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Dainichi@‘ε“ϊ
KEY WORD :@art history / iconography
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Lit. Great Sun. Translation of the Sk. Mahavairocana "(Great) Illuminating One"; also translated as (Dai)Henjou (‘ε)•ΥΖ "(Great) Universally Illuminating One" or transliterated as (Maka)Birushana (–€ζd)©αΈŽΥ“ί. The central and supreme deity of the pantheon of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou –§‹³. In origin he has been linked to an ancient sun cult and to the Zoroastrian god of light, Ahura Mazda, and in Bradmanical literature the appelation Vairocana appears, for example, as the name of a legendary king and of the king of the asuras *Ashura ˆ’C—…. In Buddhism he assumes a central role in the KEGONKYOU ‰ΨŒ΅Œo (Sk: Avatamsaka-sutra; see *Rushanabutsu αΈŽΙ“ί•§) , and then with the development of Esoteric Buddhism he eventually took the place of *Shaka Žί‰ή as expositor of the Buddhist teachings, becoming the central figure in the Esoteric Buddhist pantheon as represented by the Womb World Mandala *Taizoukai mandara ‘Ω‘ ŠE™ΦδΆ—… and *Kongoukai mandara ‹ΰ„ŠE™ΦδΆ—…. In Japan Dainichi also figures among the so-called Thirteen Buddhas *juusanbutsu \ŽO•§, presiding over the memorial service held on the 12th anniversary of a person's death. Dainichi differs icongraphically from other Buddhas in that he is represented in the form of bodhisattva *bosatsu •μŽF, seated, wearing silk robes and accessories such as armlets and bracelets, and having long locks of hair. He also wears a five-wisdom bejewelled crown *gochi houkan Œά’q•σŠ₯ on his head, symbolizing his identity with the Five Buddhas gobutsu Œά•§ and the five wisdoms attributed to them *gochi nyorai Œά’q”@—ˆ, and he may be identified by his distinctive hand-gestures: in the Taizoukai mandara he forms the concentration seal of the Dharma-realm *hokkai jouin –@ŠE’θˆσ, with both hands lying on his lap, right on top of left, palms upward and thumbs touching, while in the Kongoukai mandara he forms the seal of the knowledge fist *chiken-in ’qŒˆσ, with the clenched right hand posed over the extended index finger of the otherwise clenched left hand. He is generally colored white, and his distinctive animal vehicle *choujuuza ’Ήbΐ is the lion; his standard seed-syllable, shuji ŽνŽq in the Taizoukai mandara is '‰h' (Jp: aku œ¦) and in the Kongoukai mandara 'vam' ban θf, and his symbol, sanmayagyou ŽO–†–λŒ` is a stura *tou “ƒ. Owing to the strength of the Shingon ^ŒΎ sect during the Heian period , there are many fine examples of images of Dainichi dating from this period, and in many cases he is found enshired in a stura (often the type known as a *tahoutou ‘½•σ“ƒ), either alone or as the central figure of a pentad consisting of the five Buddhas; images according with his features in the Kongoukai mandara are found to predomiate.
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