Makeishura-ō

The name and role of Makeishura-ō

This figure is listed as one of the Twenty-eight Attendants. Makeishura is explained as a phonetic transcription of a Sanskrit word, whose translation is Daijizaiten.

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

In Shōhōin's introduction of the iconography, the figure is said to hold with both hands a dish with a bird on it. In the Buddhist classification of the heavens, the "fourth meditation heaven" (daishi zenten) belongs to the realm of form (shikikai). The realm of desire (yokkai) and the realm of form are taught as different worlds.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・天台宗

A guardian group supporting Senju Kannon's salvation

The Twenty-eight Attendants are figures who protect Senju Kannon and the people who have faith in that teaching. The Four Heavenly Kings, deities originating in India, and others form a group as protectors of Buddhism. At Sanjūsangendō, they are explained as the attendants and companions of Senju Kannon.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・蓮華王院 三十三間堂

Names and forms differ by sutra

The membership of the Twenty-eight Attendants and the forms of their images differ according to the sutra accounts. Because figures of the same name also appear in other groups of guardian deities, this page introduces separately their "role as members of the Twenty-eight Attendants" and the characters handed down for them individually. The statues of Sanjūsangendō and Shōhōin's iconographic materials are not treated as having the same arrangement or forms.

Source: 蓮華王院 三十三間堂・飛不動尊 正宝院

The relationship with Ishanaten of the Twelve Devas

Shōhōin explains Ishanaten of the Twelve Devas as a manifestation of Daijizaiten (Makeishuraten). Names related to Daijizaiten appear as the guardian deity of the northeast in the Twelve Devas, and as a figure who protects Senju Kannon in the Twenty-eight Attendants. The iconography and attributes can be checked within each group.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Protecting those who have faith in Kannon from calamity

Kiyomizudera explains the role of the Twenty-eight Attendants as protecting from calamity those who keep Senju Kannon in mind and call on that name. Figures connected with various worlds, such as the sea and the land, together support Kannon's salvation as one group. This is a faith common to the Twenty-eight Attendants, and does not assign the fulfillment of a separate wish to each figure.

Source: 音羽山 清水寺

Related kami and buddhas

• Nijūhachi Bushū二十八部衆
• Ishana-ten伊舎那天