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 Mārtanda.



The Vedic devas went to China and Japan through Kashmir. The fourth great council was held there under the patronage of the Kushana emperor Kaniska (r. 78- 120) in around 100 CE, where monks of the Sarvā stivādin School compiled a new canon. This became the basis of Mahāyāna. The Vedic devas were a part of this understanding, as was dhyāna of the Vedic tradition (Ch’an in China and Zen in Japan) with devotion to Īśvara (Śiva) as its ultimate objective (Yogasūtra 1.23). The Parihāsapura monuments (near Srinagar) of the Cankuna stūpa (Kārkota dynasty, 8th century) “served as a model all across Asia from the Pamir Mountains to Japan”. 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 Kashmir in mind as a possible source.”

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 ācārya). The Sanskrit mantras in Japan are written in the Siddham script of South India.

In this article, I present the aspects of Vedic culture 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, the Vedic fire rite, remains central to religion in Japan. It consists of mantra, mudra, and mandala. In the Vedic fire-ritual manuals, some instructions regarding mudrā are given. For example, the ladles are to be held in the śankha-mudrā, 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, emphasising the process of transformation. The artistic parallels of this ritual are presented most clearly by Kapila Vatsyayan.

Abhisheka

Another Vedic rite that is widely practiced is abhi-eka (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 Ganeśa or Vināyaka, (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 Ganeśa is seen surrounded by offerings.

Two mandalas are used in the ceremonies: the garbhadhātu (womb mandala) and the vajradhātu (diamond mandala). The candidates are first initiated into the garbhadhātu; the following day they are initiated into the vajradhātu. 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, cakravartin, of dharma. Next, the master takes a bronze needle (śalākā 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.

This is the illumination just as it is done in inaugurating a new mūrti or a new icon, when the mirror is held up to the icon so that the first gaze of the newly consecrated icon is caught in the mirror and reflected back at the icon. As the icon animates itself, the newly enlightened master is enlightened by himself. The new master has become an ācharya (and he can ordain or initiate others. He can perform rituals which increase in strength and power and, above all, he can call upon his tutelary deity at any time. He has entered the mandala. He did not just go into the room, but actually became part of the mandala. He has become a living deva.

The devas are called tenbu (or merely ten, when used as a suffix after the deva name). There are a large number of devas, depending on how you count them. One may consider them as capacities of the mind, as attributes, or as projections in space and time.

Guardians of All Directions

As guardians of directions, the devas are often listed as a group of twelve that includes the lordship of the four quarters and four semi-quarters (the eight dikpālas, given below as by Amarsi÷ha in Amarakoś a), up and down and the sun and moon. The last four may also be considered as the three divisions of the world: the earth, the moon (for atmosphere), the sun (for sky), and the transcending Brahman (who may be taken to represent heaven). Representations of the Twelve Devas were made in 1127 C.E. to be hung at the annual, New Year’s ceremony of esoteric prayers, held at Shingon-in, in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and are now in the Kyoto National Museum.



