The Dainichi-kyō expounds that the Hall of Ākāśagarbha in the Womb-Realm Mandala consists of the six bodhisattvas Ākāśagarbha, Gaganāmala, Gaganamati, Viśuddhamati, Cāritramati, and Sthiramati. However, in the “Mitsu’in-hon [Secret Seal Chapter]” and “Himitsu mandara-hon [Secret Mandala Chapter]” or when comparing Chinese and Tibetan translations, the flag system of the bodhisattvas differs. For this reason, in the Womb-Realm Four-Part Commentary (Taizō shibu giki, made up of the Setsudai giki, the Kōdai giki, the Genpō-ji giki, and the Seiryū-ji giki), to resolve this contradiction, three more bodhisattvas are added (Shutsugenchi, Renge’in, and Shurengesho) for a total of nine bodhisattvas.
In this paper, while drawing on a comparison of the main text of the Dainichi-kyō and the Taizō shibu giki, with additional reference to the Taizō bonji shingon brought to Japan by Kōbō Daishi and iconographic materials such as the “Taizō zuzō [Drawings of the Womb-World Mandala]” and “Daihi taizō sanmaya mandara [Great Compassion Womb-World Symbol Mandala],” I sort out the inconsistencies between Shingon and the nine bodhisattvas seals in the materials and, based on the data, check on the status of the various taizō-hō transmitted to Japan and provide information to contribute to the practice of taizō-hō.
