CHINESE SUPERSTITIONS - University of Oregon

— 329 —
situated outside the Eastern gate of JiX-kao #0 Jfl, in North Kiangsu
VX 1|, is the residential seat of some twenty
abbots. In the central
hall of the temple is found a colossal statue of Sakyamuni, Sliihkiah-fuh
%$ M ff,, attended on the left by Brahma, Fan-wang ^
3£, and on the right by Indra, Yuh-ti 3£ f^f, represented in female
form. When the monks were requested to explain this quaint
metamorphosis, they replied that in a previous phase of existence,
Indra, Yuh-ti 31 'rff, was a female (1), but in a subsequent
transmigration, he was reborn as a man.
Yuh-ti 3E iff in female form is obviously a representation of
Indra, and this is borne out by the fact that beneath the image is
written the "Deva Indra", Ti-shih t'ien-tsun tfff |p 5^ ^ (2).
Brahma, Fan-wang ^ 3£, who accompanies Indra, has also
his name written on a tablet placed beneath the image, and is styled
the Great Brahma, Lord of Heaven, Ta-fan t'ien-wang ^ ^ ^ 3£.
Brahma and Indra have, therefore, been borrowed from Brahman-
ism, and incorporated into the Buddhist Pantheon, but are placed
in a position inferior to Buddha and all Buddhist Worthies. It may
also be remarked that Indra's name is rendered indiscriminately by
the expression Yuh-ti 3£ 'rpS thus confusing him with the Pearly
Emperor, and by the term Ti-shih 'fjf- ^p, the Lord Sakra (3).
This form of Indra may be his Sctkti, or the female energy of the god.
(1)
The Tantra School gave every deity its Sakti, or consort. Eitel. Sanscrit-
Chinese Dictionary, p. 46 and 108.
(2) Ti-shih ^ >H, the '"Lord Shakra or Sakra". The character Shih %$
was formerly pronounced Shah. T'ien-tsun ^ #, literally "Honoured of
Heaven", a Deva. Hence "Shakra-deva, or the Lord Shakra", Indra. Edkins.
Chinese Buddhism, p. 210. — Eitel. Sanscrit-Chinese Dictionary, p. 108.
(3) See above. Chinese Superstitions. Vol. VII. p. 327. note 2.