Four Heavenly Kings

The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, which originate from the Indian version of Lokapalas, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, 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'). In the ancient language Sanskrit they are called the "Chaturmahārāja" (चतुर्महाराज), or "Chaturmahārājikādeva": "Four Great Heavenly Kings". The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhist temples.

This article is about Buddhist gods. For other uses, see Four Heavenly Kings (disambiguation).
Tamon-ten (Vaiśravaṇa) at Tōdai-ji
The Four Guardian Kings in Burmese depiction.

Names

The Kings are collectively named as follows:

Language Written form Romanization Translation
Sanskrit चतुर्महाराज Chaturmahārāja
Chaturmahārājikā		 Four Great Kings
लोकपाल Lokapāla Guardians of the World
Sinhala සතරවරම් දෙවිවරු Satharawaram Dewi Four Privileged/Bestowed Gods
Burmese စတုလောကပါလ
စတုမဟာရာဇ်နတ်		 IPA: [sətṵ lɔ́ka̰ pàla̰]
IPA: [sətṵ məhà ɹɪʔ naʔ]		 Loanword from catulokapāla
loanword from catumahā + 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 天王/천왕 Cheonwang Heavenly kings
四天王/사천왕 Sacheonwang Four heavenly kings
四大天王/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
Тэнгэрийн дөрвөн хаан		 Tengeriin dörwön xaan Four kings of the sky
Thai จาตุมหาราชา Chatumaharacha Four Great Kings, loan word from catumahārāja (Pali)
จตุโลกบาล Chatulokkaban Four Guardians of the World, loan word from catulokapāla (Pali)

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, Kubera. Associated with the color yellow or green.
Chief of the four kings and protector of the north
 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 south and one who causes good growth of roots
 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 east and God of music
 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.
King of the west and one who sees all
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
Traditional/Simplified Chinese
Pinyin		 多聞天王 / 多闻天王
Duō Wén Tiānwáng		 增長天王 / 增长天王
Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng		 持國天王 / 持国天王
Chí Guó Tiānwáng		 廣目天王 / 广目天王
Guăng Mù Tiānwáng
毗沙門天 / 毗沙门天 留博叉天 / 留博叉天 多羅吒天 / 多罗吒天 毗琉璃天 / 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
Hanja
romanized Korean		 다문천왕
多聞天王
Damun-cheonwang		 증장천왕
增長天王
Jeungjang-cheonwang		 지국천왕
持國天王
Jiguk-cheonwang		 광목천왕
廣目天王
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) སྤྱན་མི་བཟང་ (Chenmizang)
Mongolian Script and Mongolian Cyrillic and Mongolian Latin alphabet ᠥᠯᠥᠨ ᠦᠨᠳᠡᠰᠲᠨᠢᠢ ᠦᠽᠡᠯ
(Олон үндэстний үзэл)
Olon ündestnii üzel		 ᠲᠢᠶᠡᠨᠢ ᠥᠰᠥᠯᠲ
(Тиений өсөлт)
Tiyenii ösölt		 ᠦᠨᠳᠡᠰᠲᠨᠢᠢ ᠽᠠᠰᠤᠠᠷ ᠦᠯᠢᠴᠬᠢᠯᠭᠡᠡ
(үндэсний засвар үйлчилгээ)
ündesnii zasvar üilchilgee		 ᠰᠶᠡᠯᠶᠡᠰᠲᠢᠶᠡᠯ ᠰᠦᠷᠲᠠᠯᠴᠬᠢᠯᠭᠠᠠ
(селестиел сурталчилгаа)
syelyestiyel surtalchilgaa
  • Four Heavenly Kings statues at the royal crematorium of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand
  • Vaiśravaṇa of the north direction, king of yakṣas.
  • Virūḍhaka of the south direction, king of kumbhāṇḍas.
  • Dhṛtarāṣṭra of the east direction, king of gandharvas.
  • Virūpākṣa of the west direction, king of nāgas.

Mythology

All four Kings serve Śakra, the lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. On the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each lunar month, the Kings either send out emissaries or go themselves to inspect the state of virtue and morality in the world of men. Then they report their findings to the assembly of the Trāyastriṃśa devas.

On the orders of Śakra, the Kings and their retinues stand guard to protect Trāyastriṃśa from another attack by the Asuras, which once threatened to destroy the realm of the devas. They also vowed to protect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Buddha's followers from danger.

Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings. From left to right: Vaiśravaṇa, Virūḍhaka, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Virūpākṣa.

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).

Painting of Kōmokuten (Virūpākṣa), the Guardian of the West (one of the Four Guardian Kings). 13th century.

The attributes borne by each King also link them 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)
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See also

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.
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