Also read Shūkongōjin. Also called Kongōshu 金剛手, Jikongō 持金剛, *Kongō rikishi 金剛力士 (Sk: Vajrapani or Vajradhara). Buddhist guardian deity who wears armor and holds a pestle-like club (Sk: vajra, Jp: *kongōsho 金剛杵). His fierce-looking face with glaring eyes, wide-open mouth and threatening pose identify him as a suitable guardian of the Buddha. Shukongōshin may derive from Devadatta, a cousin of the Buddha who served as his body guard. The deity is also related to the Hindu god Indra (Jp: *Taishakuten 帝釈天) who is associated with thunderbolts and has his own origin in the folk deity Yaksa *Yasha 夜叉 who was a gate guardian.
Shukongōshin's protective function is often fulfilled between two figures called Kongō rikishi or the *Niō 仁王. The 9th-century Nihon ryōiki 日本霊異記 (Collection of Buddhist Tales) compiled by Keikai 景戒 tells of a miraculous statue of Shukongōshin which aided the priest Rōben 良弁 (also known as Roben, 689-773), who was the second patriarch of the Kegon 華厳 sect in Japan and who worked on the construction of Tōdaiji 東大寺. The famous clay statue *sozō 塑造 of Shukongōshin at Tōdaiji Sangatsudō 三月堂 (also known as *Hokkedō 法華堂), which dates from the mid-8th century, has long been considered the same as that mentioned in literature. The late 15th-century handscroll of the Shukongōshin engi emaki 執金剛神縁起絵巻 (Illustrated Legends of Shukongōshin), Tōdaiji, illustrates the legends associated with the deity.