A Wisdom King - Vajrayaksa 金剛夜叉明王

 

A Wisdom King (Sanskrit: Vidyaraja, Chinese: 明王) is a type of wrathful deity. Whereas the Sanskrit name is translated literally as "wisdom / knowledge king(s)," the term vidyā in Vajrayana Buddhism is also specifically used to denote mantras and the term may thus also be rendered "mantra king(s).

A similar category of fierce deities known as Herukas are found in Tibetan Buddhism.The female counterparts of Wisdom Kings are known as Wisdom Queens (Sanskrit : Vidyarajni)

Vidyarajas, as their name suggests, are originally conceived of as the guardians and personifications of esoteric wisdom (vidyā), namely mantras and dharanis. They were seen as embodying the mystic power contained in these sacred utterances.

During the early stages of esoteric (Vajrayana) Buddhism, many of the deities that would become known as vidyarajas (a term that only came into use around the late 7th-early 8th century) were mainly seen as attendants of Bodhisattvas who were invoked for specific ends such as the removal of misfortune and obstacles to enlightenment.

*A Wisdom King - Vajrayaksa 金剛夜叉明王 

Vajrayaksa is one of the Five Wisdom Kings. He is a manifestation of Amoghasiddhi. He goes by many names including Kongō-Yasha, Vajrayaksa, or Jingang Yecha Mingwang.

Vajrayaksa is one of the sixteen samadhi deities appearing in the Vajradhatu-mahamandala, according to the Namamantrarthavalokini. The Namamantrarthavalokini (literally, ‘an explanation of the nāma-mantras’) is a commentary (ṭīkā) on the 8th century Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti.

Vajrayakṣa is a name of Mañjuśrī (the embodiment of non-dual knowledge) and, together with other names, forms the core essence of the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti. The Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī provides the practitioner a sādhana (‘meditative practice’) to turn these names into mantras. These mantras are chanted for the benefit of all beings, and then placed and contemplated in the Vajradhātu-mahāmaṇḍala, which is an extended version of the Vajradhātu-maṇḍala.

Vajrayakṣa  is another name for Ṭikkarāja: one of the ten deities of the quarters (Dikpāla) presiding over the Agni corner, commonly depicted in Buddhist Iconography, and mentioned in the 11th-century Niṣpannayogāvalī of Mahāpaṇḍita Abhayākara. —His Colour is blue; He has three faces and six arms. —Ṭakkirāja as the guardian of the Agni corner is very frequently referred to in the Niṣpannayogāvalī.—In the vajrahūṃkāra-maṇḍala his name is Vajrayakṣa. In the dharmadhātuvagīśvara-maṇḍala he is Vajrajvālānalārka.

He is both a destroyer of human desires and represents strength. His sadhana is said to bestow success in subduing demons and enemies and winning the love and respect of others. 

* Footnote 

For those who had received the empowerment of this Tantric practice, you are reminded not intentionally or unintentionally to disclose the mantra to the public or anyone who may not have the empowerment or permission to practice, and by disclosing the mantra intentionally or unintentionally is a form of breaking your Tantric Samaya vows to the lineage masters and Dharma protectors. 

Please consult your Guru or a qualified lineage master for Vajrayana practice! Should a devotee even want to start studying and contemplating the Vajrayana practice, then it is truly necessary to first have completed the preliminaries and to be certain and sure that Bodhicitta has arisen and developed in one’s mind.

Vajrayana features countless skillful and powerful methods which, if they are practiced in the proper way, can make the process of accumulation and purification incredibly swift and direct. It is absolutely necessary to have the pure motivation and to know that Vajrayana practice is not carried out to increase one’s own ego, power and self-interests.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

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