Fugen　普賢

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Lit. universally good (Sk: Samantabhadra); also Henkitsu 遍吉. A bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩, who is shown mounted on a six-tusked white elephant and appears to devotees in order to protect and instruct them. In Mahayana Buddhism he plays a central role in the KEGONKYOU 華厳経 (Sk: Avatamsaka sutra),the pilgrimage *mandara 曼荼羅 of fifty-five saints preserved at Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara. At the same time, according to the HOKEKYOU 法華経 or Lotus Sutra (Sk: Saddharmapundarika sutra), he is closely associated with *Monju 文殊,the principal bodisattva who represents wisdom and enlightenment. Together they serve as the two attendants of *Shaka 釈迦, the founder of Buddhism, in one version of the *Shaka sanzon 釈迦三尊, with Fugen on the right symbolizing praxis and Monju on the left symbolizing wisdom. In Japan, because of the great popularity of the Lotus Sutra, Fugen is most commonly represented riding an elephant as described in that text, usually with his hands clasped together but sometimes holding a lotus, scepter or scroll. Renowned examples of pictorial representations are kept at Tokyo National Museum (late Heian period) and Bujouji 豊乗寺 in Tottori prefecture (12c), while a representative example of a statuary image dates from the Heian period and is held by the Okura Shuukokan 大倉集古館 in Tokyo. In Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教, Fugen is considered to symbolize the thought/mind of enlightenment, bodaishin 菩提心, and appears in both the Womb World Mandala *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅, and the Diamond World Mandala *Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅. In the Taizoukai mandara he appears in the central eight-Petal Court, Chuudai hachiyouin 中台八葉院 (holding a lotus surmounted with a sword in his left hand) and in the Monjuin 文殊院 next to Monju (holding a lotus surmounted with a three-pronged vajra in his left hand). In the Kongoukai mandara he is included among the sixteen Deities of the Auspicious Aeon gengou juurokuson 賢劫十六尊　and is also identified with Kongousatta 金剛薩た among the sixteen Great Bodhisattvas juuroku daibosatsu 十六大菩薩. In Japan he also figures among the so-called Thirteen Buddhas *juusanbutsu 十三仏, presiding over the memorial service held on the 28th day after a person's death. A variant form of Fugen is called Fugen Enmei Bosatsu 普賢延命菩薩 and is invoked in the Fugen rite for longevity, Fugen enmeihou 普賢延命法, regarded as an important rite especially in the Tendai 天台 sect. Fugen Enmei Bosatsu appears in two forms. The first is two-armed and seated on a lotus supported by either three elephants or a single three-headed elephant. He holds a five-pronged vajra in his right hand and a bell in his left hand. The second form is twenty armed (also appearing in the Henchi-in 遍知院 of the Taizoukai mandara) seated on a lotus that is sometimes supported by four elephants. An example of a painting of the first form is that preserved at Matsunoodera 松尾寺 in Kyoto (mid-12c) and of the second that preserved at Jikouji 持光寺 (1153) in Hiroshima prefecture. There are also examples of statuary images of both forms. Fugen also figures in the picture of Fugen and the ten demonesses Fugen juurasetsunyo-zu 普賢十羅刹女図, in which Fugen in his role as protector of devotees of the Lotus Sutra is depicted sitting on a six-tusked elephant and accompanied by ten demonesses rasetsunyo 羅刹女 (Sk: raksasi) who are also mentioned in the Lotus Sutra as tutelary spirits of the Lotus Sutra. These demonesses are depicted in either Tang Chinese costume (painting from the Heian period) preserved at Rozanji 盧山寺, Kyoto or in Japanese dress (painting from Kamakura period) in the Hinohara 日野原 Collection, Tokyo.

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