Kartika (Drigug, Grigug)

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Kartika, or Drigug, is a ritual flaying knife used in burial rituals, with the handle crafted as a dorje. A tool of the wrathful female deities known as Dakinis (“sky dancers”), the kartika symbolizes the cutting away of all things material, symbolized by the human body. Like the phurba and other Tibetan Buddhist implements, the kartika is a likely remnant of pre-Buddhist pagan practices.

Dakini with Kartika