Dakini

For example, in earlier Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, the term denotes a race of demonesses who ate the flesh and/or vital essence of humans.

[9] In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (10.06.27–29), after the young Krishna had killed the demoness Pūtanā, the cowherd women (gopis) of Vrindavan carry out protective rites to keep him safe from future harm.

At the end of the ritual, they declare: The Dākinīs, the Yātudhānīs, the Kūṣmāṇḍas, the infanticides, the goblins [Bhūtas], the Mātṛs, the Piśācas, the Yakṣas, the Rakṣasas, the Vināyakas, Kotarī, Revatī, Jyeṣṭhā, Pūtanā, and other Mātṛkās, Unmāda, Apasmāra, and other devils inimical to the mind, the body and the senses, and other evil omens and calamities dreamt of, and the slayers of the old and the young,—may these and all other evil spirits be destroyed, being terrified at the recital of the name of Viṣṇu.

The Kubjikāmata Tantra for instance enumerates seven yoginī goddesses (Kusumamālinī, Yakṣiṇī, Śaṅkhinī, Kākinī, Lākinī, Rākinī, and Ḍākinī) to whom the ritual practitioner symbolically offers his semen, bones, marrow, fat, flesh, blood and skin, respectively.

[12][13] This work associates Ḍākinī with the mūlādhāra chakra, Rākinī with svādhiṣṭhāna, Lākinī with maṇipūra, Kākinī with anāhata, Śākinī with viśuddhi, and Hākinī with ājñā.

[14][15] In East Asian Buddhism, the ḍākinīs are mainly known via the story of their subjugation by the wrathful deity Mahākāla found in a commentary on the Mahāvairocana Tantra (also known as the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra) by the Tang dynasty monk Yi Xing.

When the ḍākinīs complained that this would lead them to starvation, Mahākāla as a concession allowed them to consume the vital essence of deceased humans known as 'human yellow' (人黄, pinyin: rénhuáng, Japanese: jin'ō / ninnō) – an elusive substance (often described as five, six, seven, or ten grains resembling grains of millet, dewdrops or white jade) believed to be found either inside a person's liver, heart or at the top of the head – instead, teaching them a mantra enabling them to know of a person's impending death six months in advance so that they could obtain it before other demons, who also coveted the substance as it conferred various magical powers to the consumer.

[15] Indeed, in Japanese esoteric Buddhism Acala is believed to have the power to extend the lifespan of his devotees and was thus invoked in certain life-prolonging rituals against soul-stealing demons such as ḍākinīs.

[20][21] A dictionary compiled by the Tang dynasty monk Huilin (慧琳) titled The Sound and Meaning of All Sūtras (Chinese: 一切經音義, pinyin: Yīqièjīng yīnyì) defines ḍākinīs (荼抧尼) as demonesses who bewitch people and have sexual relationships with them.

[22][23] The ḍākinī imagery arrived in Japan via Kūkai's introduction of Tangmi (East Asian esoteric Buddhism) to the country in the beginning of the 9th century (early Heian period) in the form of the Shingon school.

[25] All in all, the ḍākinīs represented in this mandala are more akin to the demonesses of Hindu and early Buddhist texts and iconography than the female personifications of enlightenment found in Tibetan Buddhism.

[24] The ḍākinīs were, as per their placement in the Womb Realm Mandala, originally revered as part of Yama's (Enmaten's) retinue, mainly figuring in rituals centered around the deity.

A ḍākinī (not yet the medieval Dakiniten), depicted as a long-haired woman holding a bag, also appears in the Enmaten mandalas of the late Heian period as one of the god's attendants.

[22] It was after the Insei period of the late 11th to mid-12th century, during which Japan was effectively under the rule of retired ("cloistered") emperors, that a cult centered around the deified ḍākinī as a single goddess named 'Dakiniten' emerged independent of the Enmaten ritual.

[22] As the cult of Dakiniten flourished, its rite became famous for being particularly effective for obtaining worldly benefits and was thus especially attractive to the politically ambitious; at the same time, however, the ritual was viewed with suspicion within some circles as a dangerous, "heterodox" (外法, gehō) practice due to its supposed subversive, black magical aspects.

[27] Although one legend claims that Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, brought with him Dakiniten ritual texts from China which he then buried at Mount Hiei,[28][29] there is actually no historical proof that he or any of the other monks who went to China to study esoteric Buddhism – Kūkai, Jōgyō, Engyō, Ennin, Eun, Enchin and Shuei – brought home any such texts with them, suggesting that the Dakiniten rite developed in Japan well after their time.

Monkan's enemies in particular painted him in a negative light by emphasizing the dubious nature of the rites he performed; one notable rival, Yūkai, accused him of "making offerings to the ḍākinīs and conjuring dragons while he is reporting to the throne.

"[33] The Tendai monk Kōshū (1276–1350),[34] in his work Keiran Shūyōshū (渓嵐拾葉集, "Collected Leaves from Hazy Valleys"), wavers in his judgment of the Dakiniten rite: on the one hand, he comments that "he who worships animals is worthy of being a master.

The story relates that a monk who was a worshiper of Dakiniten had just finished reciting the 600-fascicle Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra when a white fox holding a jewel (cintāmaṇi) in its mouth appeared on the altar.

[39] In popular religion, Dakiniten was also identified with a fox goddess worshiped at Mount Inari known variously as Akomachi (阿小町), Tōme (専女), or Myōbu (命婦).

This deity (commonly regarded as an attendant of the god of Inari[40]) was revered as a patron of love and matchmaking; a short liturgical text to Akomachi preserved at Kōzan-ji is titled Dakini no saimon (荼枳尼祭文).

The work then further identifies this Shinko(ō) Bosatsu (辰狐(王)菩薩, "Dragon / Astral Fox (King) Bodhisattva", i.e. Dakiniten) as the incarnation of Vairocana, Mañjuśrī, Vaiśravaṇa and Cintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin Kannon).

Legend claims that the Dakiniten of Toyokawa originally appeared to Kangan Giin (1217–1300), a disciple of Dōgen (the founder of the Japanese Sōtō school), during his return from China in 1267.

"Great Bodhisattva of the Supreme King of Sūtras" – a reference to the Lotus Sūtra), who is portrayed as riding a white fox while bearing a pole laden with rice sheaves on her left shoulder and wielding a scythe on her right hand.

[48][49] A text from 1324, the Bikisho (鼻帰書, "Record of Returning to Origins"), also reports that when the ritual was performed in the imperial palace, two fox figurines – one gold and one silver – were placed to the left and right of the altar, and the new ruler was consecrated through an aspersion with water from "the four oceans".

"[51] The origins of sokui kanjō are shrouded in mystery; one tradition claims that a disciple of Ningai, Seison (成尊, 1012–1074[52]), first conducted it during the accession of Emperor Go-Sanjō in 1068.

[55] Commenting on the sokui kanjō, Bernard Faure writes:[56]under the name "Fox King," Dakiniten became a manifestation of the sun goddess Amaterasu, with whom the new emperor united during the enthronement ritual.

[...] The Buddhist ritual allowed the ruler to symbolically cross over the limits separating the human and animal realms to harness the wild and properly superhuman energy of the "infrahuman" world, so as to gain full control of the human sphere.Another type of secret enthronement ritual centered on Dakiniten took place on the Outer Shrine of Ise (Gekū) and was performed every morning and evening by the shrine's young female attendants or kora (子良 or 狐良 – 狐 being the character for 'fox') when they presented their daily offerings to the deity.

"[56] Although Dakini-ten was said to be a powerful Buddhist deity, the images and stories surrounding it in Japan in both medieval and modern times are drawn from local kitsune mythology.

Simply speaking they are males and females who possess advanced experiences of tantric transformation and control and are therefore able to increase the blissful wisdom of a highly qualified practitioner.