Ukiyo-e Educational Catalog · Record 147184

Vajra God

Artist / 作者
不明
Date / 年代
2067-2099
Medium / 技法
浮世絵 / Ukiyo-e / Reiwa / artelino
Digital record / 画像記録
586 × 800 px
Source collection / 所蔵元
Artelino
Published by / 公開者
白石カナ
Rights / 権利
All rights reserved / commercial reuse prohibited
Attribution / 表記
Artelino

Catalog note / 解説

"Basara Taishi" (Vajra God, one of the Ni-o). The Ni-o (Kongo Rikishi) are the paired Buddhist guardian gods stand at the main gates of the many Japanese Buddhist temples. Their formidable forms also represent the particular cosmic sounds. The "Agyo" opens his mouth uttering the sound "ah," meaning birth. His closed-mouth partner is called "Ungyo," who sounds "un" or "om," meaning death. "Ah" is also the first letter and "Un" is the last letter in the Sanskrit and Japanese alphabets. This combination symbolically represents all possible outcomes (from alpha to omega) in the universe.

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