. shint and esoteric buddhism 837
Tantric Buddhism and Local Deities
Compared with other forms of Buddhism, tantric Buddhism tended to
give local deities a more active and important role, elevating several of
them to the highest ranks in its pantheon. A few examples from the
Japanese context will explain.
Daigensui Myōō (Āt avaka Vidyārāja) is a violent and ̣
ambiguous deity that since the mid-ninth century became the main
object of worship in one of the most important rituals for the Japanese
emperor, the taigen no hō. Āt avaka was originally a demon ̣
(yakṣa) living in the desert together with outcastes. In a typical case
of tantric reversal of values, he converted to Buddhism and vowed
to protect the religion and its followers after the Buddha’s death. By
protecting the emperor and the social order, Ātavaka promotes the ̣
diffusion of Buddhism and, by extension, its soteriological goals (see
Duquenne 1983b).
The sacred beings known as myōō ( vidyārāja) are important
objects of cults in Japanese tantric Buddhism, much more so than in
India where they are scarcely mentioned. Their representations reveal
strong Śaivaite imagery associated with aspects of yakṣas. Their chief,
Fudō (Acala), in particular, is defined as a wrathful ( funnu
) manifestation of Mahāvairocana who employs violent means to
dispel evil passions (bonnō ), and thus opens the way for rapid
attainment of enlightenment. In Japan, Fudō is particularly venerated
in Shugendō. In the case of the myōō as well, Indian deities
with strong local flavor play a central role in esoteric Buddhist cults
and soteriology.
Perhaps the most striking case of former Indian deities making it
to the top of tantric soteriology is Mahāvairocana (Dainichi Nyorai
), the tantric version of Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha of
the Avatataṃsaka sūtra and Kegon (Huayan) Buddhism. Origi-
nally, however, Vairocana was a transformation of Virocana, chief of
the asuras, according to the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (8.7–12), and this
deity was criticized in early Brahmanism for identifying the self with
the body and for emphasizing earthly pleasures—aspects that came to
constitute important features of the tantric nondualist vision.
In these few examples we detect an important aspect of the treat-
ment of local deities peculiar to tantrism. While in other forms of
Buddhism such figures are essentially protectors and guardian spirits,
at best involved in merit-making activities, within the tantric tradition