Wisdom King

A wisdom king is a type of wrathful deity in East Asian Buddhism.
Whereas the Sanskrit name is translated literally as "wisdom / knowledge king," the term in Vajrayana Buddhism is also specifically used to denote mantras; the term may thus also be rendered "mantra king." is translated in Chinese with the character 明, leading to a wide array of alternative translations such as "bright king" or "radiant king". A similar category of fierce deities known as herukas are found in Tibetan Buddhism.
The female counterparts of wisdom kings are known as wisdom queens.

Overview

Development

, as their name suggests, are originally conceived of as the guardians and personifications of esoteric wisdom, namely mantras and dharanis. They were seen as embodying the mystic power contained in these sacred utterances.
During the early stages of esoteric Buddhism, many of the deities that would become known as were mainly seen as attendants of bodhisattvas who were invoked for specific ends such as the removal of misfortune and obstacles to enlightenment. They personified certain attributes of these bodhisattvas such as their wisdom or the power of their voices and were held to perform various tasks such as gathering together sentient beings to whom the bodhisattva preaches, subjugating unruly elements, or protecting adherents of Buddhism. Eventually, these divinities became objects of veneration in their own right; no longer necessarily paired with a bodhisattva, they became considered as the manifestations of the bodhisattvas themselves and/or of buddhas, who are believed to assume terrifying forms as a means to save sentient beings out of compassion for them. A belief prevalent in the Japanese tradition known as the theory for instance posits that five Wisdom Kings are the fierce incarnations of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, who appear both as gentle bodhisattvas who teach the Dharma through compassion and as terrifying who teach through fear, shocking nonbelievers into faith.
File:Indian Museum Sculpture - Manjusri, 10c, Kurkihar.jpg|thumb|150px|Manjushri with Yamāntaka, from Kurkihar, currently at the Indian Museum in Kolkata. 10th century.|left
The evolution of the will be illustrated here by the deity Yamāntaka, one of the earliest Buddhist wrathful deities. In the 6th century text, Yamāntaka is portrayed as the oath-bound servant of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī who assembles all beings from across the world to hear the Buddha's preaching and vanquishes those who are hostile to Buddhism; at the same time, Yamāntaka is also the personification of Mañjuśrī's dharani, the benefits of which are identical to his abilities. He was also commonly depicted in statuary along with Mañjuśrī as a diminutive yaksha-like attendant figure.
Later, as Yamāntaka and similar subordinates of various bodhisattvas became fully independent deities, they began to be portrayed by themselves and increasingly acquired iconographic attributes specific to each. Yamāntaka, for instance, is commonly shown with six heads, arms, and legs and riding or standing on a buffalo mount. The status and function of these deities have shifted from being minor emissaries who gather together and intimidate recalcitrant beings to being intimately involved in the primary task of esoteric Buddhism: the transformation of passions and ignorance into compassion and wisdom. As a result of this development, the relationship between Mañjuśrī and Yamāntaka was recontextualized such that Yamāntaka is now considered to be the incarnation of Mañjuśrī himself. Eventually, in the interpretation of Japanese esoteric Buddhism, both Yamāntaka and Mañjuśrī - under the name - became classified as avatars of the buddha Amitābha.
Other Wisdom Kings followed a more or less similar development. Hayagrīva, for example, was originally the horse-headed incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu which was adopted into Buddhism as Avalokiteśvara's attendant. Eventually, as Hayagrīva increasingly rose to prominence, the distinction between him and his superior became increasingly blurred so that he ultimately turned into one of Avalokiteśvara's many guises in both China and Japan. One of the more famous vidyārājas, Acala, was originally an acolyte or messenger of the buddha Vairocana before he was interpreted as Vairocana's fierce aspect or in the Japanese tradition.

Iconography

The iconography of Buddhist wrathful deities are usually considered to be derived from yaksha.
Wisdom Kings are usually represented as fierce-looking, often with blue or black skin and multiple heads, arms, and legs. They hold various weapons in their hands and are sometimes adorned with skulls, snakes or animal skins and wreathed in flames. This fiery aura is symbolically interpreted as the fire that purifies the practitioner and transforms one's passions into awakening, the so-called "fire samadhi".
Certain vidyārājas bear attributes that reflect the historical rivalry between Hinduism and Buddhism. For instance, the Wisdom King Trailokyavijaya is shown defeating and trampling on the deva Maheśvara and his consort Umā. A commentary on the Mahavairocana Tantra by the Tang monk Yi Xing meanwhile attributes the taming of Maheśvara to another, Acala.

List of Wisdom Kings

The Five Wisdom Kings

In Chinese and Japanese esoteric Buddhism, the Five Great Wisdom Kings, also known as the Five Guardian Kings, are a group of vidyārājas who are considered to be both the fierce emanations of the Five Wisdom Buddhas and the guardians of Buddhist doctrine. Organized according to the five directions, the Five Kings are usually defined as follows:

Acala / Acalanātha - Manifestation of Mahāvairocana, associated with the center
Trailokyavijaya - Manifestation of Akṣobhya, associated with the east
Kuṇḍali / Amṛtakuṇḍalin - Manifestation of Ratnasambhava, associated with the south
Yamāntaka - Manifestation of Amitābha, associated with the west
Vajrayakṣa - Manifestation of Amoghasiddhi, associated with the north in the Shingon school
* Ucchuṣma - Associated with the north in the Tendai school
The Eight Wisdom Kings

In Chinese Buddhism, the Eight Great Wisdom Kings is another grouping of Wisdom Kings that is depicted in statues, mural art and paintings. The acknowledged canonical source of the grouping of eight is The Sūtra of the Blazing Uṣṇīṣa of the Wondrous Vajra Kuṇḍali and Yamāntaka. Another canonical source for the grouping of eight is the , the Chinese translation of which, completed in about 980-1000 CE, is attributed to the monk Tianxizai, who is possibly the north Indian Shantideva. Each of the Wisdom Kings correspond to one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas:zh:八大菩萨| in Chinese Buddhism as well as to a specific compass direction.
The Eight Wisdom Kings, with exceptions in certain lists, are usually defined as:

Acala - Manifestation of Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin, associated with the north-east
Kuṇḍali - Manifestation of Ākāśagarbha, associated with the north-west
Trailokyavijaya - Manifestation of Vajrapāṇi, associated with the south-east
Yamāntaka - Manifestation of Mañjuśrī, associated with the east
Mahācakra - Manifestation of Maitreya, associated with the south-west
Padanakṣipa - Manifestation of Samantabhadra, associated with the north
Aparājita - Manifestation of Kṣitigarbha, associated with the south
Hayagrīva - Manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, associated with the west
The Ten Wisdom Kings

The more common grouping found in Chinese Buddhism is the Ten Great Wisdom Kings. Several groupings of the Ten Kings exist based on different canonical scriptural sources, each of which differ slightly in the naming of certain vidyārājas and attributing certain Kings to different Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Some examples of acknowledged canonical sources for the grouping of the Ten Wisdom Kings are The Sūtra of the Liturgy for Brilliant Contemplation of the Ten Wrathful Wisdom Kings of the Illusory Net of the Great Yoga Teachings as well as The Sūtra with the Great Instructions that are Universal, Secret, and Unexcelled about the Contemplations of Mañjuśrī.
In contemporary Chinese Buddhist practice, the Ten Wisdom Kings are regularly invoked in ceremonies and rituals, such as the ceremony, where they are provided offerings and entreated to expel evil from the ritual platform. In particular, ritual paintings of the Ten Wisdom Kings are arranged in a particular maṇḍala during the ceremony, with a particular direction associated with each Wisdom King. The Wisdom King Ucchuṣma, a manifestation of Śakyamuni, is not counted among the Ten Wisdom Kings in the ceremony, but he is still invoked separately from the grouping in the same ritual and his image is typically enshrined ahead of the outer north direction of the maṇḍala of the Ten Wisdom Kings. The specific list of the Ten Wisdom Kings invoked during the ceremony, along with their associated directions in the maṇḍala, is canonized in the ceremony's ritual manual based on scriptural sources. They are as follows:

Acala - Manifestation of Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin, associated with the east
Trailokyavijaya - Manifestation of Vajrapāṇi, associated with the outer south
Kuṇḍali - Manifestation of Amitābha, associated with the inner north
Yamāntaka - Manifestation of the Mañjuśrī, associated with the north-east
Mahācakra - Manifestation of Maitreya, associated with the outer north
Padanakṣipa - Manifestation of Samantabhadra, associated with the south-west
Aparājita - Manifestation of Kṣitigarbha, associated with the inner south
Hayagrīva - Manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, associated with the west
Vajrahāsa - Manifestation of Ākāśagarbha, associated with the south-east
Mahābala - Manifestation of Śakyamuni, associated with the north-west