Rāgarāja

deity intermediate Nichiren-shū single tradition · 4

Rāgarāja (Aizen Myōō) is a vidyārāja who commonly features in the mandalas inscribed by Nichiren. He is seen as a protective deity (外護神, gegoshin) who embodies the tenet of hongaku ("original enlightenment") doctrine: "worldly passions (kleśa) are precisely enlightenment (bodhi)" (煩悩即菩提, bonnō soku bodai).

↻ synthesized from 4 sources

When

Relationships

aspect of
Vidyārāja
manifests as
Vajrasattva, Vairochana

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Sources

Source passages

“An iconographic depiction known as the "Two-Headed Rāgarāja" (両頭愛染, Ryōzu Aizen or Ryōtō Aizen) shows Acala combined with the wisdom king Rāgarāja (Aizen).”

#13138 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Other important Wisdom Kings include Ucchuṣma Hayagriva Āṭavaka Rāgarāja”

#22095 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“At various periods throughout Japanese history, Rāgarāja was invoked as a patron and symbol of homoerotic male desire. While it is ahistorical to ascribe a "gay" self-identification to historical figures, clear examples of Rāgarāja's patronage of men having intimate sexual relations”

#36064 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Rāgarāja (Chinese: 愛染明王; pinyin: Àirǎn Míngwáng; Japanese pronunciation: Aizen Myōō) - A vidyaraja considered to transform worldly lust and sexual passion into pathways to spiritual awakening; manifestation of the bodhisattva Vajrasattva and/or the buddha Vairochana.”

#36239 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001