Daiitoku Myouou　大威徳明王

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Lit. *myouou 明王 of great awesome virtue. A god thought so powerful as to be able to conquer death. The Sino-Japanese name for Yamantaka (transliterated as Enmantok(u)ka or Enmantokkya 焔曼徳迦). A compound of Yama *Enmaten 焔魔天 and Antaka, both designations of the Indian god of death, the name Yamantaka was later interpreted to mean "he who terminates Yama," whence he is also known as Gouenmason 降焔魔尊 (Subjugator of Yama), thus implying the aforementioned power over death. He was originally regarded as a wrathful manifestation of *Monju 文殊, and in some versions of the Womb World Mandala *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 (e.g., *Taizou zuzou 胎蔵図像) he appears in the Monjuin 文殊院. His cult was popular in India, and he assumed a variety of forms and names, including Yamari (Enemy of Yama) and Vajrabhairava. Under the latter name he is still revered by Tibetans. He was believed to be especially efficacious in rites of subjugation and imprecation, and in Japan his rite was often performed when seeking victory in battle. Daiitokuji 大威徳寺, Osaka., a temple dedicated to an image of him attributed to Eryou 慧亮 (791-859), was until recently a place of pilgrimage in times of war. In Japan he is also counted among the five great myouou *godai myouou 五大明王, representing the wrathful manifestation of *Amida 阿弥陀 and presiding over the western quarter (although in Indian Tantric Buddhism he generally presides over the eastern quarter). In Japan he is usually represented with six faces, six arms and six legs (whence he is also known as Rokusokuson 六足尊 or Venerable Six-Footed One) and rides a water buffalo (which hints at his links with Yama), although in the Jimyouin 持明院 of the *Genzu mandara 現図曼荼羅 he is shown seated on a heaped rock pedestal *shitsushitsuza 瑟瑟座 with his three right legs pendant. The objects held in his hands may vary, and in some cases he is depicted standing on three legs on the back of the buffalo, as seen in examples in Nezu 根津 Museum, Tokyo and Toushoudaiji 唐招堤寺, Nara. From about the 12c onwards bronze images of Daiitoku Myouou were made for use in imprecatory rites as in the example at Jizouin 地蔵院, Kyoto. There is also a *mandara 曼荼羅　dedicated to him, Daiitoku myouou mandara 大威徳明王曼荼羅.

REFERENCES:

EXTERNAL LINKS:

NOTES:

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.　No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。