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The Five Wisdom Kings - List

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In Vajrayana Buddhism, a Wisdom King is the third type of deity after Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Five wisdom kings of Buddhism.Five wisdom kings of Buddhism.Five wisdom kings of Buddhism.Five wisdom kings of Buddhism.
The Five Vidyaraja.

The five wisdom kings inhabit the womb realm and are organized according to the directions of the compass.
The wisdom Kings (as they are known in East Asia, or Heruka in Tibet), are enlightened beings viewed as the guardians of Buddhism, and are fierce or wrathful manifestations of Buddhas, as wrathful destroyers of obstacles this class of esoteric deities is not merely tasked with the protection of the devotees or the intimidation of recalcitrant beings, but also, and most importantly, the removal of external and internal hindrances and the transmutation of ignorance into wisdom.
The five wisdom kings are the protectors of the five wisdom buddhas or five dhyani as they are sometimes known, and are steadfast protectors of the Buddhist Law and masters of channelling uncontrollable desires allowing to turn them into constructive conclusions.
Often seen in mandala of peaceful deity the five wisdom kings represent the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness and may be paired as gatekeepers with dakini.
Wisdom Kings teach through fear, shocking nonbelievers into faith, as opposed to teaching through compassion as represented in the pure concepts of the bodhisattvas.

The Five Wisdom Kings

01. Acala, Achala, Acalanātha, རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མི་གཡོ་བ། , Fudо̄ or Āryācalanātha.

Acala is the male gatekeeper of the East gate when Vairocana is positioned East, or otherwise will be associated with the center and is the wrathful form of Vairocana or Mahavairocana who is often represented in a central place.
In Japan, Fudō or Myō-ō is the Immovable One.

02. Trailokyavijaya, Vajrahūṃkāra or Gozanze.

Trailokyavijaya is the wrathful manifestation or emanation of Akṣobhya who is often represented in the East of a place (or Achala when Variocana is positioned East).
In some models he will be represented in the North East.
In Japan Gozanze Myō-ō is the Conqueror of The Three Planes or conqueror of the three worlds.
Trailokyavijaya is also sometimes seen as a wrathful manifestation of Vajrapāṇi, sometimes or described as a transformation of Vajrasattva (and thus identical in essence with the Buddha Mahāvairocana).

03. Yamantaka, གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད།, Daiitoku or Yamāntaka.

Yamantaka is the male gatekeeper of the South gate and is the wrathful form of Amitābha who is often represented in the West of a place as is Yamantaka himself.
In some models he will be represented in the East, or sometimes Aparājita will be represented in the South.
In Japan Daiitoku or Myō-ō is the Defeater of Death.

04. Kundali, Amṛtakuṇḍalin, བདུད་རྩི་ཡོན་ཏན།, Gundari or Amritakundali

Kundali is the male gatekeeper of the North Gate and is the wrathful form of Ratnasambhava who is often represented in the South of a place as is he.
He represents the purity of touch.
In some models he will be represented in the North West.
In Japan Gundari or Myō-ō is the Dispenser of Heavenly Nectar.

05. Vajrayaksa, Kongо̄yasha or Vajrayakṣa.

Vajrayaksa is the wrathful form of Amoghsiddhi who is often represented in the North of a place.
Sometimes Padanakṣipa will be represented.
In Japan Kongōyasha Myō-ō is the Devourer of Demons.

Synonyms/tags: Heruka, The Five Vidyaraja, the Kings of Brightness




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