Sankosho (Pestle with three prongs)

Bronze
L 23.2, L of handle 7.8
Nara period　8th century

D009253

D009253
1989/03/15

A024594
1992/11/13

A024596
1989/03/15

A024598
1989/03/15

During esoteric Buddhist practice, weapon-like adamantine pestles were used to keep human desires and attachments away from the ritual spaces where practitioners controlled the powerful magic conjured in rites. This vajra retains the sharp prongs of a weapon, and it offers a glimpse of vajras predating the ones that Kūkai (774–835) transmitted to Japan at the start of the Heian period (794–1185).

NAITO SakaeEnglish by Mary Lewine
Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, p.340, no.121.

Accession Number	1158-0
Category	Decorative Arts
Bibliography	Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, 354p. Ko-Mikkyō: the incipient stages of Japanese esoteric buddhism. Nara National Museum, 2005, 207p. (Japanese) Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Nara National Museum: Supplement. Nara National Museum, 1999, 108p. (Japanese) Masterpieces from the Collection of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1997, 350p. (Japanese)