67 - Five-pronged Vajra

【五鈷杵、goko-sho】

[The first Kanji means five, but the second and third both mean 'vajra', but the last Kanji is actually optional.]

A vajra used in esoteric Buddhist rituals, consisting of a narrow handle and thick pestles on both ends.

The vajra was originally an ancient Indian weapon, but it was incorporated into esoteric Buddhism as a symbol of firmness and indestructibility to crush worldly desires and to represent bodhicitta (the aspiration to reach Buddhahood).

The five-pronged vajra is a type of vajra with five prongs, called a goko, while the one-pronged vajra is called a dokko and the three-pronged vajra is called a sanko.

According to legend, Kukai, the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, threw a single-pronged vajra, a three-pronged vajra, and a five-pronged vajra from a ship on his way home after studying esoteric Buddhism in China, and built Kongoubuji Temple on Mount Kouya in Wakayama Prefecture, where one of these three-pronged vajras fell.

The Indian vajra, from which the Buddhist vajra is derived, is said to be the armament of Indra, the supreme god of ancient Indian mythology, and the god Taishakuten, whose origins lie in Indra, is often depicted with a vajra in his hand.