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Kubera or Bishamon-ten is another important god in Brahmanical as well as in Buddhist pantheon. According to the Brahmanical concept, this deity generally has two long arms. He holds a club or mace in one hand and is not represented as pot bellied. Sometimes he is endowed with four arms. He is quite terrific in appearance and is accompanied by two niddhis, Sankha and Padma. Either a lamb or a human-looking mythical being regarded as his mount. This deity is shown in Northerner's dress and armour. Sometimes he is depicted with prominent moustache and fangs. His consort Riddhi sits on his lap. Kubera holds a mace and a spear in his right hands and a jewel and 鉁� a pot in his two left hands. The deity is variously known in Japan as Bishamon-ten, Tamon-ten, Hemmon, Fumon, Shenjumon and Hoppo-ten. He is generally regarded as a warrior. But he is not the god of war. In India also in some representations the god holds a sort of weapon and has a fierce appearance as that of a warrior. Bishamon-ten is variously described in different Japanese Texts : The text Kongo chu-Yuga-Goma-Giki describes the god as located in the northern direction and generally depicted on the two demons, wearing armours. He holds a small pagoda on

140 his left palm and jewelled stick in the right hand. The colour of his body is golden. 1. In India Kubera is one of the four-guardians of the four directions. The same feature is also maintained in Japan. Bishamon-ten is represented as one of the four guardian deities. The names of these four deities are Jikoku-ten or Toho-ten i.e. Dhrtarastra, Zoto-ten or Nampo-ten i.e. Virudhaka, Komoku-ten or Saiho-ten i.e. Virupaksa and Bishamon-ten or Hoppo-ten i.e. Vaisravana-Kubera." They respectively guard the east, south, west and north. 2 According to the first volume of the Unkadayagiki, the great king Bishamon-ten should have one head and ten arms. The colour of his body should be red and the colour of his garments should be indigo-blue. His eyes are white. He has two small tusks in his mouth. His uppermost left and right hands are in Varada-mudra. The second left hand holds jewelled pagoda. The third left hand has a vajra with ring, the fourth left hand holds a metal wheel and the fifth left hand has an arrow and a string. The second right hand bears Fourth a sword, and right hand has a bow and the fifth right hand is with a vajra and a spear. He stands on a demon whose left knee is raised and right knee touches the ground. ul. HDIJBP, p. 68. This text is translated by Fuku or Amoghavajra. 2. HDIJBP, p. 67. tenno in 67. The four guardian deities are known as ShiJapanese. In Sanskrit they are known as Caturmaharaja. In Buddhist conception they protect the world from evils. They stand on a rocky pedestal and usually placed in the four corners of the dix dais in the temples.

141 C The Visnudharmottara describes that the colour of the body of Kuvera is like the colour of a lotus leaf. His Vahana is a man and there is a necklace resting on the belly of the Vahana. He wears a beautiful dress and destroys the enemies, His left hand should hold a jewelled vessel and in the right hands there should be a mace and a spear. He plays an important role in exorcising Shaka who converted and raised him to the priesthood and he thus became one of the important kings of the Yaksas. As the god of riches his epithet is dhanada. He is depicted as having blue face. He is dressed in armour and carrying a pagoda in the left hand. Sometime he is accompanied by kichijoaten or Laksmil or Mahasri. He is identical with Vaisravans, the Maharajah of the west. He is one of the Shi-Tenno or four guardian kings. As a legend says, the life of Shotoku-Taishi was saved in the battle field by the grace of this god. Prince Shotokus strong belief in the guardian gods is understood from the story narrated in the 'Nihongi' that the Prince (when he was known by the name of Umayado) made wooden images of the four kings name Dhrtarastra (Toho-ten), Virudhaka (Nampo-ten), Virupaksa (Saiho-ten) and Kubera-Vaisravana (Hoppo-ten) and tied them in his hair obviously with the hope of receiving the blessings and favour from the these group of gods. ; But unlike Indian Kubera-Vaisravana the Japanese

" - 142 Bishomon-ten holds a jewelled pagoda and sometimes he has ten hands. It is also another peculiar characteristic of Japanese Kubera. The other feature of Japanese Kubera is that he stands upon three Yaksas. But there is no corresponding form of the god in Japan where the god has three legs and eight feet. Then, again, the Japanese Bishamon-ten sometimes holds like the Indian Kubera-Vaisravana a bag or sack. The conception of Kubera squeezing the neck of jewelvomitting mongoose, as it appears, has no parallel in Japan. The pagoda in one hand is an essential attribute in the hand of Japanese Biohamon-ten (Pl.xx[Fig.1, ). 鈥� In one representation of the Kyo-O Gokoku-ji temple (To-ji temple) in Kyoto, a figure of Tobatsu Bishamon-ten stands on the hands of earth-goddess Prthivi, who is accom panied by two gobblins. The figure of the deity is fiercelooking. His right hand is bare and the left hand holds a miniature pagoda. The elongated four-sided crown of the head bears the effigy of a bird which is the image of birdking Garuda. The ornaments and decoration of his dresses are very beautiful. The image is made of wood, the designs xxx oh the image is done with cut-gold leaf. The image measures 189.4 cm in height. It is a unique piece of sculpture of Chinese T'ang dynasty. Now it is owned by the Kyo-o-Gokoku-ji temple in Kyoto. (Pl. XXII, Fig. 1.) Bishamon-ten is also regarded as one of the seven gods of luck. In this aspect he is always shown dressed in

" - 143 full armour and carrying a spear. But in his other hand he carries a miniature Buddhist pagoda. These two objects show that he is intending to combine missionary zeal and the warrior' s Another important texts like Maka HeishitsuramanavaDaibaketsuraja-Darani-Giki, Darani-Shu-Kyo etc. describe the deity in a quite different manner. spirit. Another important statue should be mentioned here (P 1XX|N|Fig.4. ). In this aspect the deity is illustrated as standing in a peculiar posture. He stands on a rocky pedestal. He fixes his left hand on his forehead, which makes a shade over the eyes. It means as if he is engaged in watching the distant objects. As he is one of the four guardian deities (Shi-tenno) of Japan his duty is to keep an eye over the capital of the country to guard it from any possible harm which might be inflicted by the enemies.