山田維史の遊卵画廊

■(14-2)英語訳論文『狐信仰とそのイコノグラフィー』

(4) Dakini and fox worship

Dakini (荼吉尼、荼枳尼、陀祇尼) is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word Dakini, and is a maidservant of Kali (Figure 13), the black goddess of destruction and wife of Shiva in Hinduism. She eats human flesh and is said to be a blood-drinking demon (Asurabama). Later, she converted to Buddhism and joined the deities who protect Buddhism. According to the Commentary on the Mahavairocana Sutra, it is a collective name for the three heavenly demons and one reclining demon located to the left of Enma-ten in the south of the Outer Vajra Department in the Taizokai Mandala. Dakini's mudra is to cover her mouth with her left palm, touch her tongue to the palm, and suck human blood. Iconographically, she is completely red and has red hair in a topknot. One deity holds a human leg in her right hand and eats it, and holds a human arm in her left hand. Two heavenly beings hold cups, three heavenly beings hold cups and swords, and the fourth heavenly beings lie down. All of them have wrathful forms.

In Japan, it is believed that the rituals of Dakini were passed down as part of Tōmitsu and Daimitsu as a secret method for the fulfillment of various wishes. However, from the Kamakura period through to the Nanboku-chō period, it became known as an outside technique for subjugating and cursing people in the hope of having one's ambitions fulfilled. Monkan Kōshin of Daigoji Temple, who was highly trusted by Emperor Godaigo, was criticized in a petition by the monks of Mount Kōya for practicing divination and incantations, and for worshipping Dakini. The "Taiheiki Emaki" scrolls depict Emperor Godaigo praying to subjugate the Hōjō clan of Kanto, presumably to pray for the safe delivery of his Empress Kiko. Emperor Godaigo received the denhō kanjō (a Buddhist ritual to transmit the teachings of the Law) from Monkan, which gave him the rank of ajari, and he himself performed goma fire rituals to subjugate the shogunate. A portrait of Emperor Godaigo, owned by Seijōkō-ji Temple (Yugyō-ji Temple) in Kanagawa Prefecture, depicts him receiving the denhō kanjo, wearing an esoteric Buddhist crown and robe, holding a vajra in his right hand and a five-pronged bell in his left hand. It is an extremely unusual portrait of the emperor, and is said to have been passed down from Monkan to the temple via Prince Kōsōn (Figure 14).

Left (Fig. 13) Kali, the goddess of destruction, North India, 17th-18th century
Right (Fig. 14) Statue of Dakini-ten-kiko (Holy Dakini riding fox), Tōkōji Temple, Machida City (sketch by the author)
(Fig. 15) Portrait of Emperor Godaigo (portrait of the ablution ceremony)
owned by Seijōkōji Temple, Kanagawa Prefecture

Now, while Dakini's methods were criticized as heretical from the standpoint of orthodox esoteric Buddhism, they were assimilated with the existing fox faith and seem to have spread among the people as a god of good fortune. The following story is already recorded in Volume 6 of the Kokin Chōmonshu, compiled in 1254:

“Sir Chishokuin (Fujiwara Tadazane) had a wish and had Daigonbo perform the Dakini methods. On the seventh day, a fox appeared and ate the offerings. Seven days later, Tadazane had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared. When he grabbed the woman's hair, it broke, and when he woke up he found it was a fox's tail. Tadazane's wish was soon granted, and the fox's tail was enshrined as the god of good fortune."

The original Dakini has nothing to do with foxes, but in Sir Chisokuin's dream it was easily linked to them. Moreover, it appears that this connection was deeply rooted in the belief of the people of the time.

The Dakini Sendari King Sutra is a false sutra, but Dakini has been syncretized with a fox, and has come to be known as Hakushinkoou Bosatsu (or Hakushinshoou Bosatsu). In the Dakini Mandala, she is shown in the form of a celestial maiden riding a fox (Figure 15).

Furthermore, Dakini riding a fox is also identified with Benzaiten and Ugajin, other gods of good fortune. As mentioned earlier, Ugajin is a snake or dragon god. Benzaiten was originally Sarasbati, the river goddess who brings fertility to the land in ancient Indian mythology. The close relationship between the snake god and the water god, and between the grain god and the fertility god, is expressed in the form of Uga Benzaiten.

The seated statue of Benzaiten at Denkō-ji Temple in Nara City (Figure 16) is a fertile eight-armed statue (holding a spear, wheel, bow and jewel in the left hand, and a sword, stick, key and arrow in the right hand) that is typical of a god of good fortune, and her abdomen is swollen as if she is pregnant. She is wearing a jeweled crown with a torii gate attached to it and the face of an old man placed on it. Ugajin is a snake-headed deity with the appearance of an old man (see above image). And she is the same deity as Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, the deity enshrined at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. For this reason, Benzaiten, who has been identified with Ugajin, appears riding a fox as Inari's messenger. Here, Dakini-ten-ki-Ko and Ugabenzai-ten-ki-Ko were not only identified iconographically, but were also believed to be the same deity in religious beliefs.

Incidentally, Kali, whom Dakini served, was not only the goddess of death and destruction, but was also one of the earth mother goddesses who bestows new strength and fertility on the aged earth after the harvest.

Erich Neumann said the following about Kali:

"She wears a blood-colored robe and stands in a boat floating in an ocean of blood. The water of life, that is, the blood of sacrifices, is what she needs both when she graciously appears as the mother of the world and when she gives existence to those beings born in the endless process of creation."

Dakini, who was said to be a blood-drinking vampire, also possessed the characteristics of a fertility deity.

Left (Fig. 16) Statue of Uga Benten, Denkōji Temple, Nara City (sketch by author)
Right (Fig. 17) Tenkawa Mandala, Noman-in Temple, Hasedera

The Tenkawa Mandala, handed down at Noman-in Temple, the head temple of the Buzan school of Shingon Buddhism, is said to be a copy of Benzaiten from the Tenkawa Shrine in Yoshino, but it is a unique image that suggests the complex syncretism of Shintō and Buddhism mentioned above (Fig. 17).

The painting has three conical mountains with auspicious clouds floating above. This is the form of a sacred mountain with three peaks, probably Mount Miwa in Yamato or Mount Inari in Yamashiro. The original deity of both mountains is a snake deity. The central statue is a ten-armed statue with the head of an animal (one fox and two snakes), human body. On either side are two flying deities offering rice as attendants. Around the painting are sixteen children, three snake-headed human figures, a rice sack, a mortar, a pestle, a firewood, and treasures. Of the sixteen children, some are riding a horse, a ox, a black crane, a white deer, or a snake. Two are riding a white fox. Another has a small white fox on his head, almost like a fox charmer. Water waves are depicted at the bottom of the painting, which could be said to show the connection between the snake god and the water god.

The relationship between Dakiniten and fox worship still needs to be examined in regards to Toyokawa Inari Shrine and Izuna, but that will have to be done another time.

Finally, we have Ōji's Costume Enoki Tree, New Year's Eve Fox Fires from "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" by Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858) (Figure 18).

Figure 18) Fox fires on NeYear's Eve at Ōji’s Kostüme Enoki Tree, by Ando Hiroshige

The foxes of the Kantō region usually make their first visit of the year to Toyokawa Inari Taisha Shrine on New Year's Day. On the night of New Year's Eve, the foxes gather under the large enoki tree in Ōji, where they change into their best attire. It is said that people in Edo went all the way to Ōji in the middle of the night in the depths of winter just to see these fox fires.

References (excluding historical documents)

Yoshino Yūko, "Foxes," Hosei University Press
Kondō Yoshihiro, "Inari Faith," Hanawa Shobo
Hayami Yū, "The World of Magic and Religion," Hanawa Shobo
Orikuchi Shinobu, "Foxes Wandering the Countryside," Volume 3 of the Orikuchi Shinobu Complete Works, Chuokoron-Shinsha
Murayama Shuichi, "A Comprehensive History of Onmyodo," Hanawa Shobo
Komatsu Kazuhiko, "The Theory of Spirit Possession Faith," Arina Shobo
Kuwata Tadachika and Shimada Shigenori, "Possession Phenomenon and Special Family
Lineages," in Spirit Possession Beliefs, edited by Komatsu Kazuhiko, Yuzankaku;
Taishin Yuji, "Amakawa Mandala," in Nature and Culture, Vol. 22, Japan National Trust; Tanaka and Hoshiyama, eds., "Visible Buddhist Statues: Heaven," Tokyo Bijutsu;
Erich Neumann, "The Great Mother," translated by Fukushima et al., Natsumesha;
Sakurai Tokutarō, ed., Dictionary of Folk Beliefs, Tokyodo Shuppan;

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