五大明王

Buddhist term, imported into Japanese when Buddhism was introduced to Japan, some time during the Kofun, Asuka, and Nara periods.

From Middle Chinese 五大明王 (*ngǒ *dhɑ̀i *miæng *hiuɑng, literally “five great wisdom kings”). The 明王 (*miæng *hiuɑng, “wisdom king”) portion is a translation of Sanskrit विद्याराज (vidyārāja, “knowledge king”).

Compare modern Mandarin 五大明王 (Wǔ Dà Míngwáng).

• On’yomi: Goon
  • (Tokyo) ごだいみょーお​ー [gòdáí myóóóꜜò] (Nakadaka – [6])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [ɡo̞ da̠i mʲo̞ːo̞ː]

五大明王 (hiragana ごだいみょうおう, rōmaji Go Dai Myōō)

1. the Five Wisdom Kings in Vajrayana Buddhism

When borrowed into English, this term is more often romanized as Godai Myōō.

• 五大尊 (ごだいそん, ​Go Dai Son): the Five Great Reverences
• 五大尊明王 (ごだいそんみょうおう, ​Go Dai Son Myōō): the Five Great Reverent Wisdom Kings
• 五力明王 (ごりきみょうおう, ​Go Riki Myōō): the Five Powerful Wisdom Kings

The 五大明王 (Go Dai Myōō, “Five Wisdom Kings”) and associated directions are:

• 大威德明王 (だいいとくみょうおう, ​Daiitoku Myōō): west
• 降三世明王 (ごうざんぜんみょうおう, ​Gōzanze Myōō): east
• 不動明王 (ふどうみょうおう, ​Fudō Myōō): center
• 不空成就如来 (金剛夜叉明王, ​Kongō Yasha Myōō): north
• 軍荼利明王 (ぐんだりみょうおう, ​Gundari Myōō): south

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan