DakinitenThe Buddhist Inari Riding a White Fox, Dakiniten

Dakiniten is a phonetic translation of the Sanskrit word "Ḍākinī." She is a Buddhist deity of the Tenbu realm, worshipped as the "Buddhist Inari" due to her appearance as a celestial maiden riding a white fox. She syncretized with the Shinto Inari Okami and became the principal image of temple-based Inari shrines such as Toyokawa Inari and Saijo Inari.

In India, she was originally a female demon-goddess who flew through the sky and devoured human life force and hearts, but was subjugated by Mahakala in middle-period Esoteric Buddhism. Introduced to Japan by Kukai in the early Heian period, she was depicted in the Womb Realm Mandala as a life-force-stealing demon in the retinue of Enmaten. However, through the medium of the fox, she became tied to the Inari faith, transforming into the figure of a female deity holding a wish-fulfilling jewel and riding a white fox. Due to her immense divine power to grant wishes, she was deeply revered by warlords and commoners alike, and has been passed down to the present day as a deity of business prosperity and successful careers. She is an ambivalent deity, possessing both the ferocity of a demon-goddess and the mercy to fulfill desires.

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