ユニークな仏さま 蔵王権現のお話

A Unique Buddha: The Story of Zaō Gongen



「蔵王権現懸仏」（平安時代）。　どこかユニークなお姿。

蔵王権現は、役行者（えんのぎょうじゃ・奈良時代の山岳修行者）が
奈良の金峯山（きんぷせん）において感得した仏だと伝えられています。

それも、釈迦、続いて、観音、弥勒がお現れになったにも関わらず、
末法の世にもっとふさわしい、魔物も降伏する尊像を、と改めて祈り願ったところ現れたのが、
その三仏がひとつとなった蔵王権現だというのです。
ちょっとおもしろい説話です。


Zaō Gongen, such as rendered in this Heian period (794 - 1185) kakebotoke, has a very unique form.

One of the main deities worshiped by mountain ascetics practicing Shugendō, Zaō Gongen is the protector of the mountain Kinpusen in Nara prefecture, and is considered a Japanese Shintō manifestation of three Buddhist deities - Sakyamuni, Avalokitesvara (Kannon), and Maitreya (Miroku) - that was first revealed to the mountain ascetic En no Gyōja in the seventh century. The combination of these three deities - the historical Buddha, the savior of the present age, and the Buddha of the future - was thought ideal for the worship in the decadent age of mappō, the latter days of Buddhism that was believed to begin in Heian period. There are of course multiple versions of Zaō Gongen's origins and much of what has been passed down to the present day may very well be legend, but it is an interesting story to say the least.


こちらは懸仏の本体で、もとは銅製の鏡板に留められていたものと思われます。

他の作例では、蔵王権現を、垂迹神（仏の仮の姿としての神）とみなし、鳥居とともに
表しているものもあります。

日本古来の山岳信仰と、外来の仏教などが習合し、今では不思議なようでありますが、
森羅万象に精霊を感じ、その土地土地で神社やお寺に参拝する日本人の感性からは、
むしろ自然にうまれてきたことなのかもしれませんね。


It is thought that the kakebotoke figure featured here was originally attached to a bronze mirror-like disc and hung in a temple. Other examples of Zaō Gongen imagery seem less Buddhist in nature, appearing more as a Shintō deity, or even together with the torii gate of a Shintō shrine.

Though the syncretism of Japan's ancient mountain worship practices and imported Buddhist beliefs may be difficult to understand for those of us today, you can feel in it the spirit of all things in nature. To the sensibilities of a Japanese person who visits both the shrines and temples of various places, it seems almost natural that such a system was created.