Vidyārāja
vidyārāja (T. རིག་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་; C. ming wang 明王). Translated as "vidyā king," "king of vidyās," "wisdom king," etc.
This term has the following denotations:[1]
- a class of mantras and mantra deities;
- an epithet of Vajrapāṇi;
- an epithet of any powerful vidyā or mantra.
This epithet can refer to individual mantras (vidyā) as well as deities—typically those attending upon Vajrapāṇi; most of the time the mantra and the deity are one and the same, but, in some contexts, the focus may be on either one or the other. If the focus is on the mantra or its corresponding deity, the term has been translated asking of vidyās, and if it is on the class of deities and is used in the plural, it has been translated as vidyārāja.[1]
Vidyārāja can also be a deity name.[1]
In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism
In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism, the term ming wang (明王, vidyārāja) refers to a class of fierce deities who are the messengers and manifestation of Vairocanaʼs wrath against evil spirits.[2] In this context, the term ming wang is translated as "wisdom kings," "guardian kings," "luminous kings," etc.
Various groups of deities are presented in traditional sources, such as:[2]
- five wisdom kings (wǔ dà míngwáng 五大明王)
- eight wisdom kings (bā dà míngwáng 八大明王)
- ten wisdom kings (shídà míngwáng 十大明王)
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2
རིག་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
明王, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)
