Bodhisattva (bosatsu)
Darani Bosatsu
陀羅尼菩薩
One of the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas, it is also listed as the buddha of the 16th day among the Thirty-Day Hidden Buddhas.
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 name and role of Darani Bosatsu
One of the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas, it is also listed as the buddha of the 16th day among the Thirty-Day Hidden Buddhas. It is described as a bodhisattva who upholds the Buddha's teaching and prevents harmful teachings through the power of darani words, and it is also called Sōji Bosatsu.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Tracing its form and traditions
As for its attributes, it is said to take the form of dancing while holding its sleeves in both hands.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Protecting people who wish for rebirth in the Land of Bliss
The Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas are bodhisattvas who protect people wishing to be reborn in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. A Jōdo Shū dictionary explains the protection of practitioners taught in the Jū Ōjō Amida Butsukoku Kyō as the basis of this faith. Rather than assigning each of them a separate benefit such as fortune with money or success in study, they can first be understood through their saving work as a group.
Source: 浄土宗
Raigō paintings and the bodhisattvas of nerikuyō
As Pure Land faith 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 bodhisattvas who protect practitioners in daily life would also protect them at the moment of death. Their attributes, such as musical instruments and lotus pedestals, vary between sources, and the individual forms shown here rely mainly on Shōhōin's materials, which introduce the Butsuzō Zui.
Source: 浄土宗・飛不動尊 正宝院
Related kami and buddhas
Sources (in Japanese)
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：陀羅尼菩薩」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：目次」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：二十五菩薩」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 浄土宗「新纂浄土宗大辞典：二十五菩薩」（2026-10-15 確認）