Kinnara Form: One Way to Read It for Singers and Performers

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

應以天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、人、非人等身得度者。即皆現之而為說法。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》

Plain-language explanation

This lesson reads one sentence from the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter): for those who should be liberated by the form of a deva, naga, yaksha, gandharva, asura, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga, human or non-human being, and so on, Guanyin manifests those forms and teaches the Dharma.

This sentence is long. It lists devas, nagas, yakshas and several other kinds first, and the kinnara stands in the middle. In the sutra these are beings listed side by side, not a list of images from later ages. The manifested forms in the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) are given as examples, not as a closed list.

What a kinnara is, this material does not define directly; only a clue can be seen in another ritual manual. In the mandala ritual manual translated by Amoghavajra of the Tang dynasty, where the shape and colour of each deity are described, there is the 「緊那羅王身」: a deer-like face and a horse's head, holding an instrument of sound, with a bare human body. This is the ritual manual's description of an image, saying that this deity holds an instrument that makes sound; it comes from a different source than the text of the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter), and the two should not be confused. In the same passage of the manual, the Mahoraga form holds a sheng and a flute in samadhi and wisdom, and the Gandharva form holds a flute in the left hand. In the images, all these kinds are joined with musical instruments.

It is important to keep this distinction clear: the name “Kinnara Form” comes from the sutra, but “singers and performing artists” are not words of the sutra. This site's Compassion Map marks this form as an “interpretation,” meaning it is this site's compilation and reading, not an explicit statement of the scriptures.

This site's modern reading: this form can be read in relation to singers and performing artists. Because the image of the kinnara above holds an instrument and is tied to sound, we borrow that clue to match it with people who live by voice and stage today. This is a figurative reading; it does not mean the scriptures ever said that any particular occupation is a manifestation of Guanyin.

In addition, the thirty-three forms are often mixed up with the thirty-three Guanyin and the thirty-three-site pilgrimage. These are three different things: the manifested forms of the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter), a set of thirty-three Guanyin paintings brought from China to Japan, and the thirty-three-site pilgrimage, which researchers treat separately. In reading this lesson, just remember that what we read is that one sentence of the sutra.

Key terms

緊那羅

A kind of being listed in the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) among devas, nagas, yakshas and others. The ritual manual describes the image of the 「緊那羅王身」 as having a deer-like face and a horse's head, holding an instrument of sound.

摩睺羅伽

The kind that comes right after the kinnara. The ritual manual describes this form as a noble figure with a snake head, holding a sheng and a flute in samadhi and wisdom, joined to musical instruments.

得度者

The sentence pattern in the sutra is: for those who should be liberated by a certain form, Guanyin manifests that form and teaches the Dharma. The point lies in “teaching the Dharma,” not in what occupation that form might be.

即皆現之而為說法

This sentence sums up the kinds listed before it, meaning that all these forms can appear to teach the Dharma.

One line to remember

即皆現之而為說法

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.