Amoghapasha

Amoghapasha is a form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (also known as Guanyin) worshipped in Buddhism. She is one of the six forms of Guanyin.^[1]

Her name means “Unfailing Lasso” in Sanskrit.^[1] The lasso shows her power to help people far from enlightenment.^{[2] [a]}

The first known book about Amoghapasha is the Amoghapasha Hridaya Sutra. It was translated into Chinese by the monk Jñānagupta in the year 587. Later, this text became part of a longer one called Amoghapasha Kalparaja.

Statues of her were made as early as the 8th century.^[2]

She is usually shown with 4, 6, or 8 arms. She may appear with four helpers, including Tara and Hayagriva.^[2]

At the Kasuga-taisha shrine in Nara, she is seen as the same as the Shinto god Takemikazuchi. This may be because she wears a deer hide, which was also linked to this god in Nara.^[5]

Her seed syllable (bījamantra) is Mo. Her mantra is: Om Amoga Pisheye Humpanzha.^[6]

In Tibetan Buddhism, Amoghapasha is shown as male.^[7]

The gods at Kasuga Shrine have Buddhist forms. Amoghapasha matches Takemikazuchi in this system.^[8]

• Fukūkenjaku Kannon statue at Hōren-ji
• Amoghapasha statue at Fairy Cave, Keelung
• Japanese statues at Linden Museum
• Statue in Brussels from Nepal
• Temple image from Nepal
• Statue at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Chinese illustration
• Thai statue
• Large statue in China
• Padang Roco inscription

• Guan Yin
• Tōdai-ji

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - Amoghapasha (Unfailing Lasso) (Himalayan Art)". www.himalayanart.org. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} J A Schoterman, Ancient Indonesian Sculpture, Marijke J. Klokke & Pauline C. M. Lunsingh Scheurleer, pp. 154–157
3. ↑ Fowler, Sharon (2016). Practices of Power. p. 24.
4. ↑ Faure, Bernard (2015). The Fluid Pantheon. p. 287.
5. ↑ Allan G. Grapard, The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History, University of California Press, pp. 82–83
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Net, True Buddha School. "Amoghapasa Bodhisattva - 真佛宗TBSN". True Buddha School Net - TBSN (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2025-06-02.
7. ↑ Getty, Alice (1988). The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography. Dover Publications. ISBN 0486255751.
8. ↑ Ten Grotenhuis, Elizabeth (1999). Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0824820002.
9. ↑ https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/1808/17426/1/Fowler.pdf

• Fowler, Sherry D. (2016). Accounts and Images of Six Kannon in Japan. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-5622-9.
• Faure, Bernard (2015). The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-5702-8.