Dàshèngtiān Huānxǐ shuāngshēn Pínàyèjiā fǎ 大聖天歡喜雙身毘那夜迦法
Method of the Twin-Bodied Joyful Vināyaka, the Great Holy Heavenly One by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric ritual manual translated by Amoghavajra (不空) on the Twin-Bodied (雙身) Joyful Vināyaka — the Buddhist reception of the Indian elephant-headed deity Gaṇeśa (here named with his obstacle-deity epithet Vināyaka 毘那夜迦), in the iconographically distinctive two-bodied embracing form (雙身 shuāngshēn) which depicts Vināyaka and his consort in conjugal embrace as the Joyful (歡喜) deity. Korean Tripiṭaka K1378; Zhōnghuá H1512; Nanjio 1403. Alternate titles 毘那夜迦法 and 歡喜雙身毘奈耶夜迦法.
Abstract
The text expounds the rite for the two-bodied Joyful Vināyaka — the Buddhist Esoteric reception of the Hindu Gaṇeśa, here transformed into a yāb-yum iconography in which the elephant-headed deity stands embraced with his consort. The doctrinal frame holds that this two-bodied form represents the conversion of obstacle-causing demonic forces into compassionate Dharma-protectors through the union of method (upāya) and wisdom (prajñā), and accordingly the rite is held to remove obstacles, secure prosperity, and grant siddhi. The text gives the iconography, the mantra, the maṇḍala, the abhiṣeka protocol, the visualisation, and the anuśaṃsā catalogue. Together with the related cluster of Vināyaka texts that follow (KR6j0498, T1267 Shǐzhòu fǎ jīng; KR6j0499, T1268 Dàshǐzhòu fǎ jīng; T1269 KR6j0500 Jīnsè jiānàbōdǐ tuóluóní jīng; and the further T1270 ff.), this text is the principal vehicle for the Vināyaka / Kangiten 歡喜天 cult that became important in Heian and medieval Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, where the two-bodied embracing icon was an object of extensive secret veneration. Date: Amoghavajra’s Chángān activity, 746–774.
Translations and research
- Sanford, James H. “Literary Aspects of Japan’s Dual-Genitalia Iconography.” In Buddhism in the Sung, edited by Peter N. Gregory and Daniel A. Getz, 147–82. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
- Faure, Bernard. The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2015 — extensive treatment of the Kangiten cult.