Śakra (Buddhism)
Ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Śakra (Sanskrit: शक्र Śakra; Pali: सक्क Sakka) is the ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven according to Buddhist cosmology. He is also referred to by the title "Śakra, Lord of the Devas" (Sanskrit: Śakra devānāṃ indraḥ; Pali: Sakka devānaṃ inda).[1] The name Śakra ("powerful") as an epithet of Indra is found in several verses of the Rigveda.
Śakra | |
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Sanskrit | शक्र
Śakra |
Pāli | सक्क
Sakka |
Burmese | သိကြား (Thagya, [ðədʑá]) |
Chinese | 帝釋天 (Pinyin: Dìshìtiān) 釋提桓因 (Pinyin: Shìtí Huányīn) |
Japanese | 帝釈天 (romaji: Taishakuten) 釋提桓因 (romaji: Shakudai Kan'in) |
Khmer | សក្ក (Sakkak) |
Korean | 제석천 (帝釋天) (RR: Jeseok Cheon) 석제환인 (釋提桓因) (RR: Seokje Hwan'in) |
Mongolian | сакра ᠭᠠᠯᠤᠰᠵᠴᠠᠮᠺᠳᠪᠨ or ᠭᠣᠰᠹᠵᠬᠬᠺᠹᠬᠺᠮᠭᠰᠠᠺᠷᠣᠳ or ᠭᠠᠳᠭᠹᠭᠭᠦᠭ |
Sinhala | ශක්ර (Shakra) |
Tagalog | Sakla |
Thai | ท้าวสักกะ (Thâo Sàkkà) or พระอินทร์ (Phrâ In) |
Tibetan | བརྒྱ་སྦྱིན་ Wylie: brgya sbyin THL: da ö gya jin དབང་པོ་ Wylie: dbang po THL: wangpo |
Vietnamese | 帝釋天 Đế Thích Thiên 釋提桓因 Thích Đề Hoàn Nhân |
Information | |
Venerated by | Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana |
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In East Asian cultural traditions, Śakra is known as Dìshìtiān (帝釋天) or Shìtí Huányīn (釋提桓因) in Chinese, as Taishakuten (帝釈天) in Japanese, as Jeseokcheon (제석천) in Korean, and as Đế Thích Thiên (帝釋天) or Thích Đề Hoàn Nhân (釋提桓因) in Vietnamese. In Chinese Buddhism, Śakra is sometimes identified with the Taoist Jade Emperor (Yùhuáng Dàdì 玉皇大帝, often simplified to Yùhuáng 玉皇); both share a birthday on the ninth day of the first lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually in February).
The Trāyastriṃśa heaven in which Śakra rules is located on the top of Mount Meru, imagined to be the polar center of the physical world, around which the Sun and Moon revolve. Trāyastriṃśa is the highest of the heavens in direct contact with humankind. Like all deities, Śakra is long-lived but mortal. When one Śakra dies, his place is taken by another deity who becomes the new Śakra. Several stories about Śakra are found in the Jataka tales, as well as several suttas.
Śakra is married to Sujā,[2] daughter of the chief of the asuras, Vemacitrin (Pāli Vepacitti). Despite this relationship, a state of war generally exists between the thirty-three gods and the asuras, which Śakra manages to resolve with minimal violence and no loss of life.
Śakra is often depicted in literature as a being who consults the Buddha on matters of morality. Together with Brahmā, he is considered a dharmapala, a protector of Buddhism.