A three sided peg, stake, knife or nail like ritual object that is/was used to stake out sacred and monastery sites to obstruct or repel evil. Also does wonders to nail down those life distractions such as greed, desire and envy.
The most precious of Phurbas are those made from meteorite iron. The dark blue color of an iron phurba symbolizes its meteoric or indestructible vajra nature. But since iron is already known to be 1.8 million years old (living in rock), who is to say?
Stands not included.