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Kariteimo, Karitei, Kishibojin, Kishimojin, Kangimo
Buddhist Goddess, Guardian of Children
Mother of Demons Who Repents & Converts to Buddhism
"Giver of Children," Goddess of Easy Delivery
Often shown with Pomegranate in Right Hand
(a symbol of fertility due to its many seeds)

Origin:  India
  Kali Devi (Hindu) |  Hariti (Sanskrit)

Kariteimo (Kishibojin, Kishimojin)
 Kamakura Era (Early 13th Century), Painted Wood, Height 43.9 cm
Treasure of Onjouji Temple (園城寺, also called Miidera 三井寺)
in Shiga Prefecture (Designated an Important Cultural Property)

Holds pomegranate in right hand,
a symbol of fertility because
of its many seeds.

Visit the Temple Gallery at:
www.shiga-miidera.or.jp/treasure/bi/04.htm

Above Photo Courtesy The Hidden Buddha of Japan (Page 16)
 2002, Corono Books, ISBN 4-582-63395-1, Japanese Language

HISTORICAL NOTES. Kariteimo was once a female demon (named HARITI in India mythology) who kidnapped and murdered the children of others, feeding their flesh to her many children. During her demonic period, she enlisted the aid of Ten Demon Daughters (the Jurasetsu-nyo; also called Jurasetsu Nyoshin) to steal and murder the children of other families. To break her of her evil ways, Shaka Nyorai (the historical Buddha) hides one of her children. After looking high and low for her lost child, without success, Kariteimo turns to Shaka in despair and agony, and finally awakens to the pain and suffering she has caused countless parents and children. She repents her sins, embraces Buddhist teachings (especially the Lotus Sutra), and transforms herself into the protector of children.

Kariteimo, along with the Jurasetsu-nyo, vow to help protect believers in the Lotus Sutra, to defend its teachings, and to protect all those who practice those teachings. As a group, they are important guardian deities of the Nichiren sect. The ten are Lamba, Vilamba, Crooked Teeth, Flowery Teeth, Black Teeth, Many Tresses, Insatiable, Necklace Holder, Kunti, Spirit Snatcher (or Plunderer-of-Vital-Energy-of-All-Beings).

Starting with the Kamakura Period, the deity Kariteimo is popularized among the Nichiren sect. Indeed, a well-known image of her is installed at Hokekyo-ji Temple, reportedly carved by Nichiren himself. In Tokyo, the most famous temples where she is worshipped are those of Meguro and Zoshigaya.

IMPORTANT CAVEATS. There is much confusion about this deity. Some say she had only 100 children, others 500 or 1,000, and still others 10,000. Some accounts say she is the "Mother of Demon Sons," that the child hidden by Shaka Nyorai was her youngest son (not daughter), and that the Jurasetsu-nyo are not her daughters but rather the Rasetsu of Hindu lore. 

Kariteimo, Late Heian Era
Todaiji Temple, Nara
Holds pomegranate in right hand
(pomegranate missing due to damage/destruction)


Same photo as above.
 Closeup of babe in arms.

Some modern images of Kariteimo
Courtesy www.butsuzou.com/jiten/kariteimo.html

Sculptures of this deity typically come in two forms
-- the demon style and the celestial maiden style.
These statues are for believers or priests in the Nichiren Sect


One of the Jurasetsu-nyo (Ten Demon Daughters)
 Courtesy www.butsuzou.com/jiten/kariteimo.html

Among Hindu demons, the Raksa (J = Rasetsu) torture and feed upon the flesh of the dead (those who were evil while living); like the Hachi Bushu (Eight Legions), Rasetsu become guardian deities once introduced to Buddhism; Raksasis (female) are the demon daughters of Kishimonjin, who apparently have black powerful bodies and eat humans. They are also known as the Ten Cannibal Demon Women, the Jyu-Rasetsu-Nyo (Jurasetsu-nyo). These demon daughters utter dharanis (magical chants, spells, and incantations).

Historical Evolution of Juntei Kannon
Also Kariteimo, Koyasu Kannon, Koyasu-sama, & Koyasu Jizo
For more, see Goddesses of Motherhood & Children

Below Text Courtesy of:
"Buddism: Flammarion Iconographic Guides"
by Louis Frederic, Printed in France
 ISBN 2-08013-558-9, First published 1995, Pages 178 to 180

In Japan, there is a feminine form of Kannon (Skt. = Avalokitesvara) who facilitates childbirth and protects children. She is known as Juntei Kannon (Skt. = Cundi, the "mother of the Buddhas"). She is a gentler "Buddhicized" form of Kariteimo (Skt. = Hariti; the "mother of demons").

Juntei Kannon is often represented seated on a chair, clothed in the Chinese manner, and holding a child in her arms. Some popular images show her nursing a baby. Owing to this aspect, she was venerated as a representation of the Christian Virgin Mary during the persecutions against Japanese converts to Christianity which took place in the Edo Period, chiefly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In fact, Japanese Christians may have created this form of Avalokitesvara offering the breast, since it is not of Buddhist origin. It is believed that this form was developed late by popular Buddhism to supplant the Shinto deity (kami) of easy childbirth, Koyasu-sama or Koyasu-gami, just as in China the effigies of Guanyin (J = Kannon) shown with a child on the knees are probably merely popular Buddhist transpositions of Taoist "child-giving" deities like Tianxin Songzi or Zhangxian.

In China, Tonkin and Japan, Juntei Kannon is venerated in a group of 20 deities, among whom she holds a secondary place. In Japan, the Shinto sanctuaries dedicated to Koyasu-sama are actually dedicated to the mythical princess of Konohana Sakkuya Hime, goddess of Mount Fuji and of cherry trees in bloom, since legend claims that she gave birth to a son while her house was devoured by flames. This may be an allusion to the creation of the lakes during an eruption of Mount Fuji. Koyasu-sama was mainly venerated in the provinces of Kanto (environs of Tokyo) and Chiba, where the women had the habit of asking her for healthy milk after childbirth in exchange for rice offerings.

This Koyasu-sama was subsequently confused either with Avalokitesvara (Kannon Bosatsu), or with Ksitigarbha (Jizo Bosatsu). Koyasu Kannon (giver of children) is sometimes herself confused with a "complementary" form, identical in form and aspect, called Kishimojin (aka Kariteimo; page you are now viewing), who is the representation of the ogress Hariti (Sanskrit), who converted to Buddhism and later became a protector of children.

Kishimojin's image was popularized in the Kamakura period by Nichiren. In the Shingon sect, she is named Kariteimo. She is represented seated on a chair, holding a pomegranate (Japanese zakuro) in the right hand (in Asia as well as Europe, the pomegranate is the symbol of progeniture, perhaps due to its many seeds) and surrounded with naked or semi-naked children (usually three, five, seven or nine). When represented standing, she holds a lotus, an attribute of Avalokitesvara (Kannon), in the right hand. In painting, she is sometimes seated under an octagonal dais capped with a jewel. She holds a fly-wisk and has two little girls as acolytes. The most famous temples where she is worshipped are those of Meguro and Zoshigaya in Tokyo. Her followers believe that she also possesses the power of curing sick children. Her feast day is celebrated in November. 

Modern reproduction of above painting
of Kariteimo at Daigoji Temple
 See original photo at Daigoji Temple Web Site.

Tradition relates that a statue of Koyasu Kannon was made in the eighth century in the image of the Empress Komyo (or Komei, 701-760), widow of the Emporer Shomu and mother of the Empress Koken, who became a nun in 749. Undoubtedly, this feminine aspect of Avalokitesvara (Kannon), the symbol of abnegation and love, contributed greatly to the spread of her cult in Japan. However, it was only from the fourteenth century, perhaps under the influence of the Nichiren sect, that people worshipped Koyasu Kannon as "giver of children."

Some statues of Ksitigarbha (Jizo Bosatsu) are worshipped in the same way in Japan. They differ in no way from the normal images representing this deity, except that this form is named Koyasu Jizo, due to the powers attributed to her.

In Tibet, Kariteimo is represented holding a child to her breast and a mongoose (nakula). She is also a "dispenser of riches." Her image appears to have been created in Gandhara, where she is shown as a Bodhisattva, but with visible fangs. She was also represented in Ajanta, in cave number two, seated in Rajalilasana, above a frieze composed of many naked children. Some representations of her are also found in Java (e.g., at Chandi Mendut) and in central Asia. Her effigy is often accompanied by that of a Yaksa, Pancika (reputed to be the father of her children), and a general in the army of Vaisravana (Bishamonten). <end Flammarion quote>

Editor's Note. To minimize confusion, the above deities of motherhood and children are presented here as a group (along with the Shinto Goddess Suijin/Suiten, another deity of motherhood). Yet, there are still many unanswered questions in my mind about the origins and overlapping attributes of the many deities of motherhood.

KARITEIMO (Hariti in Hindu Myth)
Below text courtesy of Japanese
Architectural & Art Net Users System
www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kariteimo.htm
The Japanese name of the Indian deity Hariti, a protector of children who was the wife of Panchika. Her name was transliterated as Kariteimo or Karitei 訶利帝, and translated as Kishimojin 鬼子母神 or Kangimo 歓喜母. She is said originally to have been an evil deity who ate children. After the Buddha hid one of her five-hundred children and made her understand the suffering of a parent who had lost a child, the reformed Kariteimo embraced Buddhism. She was worshipped in monasteries as a protector of the faith and by the general public as a protector of children. She was also, along with the ten female rasetsunyo 羂刹女, considered a protector of the Lotus Sutra and may be painted along with them. Her iconography is based on the Dai yakusha nyo kangimo narahini aishi joujuhou 大薬叉女歓喜母并愛子成就法. There are images of her from the late Heian period. She is shown dressed in Sung-dynasty robes and holds a pomegranate in her right hand. She may cradle a child with her left arm and may appear with three, five, seven, or nine children. Examples of her appearance in art include a late-Heian painting in Daigoji 醍醐寺, a Kamakura-period sculpture in Onjouji 園城寺 (Miidera 三井寺) in Shiga prefecture, and a late Heian-to-Kamakura-period sculpture in Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara. <Editor's Note. Photos of all three pieces appear on this site page> 

Below Text Courtesy of:
http://www.cebunet.com/nst/gloss.html
A female demon, said to have been a daughter of a yaksha demon in Rajagriha. She had five hundred children (some sources say one thousand or ten thousand). According to the Kishimo Sutra (Kishimojin Sutra) and the Binaya Zoji (Monastic Rules with Respect to Various Matters), she killed the babies of other people to feed her children, and the terrified populace begged Shakyamuni for help. The Buddha then hid Kishimojin's youngest son, Binkara. She sought him throughout the world for seven days, but to no avail. In despair she finally asked the Buddha where he was. Shakyamuni rebuked her for her evil conduct and made her vow never to kill another child. then he returned her son to her. According to the Hankai Kiki Naiho Den, Kishimojin was revered in India as a goddess who could bestow the blessings of children and easy delivery. Kishimojin worship was later introduced into Japan. In the Dharani (twenty-sixth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, she and her ten daughters pledged before the Buddha to safeguard the votaries of the Lotus Sutra.

Below Text Courtsey of Pages 244-255 of:
The Flammarion Iconographic Guide to Buddhism 
The Yaksha are commanded by 28 generals, of whom the chief is Pancika -- according to the Mahavamsa, Pancika was the father of the 500 sons of Hariti Kishimojin.

KISHIBOJIN as Retold By Reverend Raido Hirota
Below Text Courtesy of:
udumbarafoundation.org/TheParables/Kishibojin2.html

ISHIBOJIN and Jurasetsu are written on the upper left side of Gohonzon. Kishibojin is the mother-of-devils; Jurasetsu are her ten demon daughters. Kishibojin is called the mother-of-devils because she symbolizes the selfish nature of mothers whose love for their children is so extreme they become devils.

Kishibojin had more than a thousand children. In order to assure their health and well being she kidnapped the babies of others and fed them to her own. At once this demonstrates her great concern for her own children while conversely revealing her disregard and unmindfulness of others. And because the task of feeding her children was too great for her to undertake alone, she enlisted the Jurasetsu, her ten demon daughters, to help her capture and murder other children.

Kishibojin's heinous activities did not go unnoticed by Shakyamuni Buddha. To teach her a lesson, the Buddha himself kidnapped her tenth demon daughter (also Jurasetsu in Japanese), whose name was "Plunderer-of-Vital-Energy-of-All-Beings" and hid her away. One would think that Kishibojin would not miss one particular child when she had more than a thousand children. But since she loved all her children equally she did miss that one child.

Day and night she searched tirelessly for her one missing child. She knew she had erred. She knew what she had been doing was wrong. That is why she hated Shakyamuni, the emblem of truth and goodness, and avoided him. And as Daishonin says, "It is quite natural that she should, for the crooked piece of wood hates the straightness of the carpenter's string, and the dishonest man is not pleased with the honest administration of government." So for a long time Kishibojin continued to search on her own for her missing child and nearly went out of her mind from fear and worry.

Finally, driven to the point of total desperation, she confronted Shakyamuni and asked him if he knew where Jurasetsu was. Without hesitation Shakyamuni took Kishibojin to Jurasetsu and scolded to her, "By losing this one child you now know the suffering and torment other mothers feel when they lose a child." For the first time Kishibojin understood the pain and suffering of other people.  

Gohou Zenshin
aka Hariti (Jp. Kariteimo)
Heian Period, 12th Century
Wood with Pigment
Height: 159.1 cm
 Onjou-ji Temple, Shiga Prefecture

LEARN MORE

• Patrons of Motherhood and Children in Japan
   
• Treasures of Miidera Temple, Shiga Prefecture
  www.shiga-miidera.or.jp/treasure/bi/04.htm
  The Kariteimo statue at the top of this is located at this temple in Shiga Prefecture. Their site shows many other wonderful treasures of the temple. 
   
• Treasures of Daigoji Temple
  www.daigoji.or.jp/vihara/reiho/hariti01.html
   
• Japanese Architectural & Art Historical Terminology
  www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kariteimo.htm
   
• Understanding Kishimojin and Other "Child-Giving" Deities
  Same resource was used for names of Ten Demon Daughters.
  http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/bodhisattva/Kishimojin.html
   
• The Great Mandala Study Group
  www.gakkaionline.net/mandala/kishi.html 
   
• Images of Kariteimo Statues Shown Above
  Also host estore selling statues of Japanese Buddhist deities.
  www.butsuzou.com/English/works/kariteimo.html
  www.butsuzou.com/jiten/kariteimo.html
   
• More About Kishibojin
  www.udumbarafoundation.org/TheParables/Kishibojin2.html 
   
• http://buddhistnews.tv/current/nichiren-art-N.php
  Japan Times, Jan 22, 2003
  A newly discovered treasure, a colorful scroll titled "Kishimojin (Hariti) and the Ten Female Demons," is showing in the second room. Painted by Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610), an adherent of the Lotus Sutra and founder of the Hasegawa School of painting, the scroll was turned up at Myoden-ji Temple in Toyama Prefecture by a curator while preparing for this exhibition.
   
• Koyasu Kannon and Koyasu Jizo (Japanese language only)
  The above photos of Koyasu Kannon and Koyasu Jizo come from the wonderful photo collections of the Health Center Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University. These photos cover the 88 Temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
  
  Koyasu Jizo: www.kms.ac.jp/~hsc/henro/f_k_j/jizo.htm
  Koyasu Kannon: www.kms.ac.jp/~hsc/henro/f_k_j/kannon.htm

Copyright Mark Schumacher. Email Mark.
All stories and photos, unless specified otherwise, by Mark
www.onmarkproductions.com