gokosho 五鈷杵

A short club with five prongs at each end, usually made of gilt bronze. The central grip is encircled by demons' eyes kimoku 鬼目, and above and below these a lotus flower pattern. At each end is a central straight prong like a *tokkosho 独鈷杵, surrounded by four curved prongs. The gokosho is a type of vajra pestle *kongōsho 金剛杵. Kongōsho are used in Esoteric Buddhist services *mikkyō hōgu 密教法具, and are also found as attributes *jimotsu 持物 held by Buddhist guardian figures such as *Aizen Myōō 愛染明王. They represent the indestructibility of Buddhist law, and the power of the Buddha to conquer evil.