Shinran uses the expression “gonke no nin” 権化の仁 in the general preface to the Kyōgyōshinshō 教行信証. Previous studies have understood gonke to refer to the characters in the Kangyō 観経 （Pure Land Contemplation Sūtra）, such as Ajātaśatru 阿闍世, Devadatta 提婆達多 and Vaidehī 韋提希. But Shandao 善導 considered Vaidehī not to be a saint （ārya, 聖）, but an ordinary person （pṛthagjana, 凡夫）. Why did Shinran, in contrast, understand Vaidehī to be a saint? In the first place, many of Hōnen’s disciples considered Vaidehī to be a bodhisattva. There are also sūtras that teach that Vaidehī is a saint. Furthermore, Buddhists of the Kamakura period believed that meeting the Buddha would be difficult even for bodhisattvas. On the basis of these points, I think that the Pure Land Buddhists of the Kamakura period recognized that those who could not meet the Buddha were ordinary persons. That is why Shinran called Vaidehī a saint, as she was the cause that led to Pure Land Buddhism being preached.
