Seitaka douji　 制た迦童子

KEY WORD :　 art history / iconography

Lit. the youth Seitaka. One of two chief attendants of *Fudou Myouou 不動明王 (the other is *Kongara douji 矜羯羅童子). Also counted among Fudou Myouou's eight attendants *hachidai douji 八大童子. His name Seitaka is a transliteration of Sanskrit cetaka, meaning servant, slave, and he is said to personify expedient action. He is most commonly found accompanying Kongara in the Fudou triad, Fudou sanzon 不動三尊, standing to the right of Fudou. According to the HACHIDAI DOUJI HIYOU HOUBON 八大童子秘要法品, he assumes the form of a youth with skin the colour of a red lotus, has his hair tied in five knots, and holds a vajra in his left hand and a vajra-club *kougousho 金剛杵 in his right hand. Actual artistic representations of him found in Japan do not always follow these prescriptions. Seitaka is also mentioned as an attendant of deities other than Fudou, and in a rite dedicated to him in the FUKUUKENJAKU DARANIKYOU 不空羂索陀羅尼経 (Taishou No. 1096) he is described as having a joyful appearance and smiling visage, in contrast to the wrathful nature attributed to him as an attendant of Fudou

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