Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Group of figures

Jūroku Daibosatsu (the Sixteen Great Bodhisattvas)

十六大菩薩じゅうろくだいぼさつ

Described as a grouping of sixteen bodhisattvas, formed by assigning to each of the four buddhas of the Kongōkai (Diamond Realm) four figures close to that buddha.

This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.

English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む

The names and roles of the Jūroku Daibosatsu

Described as a grouping of sixteen bodhisattvas, formed by assigning to each of the four buddhas of the Kongōkai (Diamond Realm) four figures close to that buddha. Four bodhisattvas are listed for each of the four buddhas: Ashuku Nyorai, Muryōju Nyorai, Hōshō Nyorai and Fukūjōju Nyorai.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Tracing their forms and traditions

Kongō Satta, Kongō Ai, Kongō Ō and Kongō Ki are assigned to Ashuku Nyorai; Kongō Hō, Kongō In, Kongō Ri and Kongō Go to Muryōju Nyorai; Kongō Hō, Kongō Dō, Kongō Kō and Kongō Shō to Hōshō Nyorai; and Kongō Gō, Kongō Ge, Kongō Go and Kongō Ken to Fukūjōju Nyorai.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Bodhisattvas attending the four buddhas of the Kongōkai

The Jūroku Daibosatsu are bodhisattvas assigned, four each, to the four buddhas of the Kongōkai: Ashuku, Hōshō, Amida (Muryōju) and Fukūjōju. Within the mandala centered on Dainichi Nyorai and the four buddhas, they express the wisdom and workings of the buddhas through their individual names and forms. They are figures to be understood through their relationship to the whole mandala, rather than as deities each in charge of a particular field.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・関西大学

Reading their objects and their places in the mandala

Objects such as the vajra, the wish-fulfilling jewel, the bow, flowers and sutra scrolls offer clues to the working of each figure. The individual pages introduce the meanings given in Shōhōin's iconographic explanations. These sixteen figures of the Kongōkai mandala and groups such as the Nijūgo Bosatsu (Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas), who represent welcome into the Pure Land, belong to different bodies of teaching.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Related kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)