Miroku

Summary
Miroku is a Buddhist priest and a companion of Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Shippo.

Biography
Miroku was raised and trained by his father's friend named Mushin who became Miroku's guardian when his father was violently swallowed by the Kazaana (Wind Tunnel).

His grandfather was cursed by Naraku, the chief antagonist of the InuYasha series. In the past, the two fought many times, and each time Naraku appeared to Miroku's grandfather in a different form. Though Miroku's grandfather was a powerful monk, he was also a "lecher" (just like his grandson) and Naraku used this to his advantage. Naraku took the form of a beautiful maiden in order to catch Miroku's grandfather off guard. When Naraku revealed himself, the battle between the two foes began. Whilst battling Naraku, Miroku's grandfather was pierced though the hand creating the Wind Tunnel. This curse has been passed down from father to son, and thus to Miroku. Miroku is able to control the wind tunnel by sealing it with prayer beads.

Prior to meeting Inuyasha and Kagome, Miroku traveled the countryside performing (as he viewed it) his Buddhist duties towards the people he meets on his Journey. This includes praying for any who ask, comforting the sick and dying, and (his particular specialty) exorcising unwanted spirits and demons (Yokai), sometimes destroying them in the process. These exorcisms should not be confused with the work done by the " Demon Slayers " such as Sango.

As a Buddhist monk, one of his main concerns is that the spirit or soul of the individual (even demons) should "find rest" and pass peacefully into the "next world". Without this, the spirit is doomed to wander this world, often in a malicious or malevolent form, and further can be taken over by other daemons.

In addition to these duties, Miroku is constantly searching for Naraku, the demon that cursed his family with the Kazaana (Wind Tunnel); for if he does not find and destroy Naraku, Miroku will be consumed by the curse as his father and grandfather were before him. Near the end of the series, his wind tunnel reaches it's limit and Naraku plans on having him use it one final time to destroy the demons coming toward them so that way he'll suffer his father and grandfather's fates but Naraku is defeated, his Wind Tunnel starts to close. At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Wind Tunnel, and marries Sango. They have three children: twin girls and a boy.

Weapons
A curse placed upon Miroku's grandfather by Naraku during a battle, and passed down through the male line in Miroku's family. The curse pierced the palm of the monk and resulted in a hole or void into another dimension which sucks everything into it creating a terrible sucking wind in the process. While Miroku has leveraged this curse into a formidable weapon, the Kazaana is difficult to control. Miroku has learned to seal it with a Buddhist Rosary until he wishes to unleash it's power, but it slowly grows larger with time and will eventually consume him. Naraku has even used the demonic poison bug, the saimyosho just so he would not use it. By the time of the final battle against Naraku, the Wind Tunnel has grown too large for Miroku to use at his leisure and only had one last use before the void would consume him. As Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga tears apart the demon from the inside out, the Wind Tunnel's power begins to fade away and by the time Naraku is reduced to a mere head, the curse has finally been lifted, the tunnel having left Miroku's hand completely.
 * Wind Tunnel

In Japan the Shakujou Staff is still used by monks, pilgrims, and practitioners of Shugendou ( a school of Buddhism teaching spiritual practices in the mountains). A yamabushi or mountain priest may use it for magic or exorcism, as does Miroku. In the Shingon and Tendai sects, the Shakujou is used as a ritual object in special ceremonies, much like the Tibetan Dorje. The head of Miroku's is sharpened, while the staff portion is not wood, but a metal pole.
 * Shakujou

These "Jufu Talismans" are strips of paper upon which special prayers have been written and prayed over, imbuing them with spiritual power and energy against specific evil. Each Ofuda has a special prayer, and thus is tailored for a specific purpose such as general protection, good luck, safe travel, removing a ghost or spirit, or sealing off a demon or spirit. Miroku uses them in his work to "exorcise" ghosts and demons from homes and people. Similar Ofuda are used by Kagome's Grandfather early in the series after Kagome returns from the Feudal era for the first time. Grandpa (a Shinto Priest) attempts to seal off the "Bone Eaters Well" with numerous Ofuda but as we saw from InuYasha's arrival, Grandpa's Ofuda were not strong enough to stop him.
 * Sacred Sutras

Outfit
Miroku wears a purple two-piece robe typical of a Japanese Buddhist Monk. It appears to be Jikitotsu Susugata. Periodically he appears with leggings, but he always wears woven rice-straw sandals. Occasionally, he wears a conical rice-straw hat typical to the era.

The robes of most wandering monks are actually quite poor and ragged - often stitched together out of whatever pieces of cloth a person might give them on their travels. Miroku's robes are quite extravagant and expensive compared to most itinerant monks. However this is consistent with his tendency to loot the wealth of greedy merchants whose homes he rids of demons and ghosts.


 * Miroku's Rosary:

Miroku carries a string of beads used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. Usually associated with a chant repeating the name of Amida Nyorai. The most common type has 108 beads. The nenju carried by Japanese Buddhist monks were typically made of 112 wooden beads.

Originally rare and made of semi-precious stones, the spread of Buddhism brought wider use of nenju from the Heian Period (8th-12th century) through the Kamakura Period (12th-14th century). By the Warring States era, most poor monks carried wooden beads. The number "108" (a sacred number in many Buddhist traditions) represents the number of earthly passions and desires that blind and delude us, entrapping us in the Six States of Existence (the wheel of life, the cycle of samsara, the cycle of suffering and reincarnation).

Miroku makes further use of his nenju to seal off the Wind Tunnel in his hand.

The arm protectors worn by Miroku and Sango are called Tekko. Miroku wraps the Tekko over the Wind Tunnel, then seals it with his Nenju (rosary).
 * Miroku's Tekko: