Trailokyavijaya

Trailokyavijaya (T. khams gsum rnam rgyal; C. xiangsanshi mingwang; J. Gōzanze myōō; K. Hangsamse myŏngwang 降三世明王). In Sanskrit, “Victor of the Three Realms”; a forceful deity, he is considered a wrathful form of Vajrapani.

Trailokyavijaya is depicted in Indian Buddhist iconography and plays an important role in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha. It is in the form of Trailokyavijaya that Vajrapāṇi conquers Maheśvara (the Hindu god Śiva).

The Princeton Dictionary states:

It was often the case that Buddhists gave Hindu deities Buddhist forms, especially in the tantras. In this case, Trailokyavijaya may have his antecedent in the Hindu god Tripurāntaka, “Destroyer of the Three [Demon] Cities,” a form of Śiva whose worship was still current at the time the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha was being formulated. Iconographic similarities as well as the Buddhist Trailokyavijaya’s subjugation of the rival tradition’s Maheśvara support the connection; a Hindu deity is appropriated by Buddhists, with the appropriated form then subduing the Hindu god.

Worship of Trailokyavijaya was transmitted to China with the translations of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha, the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra, and several other texts translated by Amoghavajra in the second half of the eighth century.

In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism, Trailokyavijaya is one of the "wisdom kings" (ming wang).

Further reading

• 降三世明王, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)