Vairocana

Vairocana (from Sanskrit: Vi+rocana, "from the sun" or "belonging to the sun", "Solar", or "Shining"), also known as Mahāvairocana (Great Vairocana), is a major Buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.^[1] Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the Avatamsaka Sutra, as the Dharmakāya^[2][3][4] of the historical Gautama Buddha.

In East Asian Buddhism (Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese Buddhism), Vairocana is also seen as the dharmakāya (the supreme buddha-body, the body of ultimate reality), and the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of wisdom and purity.^[5] Mahāvairocana is often translated into East Asian languages as "Great Sun Buddha" (Chinese: 大日如來, pinyin: Dàrì Rúlái, Japanese: Dainichi Nyorai).^[5] In the conception of the Five Jinas of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Vairocana is at the centre and is often considered a Primordial Buddha. In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Mahāvairocana is considered to be a Cosmic Buddha whose body is the entire cosmos, the absolute reality Dharmadhātu.^[5]

Vairocana is not to be confused with Vairocana Mahabali, son of the asura Virochana, a character in the Yoga Vasistha. Vairocana Buddha is also not to be confused with another Buddha that appears in some Mahayana sources called "Rocana".