Dorje Legpa was subdued by Guru Rinpoche. However, no fire puja by Nyingma High Lamas could ever subdue Dorje Shugden. Countless fire pujas are constantly being performed until today but none could contain Dorje Shugden's power. That alone truly separates Dorje Shugden and Dorje Legpa.
However, I am unable to find much info regarding Dorje Ta'og on the Internet except the fact that he is propitiated by Sera monastery and the fact that he is also unenlightened. Perhaps, someone on the net can shed light on this obscure deity.
History of Dorje Legpa.
Dorje Legpa (Skt: Vajrasadhu) whose name means "Excellent or Accomplished Vajra" is held to be one of the highest ranking "oath-bound" guardian deities (Skt: Dharmapala) by the Nyingma "old" sect of Tibetan Buddhism (De Nebesky-Wojokowitz, 154). His chief officer and emanation Garba Nagpo, "The Black-Hued Blacksmith," is an equally important protective deity who appears in a number of paintings in the Rezk collection. By coincidence, the largest and smallest thangkas included in the present exhibition represent respectively, Dorje Legpa and Garba Nagpo. The varying sizes of these works is not indicative of their relative status but rather of differing functions within the ritual and devotional activities of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite its size when compared to other paintings in the exhibition, the painting of Dorje Legpa is actually not that unusual for images of protective deities. Large hanging tankas such as this are often displayed inside a special room of a monastery called the mGon khang "hall of the protectors" or are used to line the inner walls of prayer halls. In contrast, the smaller painting of Garba Nagpo was probably created as an item of personal devotion carried by hand or placed in a private shrine. Compared to the rather folkish style of the large painting, the smaller painting with its finely detailed miniature surface is perhaps the most elegantly painted image in the present exhibition.
Dorje Legpa is one of the native deities subdued by Padmasambhava and bound by oath to serve the Buddhist cause. Like other protective deities he has a variety of forms and is sometimes indistinguishable from his chief officer Garba Nagpo. According to the Nyingma tradition, he is one of four treasure guardians and resides in the South where he guards over the yellow treasure of gold (De Nebesky-Wojokowitz, 154) and appears at times as a guide to help others find hidden dharma teachings (T: gter ma). His abode is described in a manner similar to that depicted in this large thangka with a storm brewing behind a circle of desolate black mountains where a number of wild horses, yaks, and goats wandering about the desolate setting. Dorje Legpa is accompanied by seven fierce looking blue figures who are shown wildly flaying their limbs and dismembering corpses. These gruesome little figures probably represent nine brothers (T: Ma sangs spun dgu) who are part of Dorje Legpa's large retinue which also includes three hundred and sixty of his own brothers. Dorje Legpa's mount is a billy-goat with crossed horns that stares out directly at the viewer. This is an actual kind of goat native to Tibet called a Dam Chen Ra "Oath-bound Goat" which is sometimes stuffed and placed at the entrance to the halls of protectors (Lipton, 194). The vajra (T: rDo rJe) he holds above his head in his right hand is said to be made of meteoric iron and in his left hand he holds a string of prayer beads (Skt: mala, T: 'phreng wa) made of miniature skulls. Directly above Dorje Legpa is a small seated image of Padmasambhava. To Padmasambhava's sides are four unidentified monks in yellow hats.
