Gouzanze Myouou　降三世明王

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Also Shouzanze Myouou 勝三世明王. Lit. *myouou 明王 who subjugates the three worlds (Sk: Trailokyavijaya). Also known as Bazaraunkara 縛日羅吽迦羅 (Sk: Vajrahumkara) or Souba Myouou 孫婆明王 (Sk: Sumbha). The second most important myouou after *Fudou Myouou 不動明王 and one of the five great myouou *godai myouou 五大明王 who are fierce gods presiding over the five directions. Gouzanae Myouou represents the wrathful manifestation of *Ashuku 阿しゅく and his reflex Kongousatta 金剛薩た and presides over the eastern quarter. He is also regarded as the wrathful manifestation of *Dainichi 大日 in the Diamond World Mandala, Matrix Mandala, *Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅, in contrast to Fudou the wrathful manifestation of Dainichi in the *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅. He is said to have vanquished Daijizaiten 大自在天 (Sk: Mahesvara, viz. Siva), lord of three realms of desire, form and non-form, when the latter refused to submit to Dainichi, and hence he is known as Gouzanze or he who subjugates the three worlds, although the three worlds are also said to refer to the three poisons of greed, anger and ignorance. Chap. 2 of the KONGOUCHOUKYOU 金剛頂経 deals with his subjugation of Daijizaiten. As is suggested by his name, he is invoked in particular for rites of subjugation. He is represented in a variety of forms, including four faces and eight arms, three faces and eight arms, and one face and four or six arms, but most commonly he has three faces and eight arms and stands trampling Daijizaiten and his consort Uma 烏摩 (Sk: Uma) underfoot. There is some debate over whether or not Gouzanze and Shouzanze are identical, and in the Jimyouin 持明院 of the Matrix mandala they are depicted separately, the former with three faces and eight arms and seated on a lotus with one knee raised and the latter with one face and two arms and seated on a stone pedestal. Artistic representations of Gouzanze, both statuary and pictorial, are usually found in sets of the godai myouou, but there is a single wooden seated image at Kongouji 金剛寺 in Osaka, and there is also a mandala dedicated to him, Gouzanze mandara 降三世曼荼羅.

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