VEDIC GODS OF JAPAN

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The Vedic Gods of Japan

By Subhash Kak

The Vedas tell us that the gods (deva in Sanskrit) reside within the

mind. But since

physical reality is also experienced as a construction of the mind,

therefore, one may see

the Vedic gods in the physical space and its relationships. These

conceptions led to the

detailed exposition of the devas in yoga, tantra as well as in

architecture and

iconography.1

The Vedic way recognizes that reality is a synthesis of opposites.

We are suspended

between being and becoming, between hazy memories of the past and

fears for the future.

Within each of us lie not only sublime thoughts but also avarice and

greed. We are the

battlefield of a struggle between the gods and demons. The opposites

require an act of

balance so that the individual's relationship to Truth is

articulated only partly by means

of abstract ideas, and it needs art – in performance and

representation – to complete the

picture.

The two poles of the approach to reality are provided by the

Upanishadic mahâvâkyas: "I

am Brahman" or "I am the Universe" (aham brahmâsmi) and "Not this,

not this" (neti,

neti). These lead to two artistic styles: one rich and textured, the

other spare and austere.

One speaks of infinite possibility and structure (Brahman), the

other of nothingness

(úûnyatâ). Each of these is the ground of the other; within one lays

the other in endless

recursive details. This is the essence of the paradox taught in the

Vedas to help one learn

that one is not a thing, but a process. On the one hand are the

maddeningly complex

rituals, on the other the simplicity of dhyâna (meditation). Both

these styles are to be

incorporated within the life process.

The Western philological approach to the Vedas not only misses this

understanding of the

Vedas, it has misguided generations of scholars and laypersons into

a simplistic view of

Indian culture. It sees Hinduism and Buddhism in dichotomous terms

that appear absurd

to those within the tradition. The Buddha himself affirmed on the

basis of his own direct

experience the existence of the various elements of the Vedic world

view, including the

existence of many hells, heavens, and various supernatural beings

like devas, asuras

(demons), and râkshasas. The Buddha claimed to have seen these

realms and beings with

his divine sight, and he also claimed to have observed how sentient

beings cycle through

these diverse forms of existence in the interminable process of

transmigration. The

Buddha, therefore, took for granted the Vedic cosmic geography

wherein all these natural

and supernatural beings lived. It is no wonder then that the

anthology

Subhâsitaratnakosha of Vidyâkara (c. 1100) a Buddhist abbot at the

monastery of

Jagaddala in present-day Bangladesh,2 has 20 verses to the Buddha,

but 73 to Úiva, and

40 to Visnu.

The philologists and the anthropologists wonder what Úiva and Visnu

are doing in a book

by a Buddhist. Neither can they explain how the Vedic devas continue

to be a part of the

Mahâyâna pantheon. Their texts absurdly describe the Vedic devas of

Japan and China as Buddhist since according to legend they became

followers of the Buddha when he started

preaching. The Buddha in the Mahâyâna tradition is the principle of

Understanding, who

fits in perfectly within the Vedic conception, and we see this most

emphatically in the

Lotus Sûtra (Saddharma Pundarîka Sûtra).

Living in an isolated valley, Kashmiris have maintained many old

customs, although their

recent tragic history has been responsible for much loss of the

meaning of their

ceremonies. For example, we were told of six psychological states of

the existence, where

the lowest three states represented (1) ideas of evil people, (2)

ghosts of unfulfilled

desires, and (3) our animal nature. The highest three states are (4)

asuras, who take the

bodies to be all that we are; (5) humans; and (6) devas, who embody

the essence of the

various tattvas (or their combinations) that constitutes the world

of the mind. There were

ceremonies in which the yakshas were invoked. We didn't quite

understand these

ceremonies although we were reminded of their connection to

architecture and directions

by their appearance in the ruins at Avantipur and Martanda.

The Vedic devas went to China and Japan through Kashmir. The fourth

great council was

held there under the patronage of the Kushana emperor Kanishka (r.

78-120) in around

100 CE, where monks of the Sarvastivâdin School compiled a new

canon. This became

the basis of Mahâyâna. The Vedic devas were a part of this

understanding, as was dhyâna

of the Vedic tradition (Ch'an in China and Zen in Japan) with

devotion to Îúvara (Úiva) as

its ultimate objective (Yogasûtra 1.23). The Parihâsapura monuments

(near Úrînagar) of

the Cankuna stûpa (Kârkota dynasty, 8th century) "served as a model

all across Asia from

the Pamir Mountains to Japan".3 The Kashmiri images of the Vedic

devas were also much

copied. The art historian Susan Huntington reminds us: "The Yunkang

caves in China,

the wall paintings from several sites in Inner Asia, especially

Qizil and Tun-huang, the

paintings from the cache at Tun-huang, and some iconographic

manuscripts from Japan,

for example, should be evaluated with Kaúmîr in mind as a possible

source."4

Vedic ideas were also taken to Japan by the sea route from South

India and Southeast

Asia. That serves to explain the specific transformations of some

Sanskrit terms into

Japanese through Tamil phonology. For example, consider the

transformation of Sanskrit

homa, the Vedic fire rite, into Japanese goma, where the initiation

is given by the achari

(Sanskrit âcârya). The Sanskrit mantras in Japan are written the

Siddham script of South

India.

In this article, I present the main Vedic gods that are popular in

present-day Japan. I

begin with the Vedic fire and consecration ceremonies and then

describe the gods of the

directions and a few goddesses.

Goma-Homa

Homa, Vedic fire rite, remains central to religion in Japan. It

consists of mantra, mudrâ5,

and mandala. In the Vedic fire-ritual manuals, some instructions

regarding mudrâ are

given. For example, the ladles are to be held in the úankha-mudrâ,

and when the priest

enters the chamber, he is to put his right palm downward on his left

palm at right angles and close the hands. The fire-ritual is the

quintessential Vedic ritual, emphasizing the

process of transformation.6 The artistic parallels of this ritual is

presented most clearly by

Kapila Vatsyayan.7

Abhisheka

Another Vedic rite that is widely practiced is abhisheka

(consecration). The initiates are

given a potion to drink before they enter the room. Inside, the

initiate places the right foot

on an elephant, which represents Ganesha or Vinâyaka, (Kangitan in

Japanese) as he is

the remover of obstacles. Next, the initiates rub powdered incense

on their hands, and dab

it on their foreheads and also on their tongues, and then swallow

the potion.

Now the candidate enters the first room, where the samaya vow

(sammaya-kai) – the vow

of secrecy -- is administered. They hear hymns being chanted as they

are given

instructions as to the meaning of the rite by the priest. Another

image of Ganesha is seen

surrounded by offerings.

Two mandalas are used in the ceremonies:8 the garbhadhâtu (womb

mandala) and the

vajradhâtu (diamond mandala). The candidates are first initiated

into the garbhadhâtu; the

following day they are initiated into the vajradhâtu. The candidates

are each blindfolded

with a strip, white for the womb mandala, red for the vajra mandala.

A folded paper

flower, white or red depending on the mandala, is put between their

joined hands, with

their fingers slightly crossed at the end, and then they are led in

front of the mandala in a

central room.

The candidate goes through a landscape-screened labyrinth of the

oblong buildings

(corresponding to the Vedic goddess temple), to its centre, the

womb, (the garbhagrha

section of the Indian temple), where the mandala is located. The

squares of the mandala

corresponding to the deities are left blank, with white circles. A

homa fire is burning in

the chamber.

The candidate now is given a flower to throw at the mandala. The

circle on which it lands

becomes the candidate's tutelary deity for life, and this is

whispered into his ear by the

master. Now the blindfold is taken off and the candidate is taken to

a side table. A crown

is placed on his head, showing his initiation.

Water from a well has been drawn in advance with special mantras to

make it symbolic

of the five oceans. Now the master pours five drops of it on the

crown of the candidate

and consecrates him as a monarch, chakravartin, of dharma. Next the

master takes a

bronze needle (úalâkâ in Sanskrit) and applies it to his eye,

saying "the scales of

ignorance have fallen from your eyes; your eyes are open." Then he

takes a bronze mirror

and holds it up to the newly initiated master (no longer a

candidate), for him to see his

face.

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