Shaka sanzon　釈迦三尊

KEY WORD :　 art history / iconography

Lit. Shaka triad. A group of 3 Buddhist images composed of *Shaka 釈迦 flanked by 2 attendants. This triadic format appears in India in the art of Gandhara and Mathura, which have triads consisting of Shaka flanked to the left and right either by bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩 thought to be *Miroku 弥勒 and *Kannon 観音 or by Rengeshu 蓮華手 (Sk: Padmapani) and Kongoushu 金剛手 (Sk: Vajrapani). It is thought that the 3 divisions or families of early Esoteric Buddhism (the Buddha, Lotus and Vajra families) evolved from this latter triad of Shaka, Rengeshu and Kongoushu, which is also reflected in the composition of early mandalas *mandara 曼荼羅, such as the *Shouugyou mandara 請雨経曼荼羅. In Theravada Buddhism Shaka is often represented flanked by Anan 阿難 (Sk: Ananda) and Daikasho 大迦葉 (Sk: Mahakasyapa), his two chief disciples, and this format is also common in the Zen 禅 sect. Another pair of attendants mentioned in early texts is that of *Bonten 梵天 and *Taishakuten 帝釈天. In Japanese examples of the Shaka triad, Shaka is most commonly flanked by either the bodhisattvas Yakuou 薬王 (Sk: Bhaisajyaraja) and Yakujou 薬上 (Sk: Bhaisajyasamudgata) or *Fugen 普賢 and *Monju 文殊, and there is also at least one example of Shaka flanked by Kannon and *Kokuuzou 虚空蔵. Although statuary representations of the Shaka triad predominate, there are also pictorial representations.

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