Dhṛtarāṣṭra

The Heavenly King Jikoku.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र, Sinhala දෘතරාෂ්ට, simplified Chinese: 持国天王; traditional Chinese: 持國天王; pinyin: Chíguó Tiānwáng, Japanese; 持国天 Jikoku, Vietnamese: 持國天王 Trì Quốc Thiên Vương) refers to a figure in Buddhist mythology.

In Buddhism, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is one of the Four Heavenly Kings.[1] He is part of the pantheon of Esoteric Buddhism.

His name means "He who maintains the state" or “Watcher of the Lands”, and he is the guardian of the east.

References

  1. Michael Ashkenazi (2003). Handbook of Japanese mythology, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-467-6 "Dhrtarastra carries a trident and rests his foot on the head of a demon. He is the defender of the East" (p. 53)
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