Vairocana

Vairocana
In Mahayana and tantric Buddhism, the supreme buddha who is the cosmic counterpart of Sakyamuni in his teaching mode.

He is the most prominent of the five self-born buddhas, those who were born as humans to propagate the dharma. Though without canonical basis, Vairocana holds a special place in Tibetan Buddhism and has a special role in the Avatamsaka-sutra, in which he is the solar buddha who is both the ultimate reality of the cosmos and the one who pervades its component parts.

Dainichi Nyorai ("Great Sun Buddha") by Unkei, lacquered wood sculpture, 1175; in the ...

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Buddha
(Sanskrit: “Illuminator”),also called  Mahāvairocana 
 (“Great Illuminator”), the supreme Buddha, as regarded by many Mahāyāna Buddhists of East Asia and of Tibet, Nepal, and Java.

      Some Buddhists regard Vairocana, or Mahāvairocana, as a being separate from the five “self-born” Dhyāni-Buddhas, one of whom is known as Vairocana (see Dhyāni-Buddha). Among the Shingon sect of Japan, he is the chief object of reverence and is regarded as the source of the entire universe. In Japanese he is called Dainichi Nyorai (“Great Sun Buddha”), or Roshana; in Chinese P'i-lu-che-na; in Tibetan Rnam-par-snang-mdzad, or Rnam-snang (“Maker of Brilliant Light”).

      When represented as one of the “self-born” Buddhas, as he is in Nepali, Tibetan, and Javanese art, Vairocana occupies the chief position and is often considered to be the progenitor of the other four Dhyāni-Buddhas, or the Ādi-Buddha himself. In paintings, Vairocana is coloured white and his hands are shown in the dharma-chakra-mudra (“teaching gesture”). His consort is Vajradhātvīśvarī or Tārā, his family Moha, his mount the dragon (or lion), his symbol the chakra (“wheel”), his skandha (“personality component”) rūpa (“matter”), his syllable a or om, his element space, his sense perception hearing, his sense organ the ear, and his location in the human body the head.

      In China and Japan, Vairocana is given reverence by Buddhists of the Yogācāra school (which led to the foundation of the Shingon sect). Legend claims that he transmitted to a supernatural personage, Vajrasattva, the Yoga doctrine, which was in turn introduced into China in AD 719 by Vajrabodhi and into Japan by Kūkei (Kōbō Daishi; 774–835).

      In Japan he is also worshiped in the form of the fierce Fudō Myō-ō (Chinese: Pu-tung-fo; Sanskrit: Acala), whose duty it is to combat evil and to take charge of the soul after death. Vairocana is frequently represented in Japanese painting and sculpture, most notably the 53-foot (16-metre), seated, bronze Roshana in the Tōdai-ji, at Nara, which was installed in AD 752 but restored in later centuries. As the supreme Buddha, his characteristic gesture is the mudra of the six elements, in which the index finger of the left hand is clasped by the five fingers of the right, symbolizing the uniting of the five elements of the material world (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) with the spiritual (consciousness).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • VAIROCANA — ou DAINICHI NYORAI Un des cinq jina, Vairocana (celui qui répand la lumière en tous sens) est, dans le système des Dy nibuddha, placé au centre et au zénith. Il a pour correspondant dans l’ordre humain le buddha Krakucchanda; sa couleur est le… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Vairocana — ist der Name: eines der fünf Adibuddhas des Mahayana Buddhismus. eines buddhistischen Übersetzers, der im 8. Jahrhundert in Tibet wirkte, siehe Vairocana (Übersetzer) eines buddhistischen Geistlichers (nach 1159), der in Tibet wirkte, siehe… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Vairocana — This article is about the primordial Buddha Vairocana. For the Tibetan translator, see Vairotsana. Vairocana Gilt bronze Vairocana Buddha at the Bulguksa Temple and a National Treasure …   Wikipedia

  • Vairocana — Pour le nom honorifique donné au traducteur tibétain, voir Vairotsana. Vairocana ou Mahā Vairocana Grand soleil ou Grande lumière (sanskrit), Dari Rulai et Rulaifo (Dàrì Rúlái ou Rúláifó 大日如來 或 如來佛) en chinois, Dainichi Nyorai (大日如來, Dainichi… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Vairocana — En el budismomahayana y tántrico, el buda supremo y contraparte cósmica de Sakyamuni en su faceta pedagógica. Es el más eminente de los cinco budas autonacidos, es decir, aquellos que nacieron como humanos para difundir el dharma. Si bien carece… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Vairocana (Buddhistischer Meister) — Vairocana (Nampar Nangdze Lotsawa; tib.: rnam par snang mdzad lo tsa ba) war ein bedeutender Übersetzer buddhistischer Lehren zur Zeit der ersten Übersetzungsphase buddhistischer Schriften aus dem indischen Sanskrit ins Tibetische im 8.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Vairocana (Übersetzer) — Vairocana (Nampar Nangdze Lotsawa; tib.: rnam par snang mdzad lo tsa ba) war ein bedeutender Übersetzer buddhistischer Lehren zur Zeit der ersten Übersetzungsphase buddhistischer Schriften aus dem indischen Sanskrit ins Tibetische im 8.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • vairocana — वैरोचन …   Indonesian dictionary

  • vairocana-bhadra — वैरोचनभद्र …   Indonesian dictionary

  • vairocana-muhūrta — वैरोचनमुहूर्त …   Indonesian dictionary

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