降魔

[Toryu2020]

降魔 is a buddhist term that relates to the young lord buddha before he acheived enlightenment. He sat in meditation for many years and during this time a myriad of demons tempted and harrassed him, trying to dislodge him from his purpose but he could not be moved, he ignored them and all were defeated (悪魔を降伏) (Akuma wo goubuku)

So if I saw this on a tsuba lets say, I would think the owner was not about killing actual demons but rather steadfastly maintainiing the proper mindset...

-t

[John A Stuart]

I would have thought it was an amulet for calling demons or evil spirits. Like Koumajutsu. John