Four Heavenly Kings
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In Buddhism, the Four Heavenly Kings are four gods, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" (simplified Chinese: 风调雨顺; traditional Chinese: 風調雨順; lit. 'Good climate') or "Sì Dà Tiānwáng" (Chinese: 四大天王; lit. 'Four Great Heavenly Kings').
Nomenclature
The Kings are collectively named as follows.
| Language | Written form | Romanization | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanskrit | चतुर्महाराज | Caturmahārāja | Four Great Kings |
| Lokapāla | Guardians of the world | ||
| Sinhalese | සතරවරම් දෙවිවරු | Satharawaram Dewi | Four Privileged/Bestowed Gods |
| Burmese | Template:My Template:My |
IPA: [sətṵ lɔ́ka̰ pàla̰] IPA: [sətṵ məhà ɹɪʔ naʔ] |
loan of caturlokapāla loan of caturmahā + king nats |
| Chinese | 天王 | Tiānwáng | Heavenly kings |
| 四天王 | Sì Tiānwáng | Four heavenly kings | |
| 四大天王 | Sì Dà Tiānwáng | Four great heavenly kings | |
| Korean | 천왕 | Cheonwang | Heavenly kings |
| 사천왕 | Sacheonwang | Four heavenly kings | |
| 사대천왕 | Sadae Cheonwang | Four great heavenly kings | |
| Japanese | 四天王 | Shitennō | Four heavenly kings |
| Vietnamese | 四天王 | Tứ Thiên Vương | Four heavenly kings |
| Tibetan | རྒྱལ༌ཆེན༌བཞི༌ | rgyal chen bzhi | four great kings |
| Mongolian | ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡ ᠮᠠᠬᠠᠷᠠᠨᠵᠠ Дөрвөн Махаранз |
Dürbün Maharandz | loan of mahārāja |
| Thai | จาตุมหาราชา | Chatumaharacha | loan of caturmahārāja |
| จตุโลกบาล | Chatulokkaban | loan of caturlokapāla |
The Four Heavenly Kings
The Four Heavenly Kings are said to currently live in the Cāturmahārājika heaven (Pali Cātummahārājika, "Of the Four Great Kings") on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru, which is the lowest of the six worlds of the devas of the Kāmadhātu. They are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil, each able to command a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the Dharma.
| devanagari Sanskrit romanization |
वैश्रवण (कुबेर) Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera) |
विरूढक Virūḍhaka |
धृतराष्ट्र Dhṛtarāṣṭra |
विरूपाक्ष Virūpākṣa |
| Meaning | he who hears everything | he who causes to grow | he who upholds the realm | he who sees all |
| Description | This is the chief of the four kings and protector of the north. He is the ruler of rain. His symbolic weapons are the umbrella or pagoda. Wearing heavy armor and carrying the umbrella in his right hand, he is often associated with the ancient Indian God of wealth. Associated with the color yellow or green.
 |
King of the south and one who causes good growth of roots. He is the ruler of the wind. His symbolic weapon is the sword which he carries in his right hand to protect the Dharma and the southern continent. Associated with the color blue.
 |
King of the east and God of music. His symbolic weapon is the pipa (stringed instrument). He is harmonious and compassionate and protects all beings. Uses his music to convert others to Buddhism. Associated with the color white.
 |
King of the west and one who sees all. His symbolic weapon is a snake or red cord that is representative of a dragon. As the eye in the sky, he sees people who do not believe in Buddhism and converts them. His ancient name means he who has broad objectives. Associated with the color red.
 |
| devanagari Pali romanization |
वेस्सवण (कुवेर) Vessavaṇa (Kuvera) |
विरूळ्हक Virūḷhaka |
धतरट्ठ Dhataraṭṭha |
विरूपक्ख Virūpakkha |
| Sinhala romanization |
IASTවෛශ්රවණ Vaishravaṇa |
IASTවිරෑඪ Virūḷhaka |
IASTදෘතරාෂ්ට Dhrutharashṭa |
විරූපාක්ශ Virūpaksha |
| Thai romanization |
ท้าวกุเวร Thao Kuwen |
ท้าววิรุฬหก Thao Wirunhok |
ท้าวธตรฐ Thao Thatarot |
ท้าววิรูปักษ์ Thao Wirupak |
| เวสวัณ, เวสสุวัณ Wetsawan, Wetsuwan | ||||
| Burmese | Template:My Kuvéra (or) Wéthawún Nat Min |
Template:My Virúlaka Nat Min |
Template:My Daddáratá Nat Min |
Template:My Virúpekka Nat Min |
| Traditional/Simplified Chinese Pinyin |
[多聞天王] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 多闻天王 Duō Wén Tiānwáng |
[增長天王] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 增长天王 Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng |
[持國天王] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 持国天王 Chí Guó Tiānwáng |
[廣目天王] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 广目天王 Guăng Mù Tiānwáng |
| [毗沙門天] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 毗沙门天 | [留博叉天] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 留博叉天 | [多羅吒天] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 多罗吒天 | [毗琉璃天] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) / 毗琉璃天 | |
| kanji Hepburn romanization |
多聞天 (毘沙門天) Tamon-ten (Bishamon-ten) |
増長天 Zōchō-ten |
持国天 Jikoku-ten |
広目天 Kōmoku-ten |
| 治国天 Jikoku-ten | ||||
| Hangul romanized Korean |
다문천왕 Damun-cheonwang |
증장천왕 Jeungjang-cheonwang |
지국천왕 Jiguk-cheonwang |
광목천왕 Gwangmok-cheonwang |
| Sino-Vietnamese | Đa Văn Thiên | Tăng Trưởng Thiên | Trì Quốc Thiên | Quảng Mục Thiên |
| Tibetan alphabet and romanization | རྣམ་ཐོས་སྲས་ Namthöse) | ཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ་ (Phakyepo) | ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་ (Yülkhorsung) | ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་ (Chenmizang) |
| Color | yellow or green | blue | white | red |
| Symbol | umbrella | sword | pipa | serpent |
| mongoose | stupa | |||
| stupa | pearl | |||
| Followers | yakṣas | kumbhāṇḍas | gandharvas | nāgas |
| Direction | north | south | east | west |
All four serve Śakra, the lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. On the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each lunar month, the Four Heavenly Kings either send out messengers or go themselves to see how virtue and morality are faring in the world of men. Then they report upon the state of affairs to the assembly of the Trāyastriṃśa devas.
On the orders of Śakra, the four kings and their retinues stand guard to protect Trāyastriṃśa from another attack by the Asuras, which once threatened to destroy the kingdom of the devas. They are also vowed to protect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Buddha's followers from danger.
According to Vasubandhu, devas born in the Cāturmahārājika heaven are 1/4 of a krośa in height (about 750 feet tall). They have a five-hundred-year lifespan, of which each day is equivalent to 50 years in our world; thus their total lifespan amounts to about nine million years (other sources say 90,000 years).
The symbols that the Kings carry also link the deities to their followers; for instance, the nāgas, magical creatures who can change form between human and serpent, are led by Virūpākṣa, represented by a snake; the gandharvas are celestial musicians, led by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, represented with a lute. The umbrella was a symbol of regal sovereignty in ancient India, and the sword is a symbol of martial prowess. Vaiśravaṇa's mongoose, which ejects jewels from its mouth, is said to represent generosity in opposition to greed.
| Tamon-ten
(north) |
||
| Kōmoku-ten
(west) |
Heavenly Kings (Japanese) |
Jikoku-ten
(east) |
| Zōjō-ten
(south) |
- Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings of Jikō-ji, Takasago, Hyōgo, Japan.
-
Jikoku-ten (east) -
Zōjō-ten (south) -
Kōmoku-ten (west) -
Tamon-ten (north)
Music
龍千玉(long qian yu) was performed the song as backgrounded in the Hokkien karaoke in the song titled 傷痕 (Meaning:bruise.)
See also
- Guardians of the directions
- Bacab
- Lokapala
- Tetramorph
- Titan (mythology)
- Anemoi
- Four Dwarves (Norse Mythology)
- Four Stags (Norse Mythology)
References
- Chaudhuri, Saroj Kumar. Hindu Gods and Goddesses in Japan. New Delhi: Vedams eBooks (P) Ltd., 2003. ISBN 81-7936-009-1.
- Nakamura, Hajime. Japan and Indian Asia: Their Cultural Relations in the Past and Present. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1961. Pp. 1–31.
- Potter, Karl H., ed. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, volume 9. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970–. ISBN 81-208-1968-3, ISBN 81-208-0307-8 (set).
- Thakur, Upendra. India and Japan: A Study in Interaction During 5th cent.–14th cent. A.D.. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1992. ISBN 81-7017-289-6. Pp. 27–41.
External links
- Schumacher, Mark. "Shitenno - Four Heavenly Kings (Deva) of Buddhism, Guarding Four Cardinal Directions". Digital Dictionary of Buddhism in Japan.
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