, holding a flower bow and arrow of lotus blossoms, symbolizing the power of compassionate attraction.
Dzi connection: Red Tara's magnetizing quality resonates with the five eye dzi bead, sought after for its ability to attract blessings and fulfill wishes, drawing favorable circumstances toward the wearer. The lotus motif found on some dzi beads — particularly carnelian dzi with lotus patterns — also connects naturally to Kurukulla's lotus symbolism.
A Note on These Connections
We want to be clear about what these connections are and are not. There is no ancient canonical text that maps specific Taras to specific dzi eye numbers in a one-to-one correspondence. What exists instead is a rich tradition of thematic resonance — shared qualities, overlapping symbolism, and the practitioner's own intuition in recognizing which protective talisman aligns with which devotional practice.
In the Tibetan tradition, dzi beads are understood to attract protective forces and support the merit of the wearer. Tara practice is understood to invoke the compassionate activity of an enlightened being on the practitioner's behalf. The two traditions have coexisted in Himalayan Buddhist culture for centuries, carried together by the same practitioners, kept in the same pouches, worn around the same necks.
The connections we have drawn above are rooted in that shared tradition and in the documented qualities of both the Taras and the dzi eye motifs. They are offered as a starting point for your own contemplation — not as doctrine.
The Twenty-One Taras and the Praise Text
The full enumeration of the twenty-one Taras comes from the Praises to the Twenty-One Taras — a liturgical text recited daily in monasteries throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world. Each verse describes one Tara: her color, posture, activity, and the specific protection she bestows.
The twenty-one Taras are not twenty-one separate goddesses but twenty-one aspects of the single enlightened compassion that Tara embodies. Just as sunlight passing through a prism reveals a spectrum of colors that were always present within the white light, the twenty-one Taras reveal the full spectrum of compassionate activity present in Tara's enlightened mind.
Practitioners typically begin with Green Tara as a foundation and may later receive teachings and empowerments for specific Taras whose qualities align with their circumstances or practice.
Tara's Mantra
The root Tara mantra, recited across all traditions:
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
- Om — the body, speech, and mind of all enlightened beings
- Tare — liberating from samsara
- Tuttare — liberating from the eight fears and outer dangers
- Ture — liberating from disease and inner obstacles
- Svaha — "so be it" — establishing the mantra in the heart
This mantra can be recited by anyone, in any circumstances, without initiation or special instruction. It is Tara's open invitation to all beings.
Dzi Beads Associated with Tara Practice
At Ancient Dzi Shop, we carry genuine ancient dzi beads and antique dzi beads. We never retouch our photographs, and we do not make claims beyond what we can honestly support. For practitioners of Tara who are drawn to dzi beads as a companion to their practice, here is a practical guide to what to look for:
- Green Tara Motif dzi — when available, the most direct Tara-dzi connection
- Nine eye dzi — for practitioners of Blue Tara and those seeking comprehensive protection
- Seven eye dzi — for practitioners of White Tara and those focused on health and longevity
- Three eye dzi — for practitioners of Yellow Tara and those seeking prosperity
- Two eye dzi — for practitioners of Green Tara and those seeking harmony and balance
- Carnelian dzi with lotus motif — a beautiful thematic connection to Red Tara's lotus symbolism
Browse our full collection of ancient dzi beads and antique dzi beads. If you are looking for a specific motif to complement your Tara practice, feel free to contact us — we are happy to help you find the right bead.
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