Samantabhadra : Iconographical Transformations and Ritual Identities

Abstract

Together with Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra is often depicted as flanking Śākyamuni Buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. As one of the four great bodhisattvas in the East Asian Buddhist tradition, Samantabhadra pales in comparison to the other three bodhisattvas — Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, and Kṣitigarbha — in the amount of scholarly treatment he received. Often identified by his mount, a sixtusked white elephant, little else is known about his rise to eminence and his later esoteric manifestations and identities. Addressing the paucity of scholarly work on Samantabhadra, this paper explores his origin, appearance in China and Japan, and subsequent iconographical transformations. Contrary to common understanding, Samantabhadra’s mount is not an important identifier of the bodhisattva in the esoteric Buddhist tradition, where he takes on different identities and iconographical forms according to his place in the maṇḍalas. Informed by Indo-Chinese precedents, the iconography of the bodhisattva continues to evolve in relation to different ritual methods in Japanese Buddhism.