sanmaya mandara　三昧耶曼荼羅

KEY WORD :　 art history / iconography

Also read samaya mandara. A form of *mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala) in which the deities are depicted by means of symbolic objects sanmayagyou 三昧耶形 such as the vajra *kongousho 金剛杵 and lotus. It is one of the four types of mandala *shishu mandara 四種曼荼羅, and whereas the great mandala daimandara 大曼荼羅, in which the deities are shown in their physical form, represents the Buddhas' mystery of the body shinmitsu 身密, the sanmaya mandara represents their mystery of mind imitsu 意密. Typical of the sanmaya mandara are the Himitsu mandara 秘密曼荼羅 (Secret mandala) described in the DAINICHIKYOU 大日経 (Sk:Vairocanabhisambodhi sutra/Mahavairocana sutra; Taishou No.848) and the Kongou himitsu mandara 金剛秘密曼荼羅 (Adamantine secret mandala) described in Chap. 1 of the KONGOUCHOUKYOU 金剛頂経 (Diamond Peak Sutra; Sk:Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha; Taishou Nos.865,882), the latter corresponding to the *Sanmaya-e 三昧耶会 of the *Kue mandara 九会曼荼羅. Copies of the sanmaya mandara of both the *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 and *Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅 were brought from China to Japan by *Kuukai 空海 (774-835), but there are not many examples of independent versions of the sanmaya mandara. The Daihitaizou sanmaya mandara 大悲胎蔵三昧耶曼荼羅 brought back to Japan by Ennin 円仁 (794-864) is a line drawing *hakubyou 白描 of a sanmaya mandara of the Taizoukai mandara deriving from the lineage of Shanwuwei (Jp:善無畏; Sk:Subhakarasimha; 637-735), and it is closely related to the *Taizou zuzou 胎蔵図像. The original is no longer extant, but a copy made in 1019, Daigoji 醍醐寺, Kyoto, is thought to be the oldest extant copy of iconographical line drawings in Japan. In the case of the *shiki mandara 敷曼荼羅 used during initiation rites, the sanmaya mandara is often used for both the Taizoukai mandara and Kongoukai mandara. This is probably because the deities are more readily distinguishable in a sanmaya mandara than in a mandara in which they are shown in their physical form, and this would have proved expedient when the initiate chose his/her tutelary deity by casting a flower onto the mandara. A typical example of such a sanmaya mandara is the shiki mandara preserved at Touji 東寺, Kyoto, and dating from the Momoyama period.

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