noun
nirmanakaya; response body; manifested body
Buddhist term: the physical form a buddha takes to teach sentient beings, adapting to their capacities. One of the three bodies (三身) in Mahayana doctrine.
See also: 三身
応身は、仏が衆生を救うために現れる姿である。
The nirmanakaya is the form a buddha manifests to save sentient beings.
報身 is the reward body, a celestial form of a buddha, while 応身 is the earthly, human-like form.
From 応 (おう, 'response') + 身 (じん, 'body'), translating the Sanskrit nirmāṇakāya, literally 'transformation body'.