semui-in　施無畏印

KEY WORD :　 art history / sculptures

Lit. Mudra for bestowing fearlessness (Sk:abhaya or abhayadana or abhayaprada mudra). A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the right hand, with its fingers extended, is held in front of the chest. In the iconography of Japanese Buddhism, images with the right hand displaying the semui-in and the left hand displaying the *yogan-in 与願印, are regarded as representing the general style for images of tathagatas *nyorai 如来, and this type is termed the tsuubutsugyou 通仏形 (form common to Buddhas). Hence the semui-in is not restricted to images of *Shaka 釈迦, but is also widely used as the mudra of: *Yakushi 薬師, *Miroku 弥勒 Buddha, and Fukuu jouju 不空成就 (Sk:Amoghasiddhi) in the Diamond World Mandala *Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅. This mudra is thought to have its origins in an event that took place during Shaka's life. The malevolent Devadatta, wishing to kill Shaka, released on him an elephant maddened with alcohol, but the elephant was struck by Shaka's spiritual power and fell prostrate before him In order to emphasize Shaka's greatness, however, extant representations of this episode in India depict Shaka larger than the elephant, and as a result his right hand is often shown with the five fingers extended and the palm turned downwards as if to stroke the elephant's head. The origins of this mudra are not necessarily accepted by contemporary art historians. But in view of the fact that in Tibet the mudra turned downwards as in depictions of this subjugation of the maddened elephant is likewise called granting protection (skyabs sbyin), this interpretation is still highly possible. Images of Shaka displaying this semui-in are found in Buddhist countries throughout Asia, but there are few examples of its occurring in combination with the left hand forming the yogan-in, as is the case in Japan; instead the left hand is usually shown placed is the in the manner of the meditation mudra *zenjou-in 禅定印 or holding a corner of the robes.

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