Benzaiten　弁才天

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Also written 瓣財天. Sk: Sarasvati. A Buddhist goddess of music, learning, eloquence, wealth, longevity, and protection from natural disasters. Among her many variant names are Daibenzaiten 大弁才天, Myouonten 妙音天, Bionten 美音天, and, most common, Benten 弁天. A river goddess in Indian mythology, she was adopted into the Buddhist and then Shinto pantheons. This origin helps to explain why many Japanese temples and shrines dedicated to Benzaiten (including those at Itsukushima 厳島, Enoshima 江ノ島, and Chikubushima 竹生島) are located near water. As described in the KONKOUMYOU SAISHOUOUKYOU 金光明最勝王経 (translated into Chinese by Yijing 義浄 in 7c), Benzaiten has eight arms with hands that hold a bow, arrow, sword, ax, spear, long pestle, iron wheel, and silk rope. The earliest Japanese example, an 8c sculpture at the *Hokkedou 法華堂 (Sangatsudou 三月堂) of Toudaiji 東大寺 is of this type. In another form, Benzaiten is represented as a plump woman dressed in a flowing Chinese style gown and holding a four-stringed lute, biwa 琵琶. This iconic type first became popular in the 13c, a well-known example being the sculpture with wood body dressed in silk robes at Tsurugaoka Hachimanguu 鶴岡八幡宮 in Kanagawa prefecture. She is sometimes depicted seated on a white serpent. In Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教 Benzaiten was associated with fifteen sons or disciples, juugo douji 十五童子. They are: Aigyou 愛敬, Hanｇi 飯櫃, Hikken 筆硯, Gyuuba 牛馬, In'yaku 印鑰, Juusha 従者, Toshou 斗升, Ishou 衣装, Kantai 官帯, San'you 蚕養, Sensha 船車, Shusen 酒泉, Shoumyou 生命, Touchuu 稻籾, and Konzai 金財. In the Muromachi period, Benzaiten was grouped within the seven gods of good fortune *shichifukujin 七福神. Through this association, during the Edo period her popularity grew with the merchant and urban classes, and new temples and shrines were dedicated to her. Benzaiten is often confused with *Kichijouten 吉祥天.

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