Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Sanskrit; Pali: Dhataraṭṭha) is a major deity in Buddhism and one of the Four Heavenly Kings. His name means "Upholder of the Nation."

This article is about the figure in Buddhist mythology. For the figure in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, see Dhritarashtra.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
Sanskritधृतराष्ट्र
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
Pāliधतरट्ठ
Dhataraṭṭha
Chinese持國天王
(Pinyin: Chíguó Tiānwáng)
Japanese持国天
(romaji: Jikokuten)
Korean지국천
(RR: Jiguk cheon)
Sinhalaධෘතරාෂ්ට්‍ර
Thaiท้าวธตรฐ
Thao Thatarot
Tibetanཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང
Wylie: yul 'khor srung
THL: Yulkhor Sung
VietnameseTrì Quốc Thiên
Information
Venerated byTheravāda
  • (Ātānātiya Sutta)
  • (Mahāsamāya Sutta)

Mahāyāna

AttributesGuardian of the East
 Religion portal

Names

The name Dhṛtarāṣṭra is a Sanskrit compound of the words dhṛta (possessing; bearing) and rāṣṭra (kingdom; territory).[1] Other names include:

  • Traditional Chinese: 持國天; Simplified Chinese: 持国天; pinyin: Chíguó Tiān; Japanese: Jikokuten; Korean: 지국천 Jiguk cheon; Vietnamese: Trì Quốc Thiên, a calque of Sanskrit Dhṛtarāṣṭra
  • Traditional Chinese: 提頭頼吒; Simplified Chinese: 提头赖吒; pinyin: Títóulàizhā; Japanese: Daizurata; Korean: 제두뢰타; Vietnamese: Đề-đầu-lại-tra. This is a transliteration of the original Sanskrit name.
  • Tibetan: ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང, Wylie: yul 'khor srung, THL Yulkhor Sung, "Defender of the Area"
  • Thai: ท้าวธตรฐ Thao Thatarot is an honorific plus the modern pronunciation of Pali Dhataraṭṭha.

Characteristics

Dhṛtarāṣṭra is the guardian of the eastern direction. He lives on the eastern part of Sumeru. He is leader of the gandharvas and piśācas.

Most East Asian depictions of Dhṛtarāṣṭra show him playing a stringed instrument, but the presence of this motif varies.

Theravāda

In the Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is called Dhataraṭṭha. Dhataraṭṭha is one of the Cātummahārājāno, or "Four Great Kings." each of whom rules over a specific direction.

He has many sons who go by the title "Indra, as well as a daughter named Sirī.[2]

Japan

In Japan, Jikokuten (持国天) is commonly depicted with a fierce expression. He is clad in armor, often brandishing a sword or trident spear while trampling a jaki.[3]

Nāga King

Although an entirely separate figure, Buddhist literature features a Nāga King also named Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He was the father of Gautama Buddha in a past life when the latter was a bodhisattva named Bhūridatta. His story may be found in the Bhūridatta Jātaka of the Pali Canon.[4]

He is also mentioned in several Mahāyāna Sutras, including the Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī Sūtra and the Mahāmegha Sūtra.

gollark: An infinite number at night!
gollark: Since it's the turbo clock speed, I doubt there will actually be much of a battery life loss.
gollark: The 8565 has better turbo speed.
gollark: ```shnpm search --parseable something | cut -f 1 | xargs npm install```A great way to waste storage space!
gollark: Don't you lose a lot of capacity?

References
  1. "Dhṛtarāṣṭra". Wisdom Library. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  2. "Dhatarattha". Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  3. "Jikokuten 持国天". JAANUS. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  4. "Bhuridatta Jātaka". Sutta Central. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.