四臂堅牢地神の形成と『摂寿経』

抄録

The Shōjukyō 摂寿経 is a non-extant scripture, only fragments of which exist in other works. This paper considers two issues related to this text.

First, the Shōjukyō features Pṛthivī 堅牢地神, which has farming tools on eight arms. The four-armed Pṛthivī, which is likely related to the eight-armed Pṛthivī, can be found in texts of the Shingon sect. This paper proposes two hypotheses regarding the formation of the four-armed Pṛthivī: a) it was derived from the four-armed Sarasvatī 弁才天, or b) it emerged from a fusion of Pṛthivī with the four-armed Acalanātha 不動明王 in the esoteric ritual, Anchinhō 安鎮法.

Second, in the Shōjukyō, Pṛthivī is regarded as a bodhisattva. This theory can be traced back to the Jinguangming jingshu 金光明経疏, attributed to Jizang 吉蔵. In Japan, Gangyō 願暁’s (?–874) Konkōmyō saishō’ōkyō gensū 金光明最勝王経玄樞 quotes this theory. Gangyō was the teacher of Shōbō 聖宝 (832–909). Therefore, the Shōjukyō may have been formed in Shingon temples.