110 henrik h. sørensen
and is normally shown riding an ox.^55 His appearance in the Esoteric
Buddhist pantheon took place rather late, probably during the seventh
century; in China he is first encountered in connection with the trans-
lations and writings associated with the Three Ācāryas in the first half
of the eighth century. The Mahāvairocana sūtra is one of the earliest
sources for this divinity in China, and he appears as a major divin-
ity in the rituals connected with the Renwang jing. Yamāntaka is an
emanation of Amitābha, and as such is part of the original group of
Five Vidyārājas. The Yamāntaka cult became greatly important after
the Yuan dynasty with the introduction of Indo-Tibetan practices
(figure 10).
Ucchusma, Lord of Filth, also known as Vajrayakṣ a, is another ̣
highly important vidyārāja of mature Zhenyan Buddhism. He is seen
as an emanation of Amoghasiddhī. His cult became established during
the mid-Tang, but may have been introduced to China in some form
as early as the sixth century.^56 There is an entire cycle of scriptures
devoted to him.^57 This material also includes apocryphal and/or hybrid
works that reveal some degree of borrowing from Daoist practices.^58
Despite the fact that the cult of Ucchusma was central to the Zhenyan ̣
tradition, it seems to have first been established through the efforts
of the North Indian monk Ajitasena (fl. first half of eighth century).^59
Together with Kunḍalī, Ucchusma appears as the attendant of the ̣
Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara.^60 In the banner paintings from Dun-
huang he is often referred to as “Fiery Head.” He is counted among
the original group of Five Vidyārājas.
Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī, the Peacock Queen: From the beginning
this bodhisattva arose as an Esoteric Buddhist divinity, and is also
the oldest among in the Esoteric Buddhist pantheon. She is a deified
spell—a spell that was transformed into a divinity—before arriving in
(^55) For detailed information on the history and textual sources of this divinity, see
the excellent essay by Duquenne 1983c. 56
An image of a many-armed, wrathful protector, which may in fact be an early
representation of Ucchusma, is found at the entrance of the Bingyang Cave at Long-̣
men, dating from the late Northern Wei. Cf. Sørensen, “Esoteric Buddhist Art up to
the Tang,” in this volume. 57
T. 1225–1229. See also Bischoff 1956.
(^58) Cf. T. 1228–1229.
(^59) Ajitasena hailed from Northern India, and is known in Chinese as Wunengsh-
engjiang. He is the translator of several Esoteric Buddhist works, including
T. 1227–1229, 1264–1266, 2157–2158.
(^60) For a brief discussion, see Sørensen 1991–1992b, 312–316.