Lit. peacock king of those who hold knowledge. A female deity of Indian origin (Sk: Mahamayuri). The subject of the Butsumo Daikujaku Myōōkyō 仏母大孔雀明王経, translated by among others, Bukong (Jp: Fukū 不空, Sk: Amoghavajra, 705-74). Properly, being female, a myōhi 明妃 rather than a *myōō 明王, she is unlike the other deities of fierce aspect who are called myōō, and in two commentaries she is called Kujaku Butsumo Bosatsu 孔雀仏母菩薩, where butsumo means mother of Buddhas and indicates the reverse of fierceness. Kujaku means peacock, and because the peacock eats poisonous plants and snakes joyfully, finding in them the nectar which produces its beauty, Kujaku Myōō as revered from ancient times for transmuting the "poisons" of greed and anger and for eliminating karmic hindrances. The power of the darani 陀羅尼 of Kujaku Myōō, a mystic formula recited for protection, was extolled in texts such as the Kujakuō jukyō 孔雀王呪経, translated into Chinese variously from the 4th to 6th century. Popularly, the darani was also said to protect one from illness, especially snake bites. Eventually it was also applied more widely, to such matters as making rain start and stop. Although there are no extant images of Kujaku Myōō in India, there are images of her in both China and Tibet. In Japan she was revered from the Nara period (8th century) and is mentioned in the Nihon ryōiki 日本霊異記, compiled in the Kōnin 弘仁 era (810-24). In the Yakushi-kondō 薬師金堂 of Saidaiji 西大寺 in Nara, there was a group composed of two sculptures of Kujaku Myōō and one of Makamayuri Daikujaku 摩訶摩由離大孔雀 offered by Empress Kōken 孝謙 in prayer for victory against the rebellion of Fujiwara no Nakamaro 藤原仲麻呂 in 764. *Kūkai 空海 brought texts concerning Kujaku Myōō back from China and in 810 included the Butsumo Daikujaku Myōōkyō among three texts he explained to Emperor Saga 嵯峨 as having merit in protecting the nation and eliminating problems. In 821 Kūkai had a large scroll painted of Butsumo Myōō 仏母明王. Shūei 宗叡 (809-84) brought a painting of Kujaku Myōō back from China. Both of these paintings are thought to have shown four-armed figures whose iconography followed the Daikujaku Myōō Gazō Danjō Giki 大孔雀明王画像壇場儀軌 or Kujaku Myōō Giki 孔雀明王儀軌, translated by Bukong. Kujaku Myōō appears in the *Taizōkai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 as a two-armed figure, without her peacock. From the mid-Heian period on, Kujaku Myōō was propitiated in the ritual called Kujaku Myōōkyō hō 孔雀明王経法 for averting disasters, particularly in prayers for rain, against illness in the imperial family, and for safe childbirth of the empress. This is a Shingon 真言 sect ritual that was performed especially at Ninnaji 仁和寺, Kyoto. This is why the most famous image of Kujaku Myōō, the Song dynasty painting of a three-faced, six-armed figure riding a peacock, is owned by Ninnaji. Other famous images of Kujaku Myōō are the paintings in the Tokyo National Museum (late Heian period), in Daigoji 醍醐寺 (an iconographic drawing based on an earlier painting; late Heian period), and in Hōryūji 法隆寺 (Kamakura period). Sculptures of Kujaku Myōō are rare; an example is the sculpture in the Kujakudō 孔雀堂 of Kongōbuji 金剛峯寺, Mt. Kōya 高野 in Wakayama Prefecture, made by Kaikei 快慶 in 1200. A Kamakura period Kujaku mandara 孔雀曼荼羅 is owned by Matsuodera 松尾寺 in Osaka.