Amoghasiddhi, the name means unfailing accomplishment or he whose achievement is not in vain, is the buddha of the northern direction and one of the Five Tathagatas of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. He is green in colour, and his right hand is raised, palm outward, in the gesture of abhaya, fearlessness and the granting of protection; often the many-headed serpent-king, the naga, is shown spread in a canopy behind him, recalling the serpent that sheltered the meditating Buddha from a storm.
In the symbolic scheme of the Five Buddhas, in which each presides over a direction, an element, a mental poison and its corresponding wisdom, Amoghasiddhi is associated with action and accomplishment: his is the all-accomplishing wisdom, the awareness that carries compassionate activity through to its completion without hindrance, and he transforms the poison of envy or jealousy, the restless, comparing energy that begrudges others their attainments, into effective, selfless action for the benefit of beings. He belongs to the karma or action family among the five, and is connected with the element of air or wind, the moving power that gets things done. Amoghasiddhi is thus the buddha of realised activity: the awakened mind not merely in contemplation but in tireless, fearless work for the liberation of others, whose efforts, unlike the anxious striving born of envy, never come to nothing.