By contrast, in the Japanese Shingon school, Acala is considered to be a fierce manifestation of Vairocana. According to the "sanrinjin" (三輪身, "three cakra bodies") theory prevalent in Japanese esoteric Buddhism, the five "vidyārāja"s or wisdom kings (明王, "myōō"), of which Acala is one, are incarnations of the Five Tathāgatas known as "embodiments of the wheel of injunction" (教令輪身, "kyōryō rinshin"). In this theory, the five buddhas manifest themselves in both benevolent and wrathful forms, appearing as gentle bodhisattvas to teach the Dharma to sentient beings and also as terrifying wisdom kings to subdue and convert hardened nonbelievers. Under this conceptualization, the wisdom kings are ranked superior to the , a different class of guardian deities. However, this interpretation, while common, is not necessarily universal: in Nichiren-shū, for instance, Acala and Rāgarāja (Aizen Myōō), the two "vidyārāja"s who commonly feature in the mandalas inscribed by Nichiren, are seen more as protective deities (外護神, "gegoshin") who are the respective embodiments of the concepts of "shōji soku nehan" (生死即涅槃, "the sufferings of life and death ("saṃsāra") are "nirvana"") and "bonnō soku bodai" (煩悩即菩提, "earthly desires ("kleśa") lead to enlightenment ("bodhi")").