Yakuō Bosatsu

The name and role of Yakuō Bosatsu

A bodhisattva said to heal people's bodies and minds with medicine. It is counted among Yakushi Nyorai's Eight Great Bodhisattvas and among Amida Nyorai's Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas, and among the Thirty-Day Buddhas it is assigned as the buddha of the 29th day. It is explained that there is also a view that it is the same as Yōryū Kannon.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Tracing the form and traditions

It is said to have originally been a wealthy man named 星宿光, and his younger brother, the wealthy man 電光明, is said to have later become Yakujō Bosatsu. It is told that in the future they will become Jōgen Nyorai and Jōzō Nyorai respectively, and it is also said to be a rebirth of Issai Shujō Kiken Bosatsu. Its attribute is a banner (dōban).

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Protecting those who wish for rebirth in the Land of Bliss

The Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas protect people who wish to be reborn in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. A Jōdo school dictionary explains the protection of practitioners taught in the Jū Ōjō Amidabutsu Koku Kyō as the basis of this belief. Rather than assigning separate benefits such as wealth or study to each one, they can be understood first through their saving work as a group.

Source: 浄土宗

Raigō paintings and the bodhisattvas of nerikuyō

As Pure Land belief spread, the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas came to be depicted in raigō paintings, in which they come with Amida Nyorai to welcome the dying, and in nerikuyō processions. This is explained as a development from the understanding that the bodhisattvas who protect practitioners in daily life would also protect them at the moment of death. Attributes such as musical instruments and lotus pedestals differ from source to source; the individual forms shown here are mainly based on Shōhōin's materials, which introduce the Butsuzō Zui.

Source: 浄土宗・飛不動尊 正宝院

Protecting those who uphold the teaching, in the Lotus Sutra

In the Dharani chapter of the Lotus Sutra as well, Yakuō Bosatsu presents a dharani and vows to protect those who believe in the Lotus Sutra. In addition to the explanation on this page concerning the welcoming descent and rebirth as one of the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas, this is introduced as Yakuō Bosatsu's work seen in a different sutra.

Source: 日蓮宗

Related kami and buddhas

• Sanjūnichi Hibutsu三十日秘仏
• Yakujō Bosatsu薬上菩薩
• Yakushi Nyorai薬師如来
• Amida Nyorai阿弥陀如来
• Yōryū Kannon楊柳観音
• Nijūgo Bosatsu (the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas)二十五菩薩