Mantras of the Two Realms in Sanskrit Script

Siddham, an ancient script used to render the Sanskrit language, was widely used by Indian Buddhists. In Japan, a modified version called bonji 梵字 came to be used by practitioners of Esoteric Shingon Buddhism for transcribing sutras, mantras, and dharani (magical Buddhist formulas). Sometimes individual Siddham characters represent a particular Buddhist deity, other times they serve as a phonetic rendering of a Sanskrit syllable, as is the case here. In both cases, Siddham script conveys an aura of mysticism and magic.

The two mantras here transcribed in a dynamic Siddham script rendered in a hybrid manner, using a typical East Asian animal-hair brush. Some characters manifest the use of “flying white” (Japanese: hihaku) technique whereby the white paper shows through parts of the inscribed characters—giving an impression of energy and spontaneity. The right scroll comprises the mantra associated with the worship of the Cosmic Buddha Dainichi Nyorai (Mahāvairocana) of the Diamond Realm: Oṃ vajra-dhātu vam. “Vajra-dhātu” refers to the “Diamond Realm,” an esoteric cosmos said to embody the indestructible wisdom of Dainichi and the realization of enlightenment as an eternal truth. This mantra serves as an invocation of Dainichi’s awakened state, guiding practitioners to transcend worldly illusions and realize ultimate wisdom.

The left scroll bears Dainichi’s mantra of the Womb Realm: A vi ra hūṃ khaṃ. These five characters correspond to the five elements (godai)—earth, water, fire, wind, and the void—that constitute all things in the universe. They also symbolize the five types of wisdom of Dainichi reflecting his all-encompassing insight. By coincidence, The Met also has a rare fourteenth-century mandala with the same five seed syllables written in Siddham script along with images of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Eight Patriarchs of the Shingon Sect (2024.410).

This Siddham-script calligraphy was brushed by Jakugon Taijō, a Shingon sect monk renowned for his mastery of both Sanskrit scholarship and Chinese calligraphy. He is counted along with Jiun Onkō (1718–1804) and Ryōkan Taigu (1758–1831) as one of the “Three Brushes of Buddhist Monkhood” (Sōmon no sanpitsu 桑門三筆) of the Edo period. Best known for his compositions in idiosyncratic cursive Chinese (e.g., 2020.396.10), he occasionally created several compositions in the ancient Indic Siddham script, though utilizing, as here, brushwork akin to those found in East Asian calligraphy—exemplifying a distinctive Pan-Asian fusionist style that arose in in early modern Japan.

One of the seals on the left scroll, reading “The Hermit of [Mount] Kinkei,” refers to the Gyokusenji Temple 玉泉寺 in Kurashiki, formerly located along the Seto Inland Sea in Okayama Prefecture, where Jakugon resided after his retirement in 1767 until his death four years later, suggesting this work was created there for a local patron. The temple site was converted into a local school during the Meiji Restoration, later served as a town office, and was ultimately demolished in the 1920s.