Mahakala is the chief protector of Tibetan Buddhism, and his worship is very popular especially among various schools of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Its image styles include one with two arms, one with four arms, and one with six arms. It usually has a three-eyed face with an angry

一

Mahakala is the chief protector of Tibetan Buddhism. His worship is very popular especially among various schools of Tibetan Esotericism. Especially in the Yuan Dynasty Pasiba , his statue was cast with "thousands of gold" and offered as a sacrifice to Mount Wutai. Later, after the statue was transferred to the Manchu and Qing emperors, it became a temporary trend to worship Mahakala from top to bottom in the suburbs of Beijing. . The image styles include one with two arms, one with four arms, and one with six arms. They usually have three eyes on their faces, showing an angry look, holding a yue knife in one hand and a blood-filled skull in the other (see Figures 1-1, 1 -2, 1-3).

Figure 1-1: Tibetan Buddhist one-faced, two-armed image

Figure 1-2: One-faced, four-armed image

Figure 1-3: One-faced and six-armed image

In 2004, "Fuso Journey - Japanese Cultural Relics" was organized by the National Museum of China. In the "Excellent Exhibition" (hereinafter referred to as "Excellent Exhibition"), there is a standing wood carving called Mahakala[1] (see Figure 2). Its image is wrapped in a turban and wrapped around the body, like a farmer's statue, and appears to be running. trend. The caption on the plate reads "Walking into Darkness". In the explanation of the illustration by Shigeki Iwata, it is explained: "Dahkala is the god in charge of fortune and wealth among Japan's Seven Lucky Gods. His original form was the main god of the great country in ancient Japanese mythology." He also said: "The statue of Mahakala was originally Appeared as the protector of Buddhist temples. The early Mahakala statues were mostly warriors wearing armor. After joining the ranks of the Seven Lucky Gods , they gradually evolved into a fixed statue carrying a cloth bag, holding a hammer, and standing on a rice bag. However, images like this of Mahakala wearing a scarf on his head, carrying a bag on his back, flowing robes, holding nothing in his hands, and running like are relatively rare, and the cause is indeed ominous." [2]

Figure 2: Black Sky, colorful wood carving, 56.3 cm high, collected by the Nara Museum, reproduced from the National Museum of China’s 2003 "Fuso Journey - Japanese Cultural Relics Exhibition" catalog plate 70

This explanation given by Iwata , the information conveyed is: 1. Mahakala's original form is the main god of the great country in ancient Japanese mythology, and is one of the Seven Lucky Gods; 2. Initially appeared as a warrior in the ranks of the protectors of Buddhist temples; 3. Later, he joined the Japanese Among the Seven Gods of Fortune in Shintoism, the figure has changed into "the image of carrying a cloth bag, holding a hammer, and standing on a rice bag." The author believes that these statements are questionable, and they are not consistent with the development history of Buddhist images.

Search Mahakala , and you can immediately know that this god originated from Hinduism. In the Hindu theogony: Mahākāla (Great Time) is the god of time (great time), and is a transformed form of Shiva. He is the Lord of Eternal Life, who can make all living beings gain eternal life, and his consort, the goddess Mahakali, symbolizes the time for the destruction of everything. Both of them are black figures [3]. Therefore this god occupies a very important position in Hinduism.

According to the explanation of relevant materials, the religious functions of "Mahagala" are mainly the god of war, the god of kitchens, the god of tombs, and the god of wealth. Therefore, its functions are as follows: 1. This god has countless ghosts and gods, and is good at the medicine of invisible flight. Therefore, he can protect the living beings who pray to him in war. This is the so-called warrior god and battle god. Second, this god can make food always abundant, so people in Indian temples and ancient Chinese people in the south of the Yangtze River often worship him in the kitchen. Third, this god is also one of the gods worshiped by Buddhists in cemeteries. Fourth, it is said that this god and his descendants, the Seven Mothers and Daughters, can bring great blessings to the poor, so they are also the gods of fortune and wealth. According to Eastern Tantric legend, this god is the wrathful medicine-fork-shaped deity that appears as the Great Sun Tathagata to subjugate demons. According to Tibetan Tantric legend, this god is the great protector of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Both Japanese and Tibetan esoteric sects regard it as an important object of practice[4]. Judging from the Indian materials and the content recorded in Buddhist dictionaries, it is obviously inconsistent with this image. In particular, this god also has the most characteristic concubine of esoteric sects. It can be seen that , these materials appeared relatively late.

In fact, there are earlier and clear records of Mahakala’s offerings in India, its birthplace. Their offerings do not seem to be that complicated, and the Indians did not make the eternal god who manifested Shiva He is not regarded as a great god, but is regarded as a food god worshiped by the people or temples, similar to the so-called Kitchen God in China. This is the difference between documentary Buddhism and factual Buddhism, and it is also an issue that scholars need to grasp when doing research. Let’s take a look at Tang Dynasty Yijing (635-713) recorded 25 years after his journey to the west, at least at the end of the 7th century AD, Indian believers made offerings to Mahakala [5]:

“In the major temples in the West, food is saltier than food. On the side of the kitchen pillar, there is a carved wooden surface in front of the door of the warehouse, or it is in the shape of a god-king two feet by three feet, sitting on a small bed holding a gold bag, with one foot hanging to the ground. Every time the oil is wiped, the shape is silently formed, and the name is Mohe Goluo is the great black god. It has been said in ancient times that he is a subordinate of the Great Heaven . He is the Three Jewels of Sexual Love. He protects the five beings without loss and responds favorably to those who ask for them. But when it comes to eating, every time the cook recommends incense, All food and drinks are listed above."

Judging from what Yijing said, the Indian believers he saw in the late 7th century regarded Mahakala as the celestial god of Buddhism (the Three Jewels of Sex) and prayed for him to bless the wealth and life of all living beings. , but the way of offering is very simple, that is, every time it is time to eat, just offer food in front of the statue. What is valuable is that Yijing recorded his image style: it looks like a "god-king". The basic posture of the "god-king" is: holding a cloth bag, sitting on a small couch, with one foot on the ground. An image included in the Tripitaka accurately interprets the image of Mahakala, the king of gods (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: According to the standard appearance of Mahakala described by Yijing, copied from the "Taisho Zang·Image Department"

, the picture shows Mahakala with thick and upward hair, holding a cloth bag in his left hand, and sitting on a short square foot. On the top, the left foot is bent on the wooden couch and the right foot is on the ground, exactly as written by Yijing. Therefore, judging from its function, it may belong to the god of merit and wealth. Therefore, the situation of offerings in India can be judged from the images provided in " Taishengzang " and the consistency with Yijing's records. It can be seen that worship of Mahakala was quite common in India at least in the late 7th century. The image styles and methods of offerings are as follows As mentioned above. Therefore, it can be judged that the "walking around Krishna" in "Exhibition of Fine Arts" should be a variation of the Indian method of sitting on Mahakala with one foot hanging down.

Another source of material also comes from Chinese documents, but it records the situation of offering offerings to Mahakala in Han Dynasty. It illustrates the body shape of Mahakala that is basically consistent with what Yijing recorded. This material can be found in the image of the two arms of Mahakala worshiped in the famous Jiaxiang Temple in Zhejiang Province[6] recorded by the monk Shen Kai of the Tang Dynasty: "The god Mahakala is the transformation of Mahavatar (Shiva), and the five celestial beings are combined. All the garlands of my dynasty have been placed there..." Their portraits have "skin color all black, their heads are crowned with black hats, they are all black, their hakama is not hanging down, and they are wearing hunting clothes with short and thin skirts. The right hand is The boxing order holds the right waist, and the left hand holds a big bag, hanging from the back on the shoulder. The color of the bag is the color of rat hair, and it hangs down over the hip [7]. What is even more rare is that Shen Kai wrote down what he described. Image (see Figure 4). In Figure 4, Mahakala has a turban on his head, holds the parcel on his shoulder in his left hand, wears trousers to the knees, and wears straw sandals on his feet. There is another parcel at his feet, and Mahakala is walking. There is a title on the upper right side of the screen, "The image of Mahakala recorded by Shen Kai (this?)" [8].

Figure 4: The image of Mahakala recorded by Shen Kai of Jiaxiang Temple, according to "Taisho Zang·Image Part Three" 》Copy

Through Shen Kai’s description, it is shown that by the 8th century AD, southern China still supported this kind of Mahakala god with the look of an old man. Judging from its description, it is slightly different from the Indian god statues recorded by Yijing. There is no mention of the great god sitting on a small couch with his legs down, which means that this image is not in a sitting position but in a standing position. There are many similar images in Japan, and there are statues and paintings, see (Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). Especially in Examples 5, 6, 8, and 9, "the right hand is used to punch and the right waist is closed", which can be said to be the standard version of the style recorded by Shen Kai [9].Therefore, it can be inferred from the current materials that after the image of Mahakala sitting on a couch was introduced to China, it was very popular at least in the south, and it was transformed into a standing image [10]. This style of Mahakala was introduced to China through China. Japan. However, the basic elements of the god's appearance: the headband, the left hand holding the wrap on the shoulder, and the right hand clenching the fist around the right waist have not changed. pdf ·Image Part 3》Copy

Picture 7: Mahakala stepping on the rice bag, according to "Taisho Zang·Image Part 4" "Sanskrit Blazing Light Buddha-headed Dharani Illustrations" image №168. Copy

Picture 8 : Standing Wood Sculpture of Mahakala

Figure 9: Statue of Mahakala in Matsuo Temple, Japan

Figure 10: Mahakala with one face and two arms standing on a rice bag

Therefore, the original shape of Mahakala described in the catalog is from ancient Japanese mythology The statue of Daikuninushi... first appeared as a protector of Buddhist temples. The early Daikokuten statues were mostly warriors wearing armor. After joining the ranks of the Seven Lucky Gods, they gradually evolved into wearing bags." It is not accurate to say of.

First of all, it can be proved that this god originated from India. To be precise, this god is an incarnation of Shiva. After being classified as a Buddhist protector, he became an incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, whose status is equivalent to Shiva. As for the "image carrying a cloth bag, holding a hammer, and standing on a rice bag" that appeared later, a similar style can be seen in "Taishozo", as shown in Figure 10 above. The origin of the image of the three-faced and six-armed man standing on the rice bag is unknown (see Figure 11), but the variation in its three-faced and six-armed appearance at least hints at the beginning of the secretization of Mahakala.

Figure 11: Three-faced and six-armed Mahakala on a rice bag

Through the above images and the images recorded by Yijing and Shenkai in the mid-to-late 7th century in India and the 8th century in southern China, it is proven that at least Mahakala has this kind of attitude. The Bunang God King style originated from India and is a variant of the Hindu Mahavatar (or the Buddhist Guanyin Bodhisattva). This style of offering images and offerings was still maintained from India at the end of the 7th century AD to southern China at the beginning of the 8th century. . Therefore, the conclusion drawn from this is that at least in the middle and late 7th century in India, the image form of Mahakala was not yet secret.

To sum up, the first conclusion of this article is that when Tantric Buddhism became popular, the statues of Mahakala turned into a multi-faced and multi-armed wrathful appearance, and even had the twin bodies of a concubine as quoted above. However, the upper limit of the popularity of this secret form of Mahakala will not exceed the time when Yijing returned to the Tang Dynasty from India, that is, at the end of the 7th century AD (695).

二

It seems that among the gods of Chinese Buddhism before and after the Middle Ages, in the archaeological excavations so far, we have not found any examples of the god king Xiang Mahakala holding a cloth bag, nor the wrath of Tibetan Buddhism. The angry look of Mahakala. Therefore, Mahakala does not seem to be an important deity in Chinese Buddhism.

The upper limit of the secrecy of the Mahakala statue will not be earlier than the end of the 7th century AD, and its religious function is still to protect wealth. But soon, or at the same time, with the spread of Indian Buddhist esoteric teachings, in the 8th century AD, southern China was offering Mahakala similar to what Yijing recorded in India, and at the same time, the esoteric version of Mahakala also became popular. Because in addition to describing the two-armed statue of Mahakala, Shen Kai also mentioned that Mahakala's divine law is "the most secret and cannot be taught without entering a house." Therefore, while he recorded the two-armed old man pose, he also recorded the six-armed Mahakala pose and explained the siddha-dharma image. The six-armed image of Mahakala recorded by Shen Kai is: “The god Mahakala, the Brahma name of Yi Zang Realm is called Mahakala Heaven, and the god Mahakala is also said to be blue... with three faces and six arms.The left and right hands hold swords across the front, the left hand holds a human head (in a bun), the right hand holds a sheep and a cow, and behind the left and right elephant skins, a skull is used as a necklace. ” (See Figure 12)

Figure 12: Mahakala, the three-headed and six-armed wrathful phase of Tang Mi

Since Tang Mi has not been deeply developed in the Han area, there are few examples of this kind of statue [11].

What deserves attention is that the author found an image related to Mahakala in the painting of the God of Wealth in the mid-Tang Dynasty painted on the north wall of the front room of Cave 15 of Yulin Grottoes in Dunhuang (see Figure 13) [12]. The main deity Huang Wealth God is sitting half-lotus, with his right hand holding a stick on his shoulder, and his left hand holding a spitting rat on his left leg. The lines of the picture are smooth, especially the drawing of the spitting rat is very pretty. The author here mainly focuses on the attendants of the God of Wealth. In There are two attendants on both sides of the Yellow God of Wealth. On the right is a standing Bodhisattva statue with a tray in his left hand and a jewel in his right hand. On the left side of the God of Wealth is a strong man in a tiger skin hat, holding a flaming weapon in his right hand. The Mani orb in his hand is holding a cloth bag in his left hand. Since this statue belongs to the combined statue of Huang Wealth God, the orb and the bag he is holding are obviously related to treasures, and this bag naturally reminds us of the holding bag in the Han Dynasty. Bag of Mahakala, and the tiger skin ornaments are related to the angry-looking Mahakala, which is popular in Tibetan Buddhist statues, so the author thinks this is an image worth considering, because he also has the characteristics of Mahakala in Han Dynasty. A mixed image of heaven and Tibetan Mahakala (or can it be said to be the transitional phase of the wrathful Mahakala?).

Figure 13 The Tang Dynasty painting of Huang Wealth God on the north wall of the front room of Cave 15 of Dunhuang Yulin Grottoes

In front of Tibetan Buddhism There are very few statues discovered by archeology during the Hong period, and the archaeological discoveries are basically examples from the post-Hong period, which was around 1000 AD. The practice, inheritance and statues of Tibetan Buddhism relied more on monks from Kashmir and Nepal. and craftsmen. At this time, Indian Buddhism relied on Indian esotericism and mantras to survive. Therefore, the Tibetan Buddhist Mahakala God we see with a strong Hindu style is different from the early kind of honest and honest god-king, as well as the A.D. recorded by Shen Kai. Compared with the 8th century secret portrait, it belongs to a completely different image system. As stated in Shangjieshu [13]: He has a concubine with five faces and four arms, holding objects like Shiva, and each side has a protruding He has three eyes, an angry look, and even rides a lion. His symbols are: tiger skin, staff, club, skull bowl, skull staff, skull wand (indicating that the creature he created has died), axe, and the hug mudra ( alingahasta), its concubine has four or eight arms.

In summary, the second conclusion of this article: Mahakala is a god derived from Hinduism, with the meaning of protecting treasures and fighting [14], and later attached to Buddhism Among the protector gods, the initial image was that of an old man, and the way to make offerings to this god was also very simple. Most of the statues were placed in temples or in the kitchens or warehouses of private homes, and they only served food every mealtime.

After the secrecy of Buddhism, the earliest Han Tantric Mahakala was found in the records of Shen Kai in the 8th century AD and examples in Dunhuang and Gaochang, with three heads and six arms and other terrifying appearances. However, this phase style has not been deeply developed and widely popular in Han Mi. Tibetan Tantra in the later Hong period accepted a completely different image system, which fully reflected the influence of Indian Tantric thought on Tibetan Buddhism.

三

The Mahakala of Tibetan Buddhism that became popular in mainland China after the Yuan Dynasty usually has four shapes:

(1) The two-armed Mahakala of the Sakya sect, also known as the Lord of Punishment, Mahakala, originated from the Yuan Dynasty. On behalf of Emperor Basiba, he was introduced to the palace. He has one face and two arms, wearing a five-skeleton Buddha crown on his head, with an upturned red beard, and a blue-black body. He holds a vajra sword in his right hand, a skull tool in his left hand, and a staff knife in both hands. There are countless divine weapons hidden in the knife. Mainly to protect Hevajra practitioners [15] ( see Figure 1-1)

(2) The four-armed Mahakala is said to be the incarnation of Shevajra , with a blue body, holding a pestle, sword, halberd and Gabala, there are twin statues. Mainly protects Mahamudra practitioners (see Figure 1-2).

(3) The six-armed Mahakala is black, white, etc. The black one is the main protector of Shangpa Kagyu and Gelug sect , holding a yue knife, small drum, human bone rosary and skull organ, trident and diamond rope (see Figure 1-3).

(4) Mahakala, the white six-armed god, is one of the gods of wealth. He holds a mani treasure, a yoke, a small drum, a trident, and a skull organ. He is very powerful.

Regarding the study of Mahakala, more scholars are paying attention to the styles in Tibetan Buddhism. See "Indian Buddhist Iconography" [16] written by Indian scholar Badacharya and related research by Italian scholar Tucci [17].

The most reliable document about the secret style of Mahakala that was introduced to Tibet is the style described in the ancient Indian text "Sadhadha Garland" [18] quoted by Badachalya in "Indian Buddhist Iconography". On page 121 of Bashi's "Indian Buddhist Illustrations", it is described that the attainment image of Mahakala is:

In the attainment method, there is Mahakala surrounded by 7 goddesses, with a corpse under his feet Yamantaka . Mahakala is a fierce god who is usually invoked in the killing (māraṇa) rituals of Tantric Buddhism to destroy enemies. He is also regarded as an angry god who frightens those who do not respect the guru and do not worship the Three Jewels. Mahakala will eat them alive. The eating process is recorded in detail in the sadhana. The sadhana usually contains the following verses to show the wrathful character of Mahakala:

Acāryye yaḥ sadā dveṣī kupito Ratnatraye pi yaḥ|

Anekasattavidhvāṃsī Mahākālena khādyate\

Chedayet s vāṅgamāṃsāni pivotedrudhiradhārayā|

śirasi viniveśyaiva tilamātrañca kartayet\

Sadhana Garland, A- 323, C-246

The translation is:

Mahakala will eat those who hate the guru, do not worship the Three Jewels and kill animals alive.

He (Mahagala) ate their flesh, drank their blood and tore them into pieces.

Italian scholar Tucci said in his description of plates 206-208 on page 594 of "Tibetan Picture Scroll" [19]:

"This god wears scaly armor and wields a sword with fire burning on it. He is a mountain god and a living being. The indigenous gods who came down were absorbed into Buddhism because their original beliefs could not be banned.” In the article, Tucci quoted Grunwedel's legend about the god in Mongolia: "At that time, Sod nams rgya mts'o came to Mongolia to persuade Alatan Khan to convert to Buddhism. Zai (the god Mahakala) appeared in front of him with an army composed of various animals, with the purpose of fighting him and making him change his original mind. But the Tibetan monk appeared in the form of four-armed Guanyin , And the hoofs of the horses ridden by the eminent monks left six-character mantras wherever they walked. Patzai immediately understood that he could not defeat this new religion and its followers, so he was conquered and converted to Buddhism.

What is said above They are all intended to show that Mahakala was originally a pagan god, and was later absorbed by Buddhism and became the first Buddhist protector god. There are many such examples recorded in the Gelug Sect's documents.

In the later stage of the development of Tibetan Buddhism, it was Yellow Sect The victory of the Yellow Sect enabled Mahakala's offering rituals to be widely spread, and it has been worshiped as a deity of the sect. In the Gelug Sect, the image style of Mahakala has been basically fixed, that is, Mahakala. Combined with his sisters, they have a common name called "Jiang Xing" (ICam sring, meaning brother and sister) (see Figure 14) [20].

Figure 14: Ming Dynasty Thangka "Brother and Sister Protectors", high 105 cm, width 68 cm.Since the National Museum of China's 2001 "Golden Treasures - Selection of Tibetan Historical Relics" catalog, 60 pages copied

Conclusion

Before the end of the 7th century AD, the popular style of Mahakala was a loyal old man with a cloth on his head and a bag in his hand. Xiang, offered to temples or private kitchens or warehouses. The standard posture is to hold a cloth bag in one hand, sit on a small wooden couch, and put one foot on the ground at the same time. The popular style in Jiangnan is that the statue of the god is in a standing posture, with the right hand clenching the fist and holding the waist, and the rest are the same. There are currently no examples of this type of image found in the mainland, and the actual object and related images can only be found in Japan. It is consistent with the image and method of worshiping Mahakala popular in India at the end of the 7th century AD recorded by Yijing. Its religious function is mainly to protect merit and wealth.

After more than two centuries, Tibetan Buddhism, which was revived through the propagation of Indian masters, fully accepted the form of Mahakala worshiped in Indian esoteric teachings. It is characterized by the appearance of great anger and many variations. The body reflects the fusion of Indian Buddhism and Indian Esotericism. The Sakya sect in Tibetan Buddhism pays special attention to worshiping this god as a war god, and it has various body shapes. It is especially advocated by the national masters Phagpa and Dangpa [21], Mahakala. The statue has become one of the most popular Buddhist protector gods from the royal family to the people. Later, the "Yellow Sect", the reform sect of Tibetan Buddhism, also accepted this god and became the protector of the Gelug Sect (Yellow Sect)[22]. However, Han Buddhism has not found any examples of worshiping this god. Therefore, it can be said that Mahakala has two main image systems in the development and evolution of Buddhism, and its religious functions have also undergone tremendous changes [23].

It is worth noting that the Italian scholar Tucci said in his book Tibetan painted scroll that "the god left no traces in the ancient ritual manuscripts." This reminds us that it is precisely because of this The god's early honest and simple image and simple way of making offerings may have caused Tucci to ignore the existence of early offerings to Mahakala in the "Tibet Picture Scroll" which focused on the study of Tibetan Buddhist gods [24].

Note:

The author participated in the "Second Sino-Japanese Buddhism Conference" held at Renmin University in Beijing from November 1st to 2nd, 2006. At the meeting, the Japanese scholar Sueki Fumishi read the paper "Buddha and Buddhism" Gods—Buddhism and Native Religions" mentioned that the worship of gods in Japan is mainly found in the earliest extant Japanese documents "Nihon Shoki" and "Kojiki", and these two documents were written in the 8th century AD and have been influenced by Chinese culture and Buddhism have a strong influence. Mr. Suemu’s point of view also supports this article’s doubts about the illustration of the "Walking Black Sky" illustration from one aspect. See "Proceedings of the Second Sino-Japanese Buddhist Conference", informal publication, No. 24 Page.

*Original publication "Dunhuang Academic Journal" 2007 Issue 1