Daijizaiten　大自在天

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Translation of Sanskrit Mahesvara (also transliterated as Makeishura 摩醯首羅), one of the many names of Siva, who, along with Brahma *Bonten 梵天 and Visnu is one of the three chief gods of Hinduism. Presiding in particular over cosmic destruction, he has come to be regarded as the supreme Hindu deity. Daijizaiten was adopted into Buddhism as a protector of the Buddhist teachings and is also counted among the guardians of the eight directions, presiding over the northeast corner and thus figuring among the Twelve Deities *juuniten 十二天, consisting of the eight guardians plus the guardians of heaven, earth, sun and moon. In this context he appears under the name Ishana 伊舎那. According to the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism, before becoming a Buddhist tutelary deity Daijizaiten was first vanquished by *Gouzanze Myouou 降三世明王, the conqueror of earthly desires. As a result he and his consort Uma 烏摩 (Sk: Uma) often appear in representations of Gouzanze, who is shown trampling them underfoot. Although Daijizaiten did not become the object of an independent cult in China and Japan, a number of many-faced and many-armed forms are described in ritual texts, while in the Womb World Mandala *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 he appears in the Gekongoubu-in 外金剛部院 with two arms, dark-red in colour, seated on a dark-blue buffalo, and accompanied by Uma, also seated on a buffalo. *Gigeiten 技芸天, a minor deity and patroness of the arts, is believed to have been born from his hairline.

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