. landmarks of esoteric art in japan 911
According to the inscription, they were based on Kūkai’s full-scale
silk paintings, which he likely had made in or brought back from
China.^6 These iconographic drawings depict, in one leaf each, the five
bodhisattvas of the Benevolent Kings Sūtra who have become the five
directional bodhisattvas ( gohō bosatsu, ) in the new version.
Furthermore, as depicted in these iconographic drawings, each of the
five bodhisattvas has become associated with three other deities based
on the commentaries on the Benevolent Kings Sūtra, particularly the
Benevolent Kings Ritual Manual (Ninnō nenjugiki, ,
T. 994, 995).
The bodhisattva of the center is written as a partial transliteration
of Vajra Pāramitā (Kongō haramitta ) and is depicted
with the associated deities of the center: Vajra Pāramitā (Kongō tōgan
[also Kongō tōhigan ]), written in translated
form; Acalanātha (Fudō, ); and Indra (Taishaku ten, [also
Indara, ). Starting with Acalanātha in the center, each of the
five great mantra kings (vidyārāja, godaimyōō, ) is depicted
on one of the five leaves of the iconographic drawings in association
with one of the five directional bodhisattvas. This is the first appear-
ance and the origin of the five great mantra kings in Japan.
These deities, based on the Benevolent Kings Sūtra and its commen-
taries, reappear in the Lecture Hall at Tōji (see figure 3 and Bogel, “The
Tōji Lecture Hall Statue Mandala and the Choreography of Mikkyō,”
in this volume).
The group of five mantra kings appear to the left facing the altar,
the five wisdom buddhas (gochi butsu, [also, gochi nyorai,
) in the center, and the five great bodhisattvas (go dai bosatsu,
) to the right. The altar sculptures also include six celestial
deities (the four deva kings with Indra and Brahma), five of whom
appear in the ritual manuals of the Benevolent Kings Sūtra and the set
of iconographic drawings associated with Kūkai mentioned above. The
altar arrangement has changed slightly over time, and the five bud-
dha sculptures and central bodhisattva are later replacements, but a
diagram in the Fukanreitōki compiled in 922 depicts the
(^6) Extant in two later copies, one at Tōji and one at the Sanbōin at Daigoji, although
the dating of these copies is problematic, with estimates at roughly the fourteenth to
fifteenth centuries and the late twelfth century, respectively. See Nakano Genzō in
FMZ 29 and 1981 Gazō Fudō Myōō 198, among others.