토함산 석굴의 帝釋天像과 梵天像

Abstract

This article explores how Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra, the only statues of devas among those in the main hall of Seokguram Grotto, came from the Hinduism of India to become part of the statuary of a certain form of Buddhist iconography in Korea. The article also seeks to understand how these devas were accepted and developed in China and Japan and how they took shape as the Brahma-Deva of Seokguram Grotto who wears a Buddhist robe (kāṣāya in Sanskrit) and the Sakra devānām Indra of Seokguram Grotto who holds a vajra (a kind of scepter) and wears a breastplate. Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra originated in the ancient belief system of India and were assimilated into Buddhism. Beginning around the first century AD, statues of the two appear in relief sculptures of Buddha’s life stories in the form of King Brahmā wearing a Buddhist robe and Sakra devānām Indra wearing a jeweled crown and holding a vajra. Iconography of the two, who hold positions as the top deities among devas who protect Śākyamuni and Buddhist teachings, was introduced into China no later than the fifth century. Beginning with the icon of King Brahmā with a turban shell–shaped uṣṇīṣa (topknot), which appeared in grotto temples and images engraved on Buddhist steles in the sixth century, images of Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra gradually became standardized in a Chinese style, which differed from that of India. In eighth-century bianxiang (pictorial representations of Buddhist sūtras) in the Dunhuang Caves, Brahma-Deva is depicted wearing the official robes and hat of a king, and Sakra devānām Indra is shown wearing the magnificent jeweled crown of a heavenly being. The iconography of the two show the effects of Sinicization. Sakra devānām Indra is depicted as a bodhisattva on the seventh-century Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple in Japan. Sakra devānām Indra, wearing a jeweled crown, stands with both hands outstretched to catch the falling Buddha, who had been practicing asceticism in the Himalayas. Ever since this depiction was made, changes in the iconography of Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra in Japan has not been very diverse. Brahma-Deva’s Buddhist robes hang from both shoulders and are tied around the waist or below with what appears to be a ribbon. Sakra devānām Indra wears a breastplate, and his robe hangs from the left shoulder with his right shoulder exposed. He is commonly depicted with concentric circles drawn on each leg or with U-shaped folds in his robes that drape downward in the Udāyana style. The characteristic folds in Brahma-Deva’s clothing can be identified by the fact that they are tied with a belt at the waist. The characteristic folds in Sakra devānām Indra’s clothing can be identified by the fact that they drape downward in the Udāyana style and by the presence of an accompanying breastplate. In Korea, it is quite difficult to find examples of Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra icons that were created before those at Seokguram Grotto, whose statues are presumed to date from the mid- to late eighth century. The Tuoluoni ji jing (Sūtra of collected dhāraṇīs), an apocryphal sūtra of early esoteric Buddhism, appears to have influenced the creation of the statues of Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra at Seokguram Grotto. The Tuoluoni ji jing is believed to have entered Korea immediately following the year that Śubhakarasiṃha passed away (AD 735), which is approximately the time that Bulgasaui and Uirim, and others who were esoteric Buddhist monks of the Silla period, returned to Korea. Around the same time that both Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra were being portrayed as representative bodhisattvas of Tang China, bodhisattvas of the same iconography were being created in Korea and Japan. This means that the iconography applied not only to Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra, but also to the various bodhisattva statues in Seokguram Grotto. Beyond the statues at Seokguram Grotto, the connection between objects held in the hands of Buddhist statues and folds in the statues’ sculpted clothing that one sees in the pagodas and śarīra reliquaries of Unified Silla is the opposite of that depicted in Seokguram Grotto. However, overall similar depictions were made until the late ninth century, when Brahma-Deva and Sakra devānām Indra appear wearing official robes on square figures rendered in the style of Chinese iconography on Goryeo-period śarīra pagodas, vajraghantas (handheld bells), etc. During the Joseon period, individual large-scale Buddhist paintings were produced, such as the Beomcheondo (Brahma-Deva with attendants and musicians) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This painting, along with paintings of Sakra devānām Indra, has been enshrined as one of the important paintings of Buddhist deities.