In the Buddhist faith, the Four Heavenly Kings are four gods, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world.
Contents |
The Kings are collectively named as follows.
| Language | Written form | Romanization | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanskrit | चतुर्महाराज | caturmahārāja | Four Kings |
| Lokapāla | Guardians of the world | ||
| Burmese | စတုလောကပါလ စတုမဟာရာဇ်နတ် |
IPA: [sətṵ lɔ́ka̰ pàla̰] IPA: [sətṵ məhà ɹɪʔ naʔ] |
Four worldly guardians Four Great King Nats |
| Chinese | 天王 | Tiānwáng | Heavenly kings |
| 四天王 | Sì Tiānwáng | Four heavenly kings | |
| 四大天王 | Sì Da 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 | rgyal chen bzhi | Four great kings | |
| Mongolian | Махаранз | maharanja | (Four) Great kings |
| Thai | จาตุมหาราชา | chatumaharaja | Four great kings |
| จาตุโลกบาล | chatulokkaban | Four Guardians of the world |
The Four Heavenly Kings are said to currently live in the Cāturmahārājika heaven (Pāli 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.
| Sanskrit romanization | Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera) | Virūḍhaka | Dhṛtarāṣṭra | Virūpākṣa |
| Sanskrit Devanagari | वैश्रवण (कुबेर) | विरूढक | धृतराष्ट्र | विरूपाक्ष |
| Pāli romanization | Vessavaṇa (Kuvera) | Virūḷhaka | Dhataraṭṭha | Virūpakkha |
| Pāli Devanagari | वेस्सवण (कुवेर) | विरूळ्हक | धतरट्ठ | विरूपक्ख |
| Meaning | He who hears everything | He who enlarges | He who maintains the state | He who sees all |
| Patron of Growth | Watcher of the Lands | |||
| Burmese | ကုဝေရ | ဝိရဠက | ဓတရဌ | ဝိရုပက္ခ |
| Traditional Chinese | 多聞天王 | 增長天王 | 持國天王 | 廣目天王 |
| 毗沙門天 | 留博叉天 | 多羅吒天 | 毗琉璃天 | |
| Simplified Chinese | 多闻天王 | 增长天王 | 持国天王 | 广目天王 |
| 毗沙门天 | 留博叉天 | 多罗吒天 | 毗琉璃天 | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Duō Wén Tiānwáng | Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng | Chí Guó Tiānwáng | Guăng Mù Tiānwáng |
| hangul | 다문천왕 | 증장천왕 | 지국천왕 | 광목천왕 |
| Romanized Korean | Damun-cheonwang | Jeungjang-cheonwang | Jiguk-cheonwang | Gwangmok-cheonwang |
| kanji | 多聞天 (毘沙門天) | 増長天 | 持国天 | 広目天 |
| 治国天 | ||||
| Hepburn romanization | Tamon-ten (Bishamon-ten) | Zōjō-ten | Jikoku-ten | Kōmoku-ten |
| Zōchō-ten | ||||
| Filipino | Bathala | Lakambakod | Lakampati | Amansinaya |
| Sino-Vietnamese | Đa Văn Thiên | Tăng Trưởng Thiên | Trì Quốc Thiên | Quảng Mộc Thiên |
| Tibetan romanization | rnam.thos.sras (Namthöse) | phags.skyes.po (Phakyepo) | 'yul.'khor.srung (Yülkhorsung) | spyan.mi.bzang (Chenmizang) |
| Thai | ท้าวกุเวร | ท้าววิรุฬหก | ท้าวธตรัฐ | ท้าววิรูปักษ์ |
| เวสวัณ,เวสสุวัณ,เวสสุวรรณ | ||||
| Thai romanization | Thao Kuwen | Thao Virunhok | Thao Thatarot | Thao Virupak |
| Vessavan | ||||
| Color | Yellow | Red | Green | White |
| Symbol | Umbrella | Sword | Pipa | Serpent |
| Mongoose | pagoda | |||
| stupa | pearl | |||
| Followers | Yakṣas | Kumbhāṇḍas | Gandharvas | Nāgas |
| Direction | North | South | East | West |
Further associations between the four directions and elements, seasons, planets, animals, internal organs, etc. can be found at Five elements (Chinese philosophy). Note, however, that the colors assigned to the Four Heavenly Kings represent an independent tradition and do not correspond to the traditional Chinese association of colors and directions.
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 also 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).
In Chinese they are known collectively as "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" (風調雨順 / 风调雨顺), which translates into "Good Climate". This mnemonic reminds one of the symbols the Heavenly Kings carry. For instance, "Fēng" sounds like the Chinese word for "edge" (鋒 / 锋), hence the corresponding symbol is a sword. "Tiáo" sounds like "Tune", hence the corresponding symbol is a musical instrument. "Yǔ" means "rain", hence the corresponding symbol is an umbrella. "Shùn" refers to the symbol of a crimson dragon (赤龍 / 赤龙).
These symbols 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) |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||