kenjaku　羂索

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also read kensaku, kenzaku; also saku 索. A rope, made from five different coloured strands (blue, yellow, red, black and white). It often has a metal ring at one end, and one or more prongs, like a *kongousho 金剛杵, at the other. Found as an attribute *jimotsu 持物 held by Buddhist deities including *Fudou Myouou 不動明王, *Fukuukenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音, Kongousaku bosatsu 金剛索菩薩 and *Senju Kannon 千手観音. In ancient India the kenjaku was used as a snare to capture animals, and it was adopted by Buddhism as a symbol of the salvation of mankind. A good example of a figure holding a kenjaku is the Fudou Myouou in Henjouji 遍照寺 (10-12c), Kyoto.

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