Girimekhala () is the
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
that carries
Mara in
Theravada Buddhism
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
.
Buddhist tradition
Its height is 250
yojana
A yojana (Sanskrit: योजन; th, โยชน์; my, ယူဇနာ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Thailand and Myanmar. A yojana is about 12–15 km.
Edicts of Ashoka (3rd century BCE)
Ashoka, in his Major R ...
. When Mara and his army of evil tried to prevent the future
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
from achieving enlightenment, the Buddha asked the earth to bear testimony for his deeds and Girimekhala fell in front of the Buddha.
Girimekhala appears in the Buddhist chant ''
Buddha-jaya-maṅgala Gāthā'' (Verses of the Buddha's Auspicious Victories):
Popular culture
Video games
Girimekhala has made appearances in video games including:
*''
Megami Tensei
''Megami Tensei'', marketed internationally as ''Shin Megami Tensei'' (formerly ''Revelations''), is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji Okada, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed ...
'' series
**''
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona'' series
**''
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children'' series
*''
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies''
*''
Dragon Warrior Monsters
''Dragon Quest Monsters'', released in North America as ''Dragon Warrior Monsters'', is the first video game in the ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' series. It was released in Japan by Enix on September 25, 1998, and co-published by Eidos Interactive ...
''
*''
Dragon Warrior Monsters 2
''Dragon Warrior Monsters 2'', known in Japan as , is a role-playing video game published by Enix for the Game Boy Color. It is the second ''Dragon Warrior Monsters'' game for the Game Boy Color and features two different versions of the same gam ...
''
*''
Final Fantasy XIV
''Final Fantasy XIV'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida, it was released worldwide for Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013, as a rep ...
''
*''
Tokyo Afterschool Summoners
, known also by the blend word ''Housamo'' (放サモ, derived from ''Tōkyō Hōkago Samonāzu''), is an F2P role-playing video game for Android and iOS. It is developed by , a mobile gaming company operated by the dōjin circle . It is noted as ...
''
Television
In ''
The Real Ghostbusters
''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...
'', Winston battles against a demon pitcher who resembles Girimekhala in a game of baseball.
See also
*
Gajasura In Hindu epics, Gajasura ( sa, गजासुर, lit. "elephant demon") is a generic name given to an asura (demon), who assumes the form of an elephant. It may refer to demons:
* killed by god Shiva: see Gajasurasamhara
* killed by Shiva and his ...
*
Gajasurasamhara
Gajasurasamhara (lit. "The Slayer of the elephant demon"), also Gajasamhara, Gajantaka and Gajaha (all three lit. "the Slayer of the elephant") and Matangari ("The Enemy of the elephant"), is a fierce aspect of the Hindu god Shiva as the Destroyer ...
References
Buddhist legendary creatures
Mythological elephants
Elephants in Buddhism
{{Buddhist-myth-stub