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' or Achala (, "The Immovable", ), also known as ' (अचलनाथ, "Immovable Lord") or (आर्याचलनाथ, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a Fierce deities and dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana and East Asian Buddhism., Jp. rel. dict., pp. 242–246
Originally a minor deity described as a messenger or acolyte of the Buddhahood Vairocana, Acala later rose to prominence as an object of veneration in his own right as a remover of obstacles and destroyer of evil, eventually becoming seen as the wrathful manifestation of either Vairocana, the Buddha Akshobhya, or the Bodhisattva Manjushri. In later texts, he is also called ' (चण्डरोषण, "Violent Wrathful One", ) or ' (चण्डमहारोषण, "Violent One of Great Wrath", ), the names by which he is more commonly known in countries like Nepal and Tibet.Thomas E. Donaldson (2026). 9780486255750, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. . ISBN 9780486255750
In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Acala is classed among the () and is preeminent among the five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, he occupies an important hierarchical position in the Mandala of the Two Realms. In Chinese Buddhism, he is known as (不動明王, "Immovable Wisdom King", the Chinese language translation of Sanskrit ), while in Japan, he is called Fudō Myōō, the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name. Fudō Myōō and Myō-ō, Encyclopædia Britannica Acala (as Fudō) is one of the especially important and well-known divinities in Japanese Buddhism, being especially venerated in the Shingon, Tendai, Zen, and Nichiren sects, as well as in Shugendō.
Acala has been worshiped throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times in Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan, where sculptural and pictorial representations of him are most often found.
The first from the west in the northern quadrant is the acolyte Acala (不動使者). In his left hand he grasps a noose and in his right hand he holds a sword. He is seated in the Lotus position.
More well-known, however, is the following passage from the (also known as the or the ) which refers to Acala as one of the deities of the Womb Realm:
The deity was apparently popular in India during the 8th-9th centuries as evident by the fact that six of the Sanskrit texts translated by the esoteric master Amoghavajra into Chinese are devoted entirely to him. Indeed, Acala's rise to a more prominent position in the Esoteric pantheon in East Asian Buddhism may be credited in part to the writings of Amoghavajra and his teacher Vajrabodhi.
While some scholars have put forward the theory that Acala originated from the Hindu god Shiva, particularly his attributes of destruction and reincarnation,a ;
b
Acala is said to be a powerful deity who protects the faithful by burning away all impediments () and defilements (), thus aiding them towards enlightenment., under Fudo Myoo (in Japanese) In a commentary on the Mahāvairocana Tantra by Yi Xing, he is said to have manifested in the world following Vairocana's vow to save all beings, and that his primary function is to remove obstacles to enlightenment. Indeed, the tantra instructs the ritual practitioner to recite Acala's mantras or to visualize himself as Acala in order to remove obstacles.
From a humble acolyte, Acala evolved into a powerful demon-subduing deity. In later texts such as the , Acala - under the name ("Violent Wrathful One") or ("Violent One of Great Wrath") - is portrayed as the "frightener of gods, titans, and men, the destroyer of the strength of demons" who slays ghosts and evil spirits with his fierce anger. In the Sādhanamālā, the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Kamadeva - described as "wicked" beings who subject humanity to endless rebirth - are said to be terrified of Acala because he carries a rope to bind them.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Acala or Miyowa () is considered as belonging to the ("vajra family", ), one of the Five Buddha Families presided over by the buddha Akshobhya and may even be regarded, along with the other deities of the kula, as an aspect or emanation of the latter., p.100, "Aksobhya, the Buddha who presides over the family (kula) of deities with which Acala is associated" He is thus sometimes depicted in South Asian art wearing a crown with an effigy of Akṣobhya. In Nepal, Acala may also be identified as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Manjushri. He has a consort named Viśvavajrī in both the Nepalese and Tibetan traditions, with whom he is at times depicted in Yab-Yum union.
By contrast, the (三輪身, "bodies of the three wheels") theory, based on Amoghavajra's writings and prevalent in Japanese esoteric Buddhism (), interprets Acala as an incarnation of Vairocana. In this system, the five chief Wisdom King or Wisdom Kings (明王, ), of which Acala is one, are interpreted as the wrathful manifestations (教令輪身, , lit. ""embodiments of the wheel of injunction") of the Five Tathagatas, who appear both as gentle bodhisattvas to teach the Dharma and also as fierce wrathful deities to subdue and convert hardened nonbelievers. Under this conceptualization, vidyārājas are ranked superior to gohō zenshin,護法善神, added 2008.4.23 (Wed) 06:02 by Boca samba (Japanese interwiki link to Dharmapala) makes this distinction. a different class of guardian deities. However, this interpretation, while common in Japan, is not necessarily universal: in Nichiren-shū, for instance, Acala and Rāgarāja (Aizen Myōō), the two vidyārājas who commonly feature in the Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren, are seen as protective deities (外護神, ) who respectively embody the two tenets of ("original enlightenment") doctrine: "life and death ( saṃsāra) are precisely nirvana" (生死即涅槃, ) and "worldly passions ( kleśa) are precisely enlightenment ( bodhi)" (煩悩即菩提, ).
In Nepalese and Tibetan art, Acala is usually shown either kneeling on his left knee or standing astride, bearing a noose or lasso () and an upraised sword. Some depictions portray him trampling on the elephant-headed Vighnarāja (lit. "Ruler of Hindrances", a Buddhist equivalent to the Hindu god Ganesha, albeit interpreted negatively as one who causes obstacles), signifying his role as the destroyer of impediments to enlightenment. He may also be shown wearing a tiger skin, with snakes coiled around his arms and body.
By contrast, portrayals of Acala () in Japan generally tend to conform to the description given in the Amoghapāśakalparāja Sūtra and the Mahāvairocana Tantra: holding a lasso and a sword while sitting or standing on a rock (盤石座, ) or a pile of hewn stones (瑟瑟座, ), with his braided hair hanging from the left of his head. pg. 244 He may also be depicted with a lotus flower - a symbol of enlightenment - on his head (頂蓮, ). Unlike the South Asian Acala, whose striding posture conveys movement and dynamism, the Japanese Fudō sits or stands erect, suggesting motionlessness and rigidity. The sword he wields may or may not be flaming and is sometimes described generically as a hōken or kongō-ken, which is descriptive of the fact that the sword's pommel is in the shape of the talon-like vajra (金剛杵, ). It may also be referred to as a sanko-ken. In some cases, he is seen holding the "Kurikara sword" (倶利伽羅剣, ),, article on "akafudo" by Tanaka, Ichimatsu (田中一松) a sword with the dragon () king Kurikara (倶利伽羅; Sanskrit: or ) coiled around it. The flaming nimbus or halo behind Acala is commonly known in Japanese as the "Garuda flame" (迦楼羅炎, ) after the mythical Karura from Indian mythology.
There are two main variations in the iconography of Acala / Fudō in Japan. The first type (observable in the earliest extant Japanese images of the deity) shows him with wide open, glaring eyes, straight hair braided in rows and two fangs pointed in the same direction; a lotus flower rests above his head. The second type (which first appeared in the late 9th century and became increasingly common during the late Heian period and Kamakura period periods), by contrast, portrays Acala with curly hair, one eye wide open and/or looking upwards, with the other narrowed and/or looking downwards, an iconographic trait known as the (天地眼), "heaven-and-earth eyes". Similarly, one of his fangs is now shown as pointing up, with the other pointing down. In place of the lotus flower, images of this type may sport seven topknots.
Although the squinting left eye and inverted fangs of the second type ultimately derives from the description of Acala given in the and Yi Xing's commentary on the text ("with his lower tooth he bites the upper-right side of his lip, and with his left his lower lip which sticks out"), these attributes were mostly absent in Chinese and earlier Japanese icons.
Acala's mismatched eyes and fangs were allegorically interpreted to signify both the duality and nonduality of his nature (and of all reality): the upward fang for instance was interpreted as symbolizing the process of elevation towards enlightenment, with the downward fang symbolizing the descent of enlightened beings into the world to teach sentient beings. The two fangs also symbolize the realms of buddhas and sentient beings, yin and yang, and male and female, with the nonduality of these two polar opposites being expressed by Acala's tightly closed lips.
Acala is commonly shown as having either black or blue skin (the describes his color as being "like that of the (flax) flower," which may be either yellow or blue), though he may be at times portrayed in other colors. In Tibet, for instance, a variant of the kneeling Acala depiction shows him as being white in hue "like sunrise on a snow mountain reflecting many rays of light". In Japan, some images may depict Acala sporting a red (赤不動, ) or yellow (黄不動, ) complexion. The most famous example of the portrayal is a painting kept at Myōō-in on Mount Kōya (Wakayama Prefecture) traditionally attributed to the Heian period Tendai monk Enchin. Legend claims that Enchin, inspired by a vision of Acala, painted the image using his own blood (thus explaining its red color), though recent analysis suggests that the image may have been actually created much later, during the Kamakura period. The most well-known image of the type, meanwhile, is enshrined in Mii-dera (Onjō-ji) at the foot of Mount Hiei in Shiga Prefecture and is said to have been based on another vision that Enchin saw while practicing austerities in 838. The original Mii-dera is traditionally only shown to esoteric masters (; 阿闍梨, ) during initiation rites and is otherwise not shown to the public, though copies of it have been made. One such copy, made in the 12th century, is kept at Manshu-in in Kyoto.
The deity is usually depicted with one head and two arms, though a few portrayals show him with multiple heads, arms or legs. In Japan, a depiction of Acala with four arms is employed in subjugation rituals and earth-placating rituals (安鎮法, ); this four-armed form is identified in one text as "the lord of the various categories ." An iconographic depiction known as the "Two-Headed Rāgarāja" (両頭愛染, or ) shows Acala combined with the wisdom king Rāgarāja (Aizen).
The two boy servants or (童子) most commonly depicted in Japanese iconographic portrayals are Kongara-dōji and Seitaka-dōji, who also appear as the last two of the list of Acala's eight great . Kiṃkara is depicted as white in color, with Namaste, while Ceṭaka is red-skinned and holds a vajra in his left hand and a vajra staff in his right hand. The two are said to symbolize both Dharma-essence and ignorance, respectively, and is held to be in charge of good and evil. Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka are also sometimes interpreted as transformations or emanations of Acala himself. In a sense, they reflect Acala's original characterization as an attendant of Vairocana; indeed, their servile nature is reflected in their names ( Ceṭaka for instance means "slave") and their topknots, the mark of banished people and slaves. In other texts, they are also described as manifestations of Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) and Vajrapāṇi or as transformations of the dragon Kurikara, who is himself sometimes seen as one of Acala's various incarnations.
Two other notable are Matijvala (恵光童子, ) and Matisādhu (恵喜童子, ), the first two of Acala's eight great acolytes. Matijvala is depicted as white in color and holds a three-pronged vajra in his right hand and a lotus topped with a moon disk on his left, while Matisādhu is red and holds a trident in his right hand and a wish-fulfilling jewel () on his left. The eight acolytes as a whole symbolize the eight directions, with Matijvala and Matisādhu representing east and south, respectively.
The Japanese esoteric Buddhist tradition and Shugendō also make use of the following apocryphal sutras on Acala:
Three of Acala are considered to be the standard in Japan. The most widely known one, derived from the Mahāvairocana Tantra and popularly known as the "Mantra of Compassionate Help" (慈救呪, or ), goes as follows:
| + !Sanskrit !Shingon Buddhism pronunciation !Tendai pronunciation !English translation | |||
| Homage to the all-encompassing Vajras! O violent one of great wrath (), destroy! |
| + !Sanskrit !Shingon pronunciation !Tendai pronunciation !English translation | |||
| Homage to the all-encompassing Vajras! |
The longest of the three is the "Great Mantra" of Acala, also known as the "Fire Realm Mantra" (火界呪, / ):
| + !Sanskrit !Shingon pronunciation !Tendai pronunciation !English translation | |||
| (or ) | Homage to all Tathāgatas, the omnipresent doors, who are in all directions! O violent one of great wrath! Root out, root out every obstacle! .Translation based on Akiyama (2012). pp. 28-29. |
Another mantra associated with the deity is , found in the . The text describes it as the "king of mantras" that dispels all evil and grants "whatever the follower of Mantrayāna desires".
The cult of Acala was first brought to Japan by the esoteric master Kūkai, the founder of the Shingon school, and his successors, where it developed as part of the growing popularity of rituals for the protection of the state. While Acala was at first simply regarded as the primus inter pares among the five wisdom kings, he gradually became a focus of worship in his own right, subsuming characteristics of the other four vidyarājas (who came to be perceived as emanating from him), and became installed as the Honzon () at many temples and outdoor shrines.
Acala, as a powerful vanquisher of evil, was regarded both as a protector of the imperial court and the nation as a whole (in which capacity he was invoked during state-sponsored rituals) and the personal guardian of ritual practitioners. Many eminent Buddhist priests like Kūkai, Kakuban, Ennin, Enchin, and Sōō worshiped Acala as their patron deity, and stories of how he miraculously rescued his devotees in times of danger were widely circulated.
At temples dedicated to Acala, priests perform the 不動法, or ritual service to enlist the deity's power of purification to benefit the faithful. This rite routinely involves the use of the goma as a purification tool.
Lay persons or monks in gear who go into rigorous training outdoors in the mountains often pray to small Acala statues or portable talismans that serve as his . This element of yamabushi training, known as Shugendō, predates the introduction of Acala to Japan. At this time, figures such as 蔵王権現, who appeared before the sect's founder, En no Gyōja, or Vairocana, were commonly worshiped. Once Acala was added to list of deities typically enshrined by the yamabushi monks, his images were either portable, or installed in (outdoor shrines). These statues would often be placed near waterfalls (a common training ground), deep in the mountains and in caves.
The daimyo Takeda Shingen is known to have taken Fudō Myōō as his patron (particularly when he transitioned to being a lay monk in his later years), and has commissioned a statue of Fudō that is supposedly modelled after his face.
Acala also tops the list of Thirteen Buddhas., Japanese Dictionary, p.748, middle row, under 「志ふさん・ぶつ.. (十三)佛」 Thus Shingon Buddhism mourners assign Fudō to the first seven days of service. The first week is an important observance, but perhaps not as much as the observance of "seven times seven days" (i.e. 49 days) signifying the end of the "intermediate state" (bardo).
Literature on Shingon Buddhist ritual will explain that Sanskrit "seed syllables", and are attendant to each of the Buddhas for each observance period. But the scholarly consensus seems to be that invocation of the "Thirteen Buddhas" had evolved later, around the 14th century, p.68 gives "late Kamakura Period" and became widespread by the following century, so it is doubtful that this practice was part of Kūkai's original teachings.
In modern times, he continues to be regularly invoked during Chinese Buddhist rituals with esoteric elements, such as the Shuilu Fahui ceremony, along with the other Wisdom Kings where they are given offerings and intreated to expel evil from the ritual platform. He is also revered as one of the eight Buddhist guardians of the Chinese zodiac and specifically considered to be the protector of those born in the year of the Rooster.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Fudo Myo-O, 不動明王 O-Fudo-sama in Japan
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