The (
Sanskrit;
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhi ...
) heaven is an important world of the
devas
Devas may refer to:
* Devas Club, a club in south London
* Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter
* Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist
* Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club
* Devas (band), ...
in the
Buddhist cosmology
Buddhist cosmology describes the planes and realms in which beings can be reborn. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a hori ...
. The word is an adjective formed from the numeral , "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three
evas. It is primarily the name of the second in the six heavens of the
desire realm
The desire realm (Sanskrit: कामधातु, ''kāmadhātu'') is one of the trailokya or three realms (Sanskrit: धातु, ''dhātu'', Tibetan: ''khams'') in Buddhist cosmology into which a being wandering in '' '' may be reborn. T ...
in
Buddhist cosmology
Buddhist cosmology describes the planes and realms in which beings can be reborn. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a hori ...
, and secondarily used of the devas who dwell there. Trāyastriṃśa is ruled by
Śakra.
Description
The heaven is the second of the heavens of the
Kāmadhātu, just above ''Catumaharajika'' or the realm of the
Four Heavenly Kings
The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, 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" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the ...
, and is the highest of the heavens that maintains a physical connection with the rest of the world. is located on the peak of
Sumeru
Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...
, the central mountain of the world, at a height of 80 ''yojanas'' ; the total area of the heaven is 80 yojanas square. This heaven is therefore comparable to the Greek
Mount Olympus in some respects.
According to
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...
, inhabitants of are each half a ''krośa'' tall (about 1500 feet) and live for 1000 years, of which each day is equivalent to 100 years of our world: that is, for a total of 36 million of our years.
Since is physically connected to the world through Sumeru, unlike the heavens above it, the
devas
Devas may refer to:
* Devas Club, a club in south London
* Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter
* Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist
* Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club
* Devas (band), ...
are unable to avoid being entangled in worldly affairs. In particular, they frequently find themselves in quarrels with the
asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translate ...
s, a separate set of divine beings who were expelled from and who now dwell at the foot of Sumeru, plotting for ways to recover their lost kingdom. There is, however, marriage between the devas and the asuras just as there is between the
Æsir
The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...
and the
jötnar in
Norse mythology.
The chief of the devas is
Śakra (Pāli: ''Sakka''), also known as
Indra. Other devas who are frequently mentioned are
Viśvakarman (''Vissakamma''), the devas' craftsman and builder;
Mātali
Matali () is the charioteer of Indra, the king of the devas, in Hinduism. He also acts as the messenger of Indra, inviting Dushyanta to help the deity in his war against the asuras in the Abhijnanashakuntalam. In the Padma Purana, Matali engage ...
, who drives Śakra's chariot; and Sujā, Śakra's wife and daughter of the Asura chief
Vemacitrin
Vemacitrin (Sanskrit) or Vepacitti (Pāli) is the name of a leader of the Asuras who figures prominently in many Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition ...
(''Vepacitti'').
The heaven appears several times in Buddhist stories, in which either the Buddha ascends to , or (more often) deities from descend to meet the Buddha. The Buddha's mother,
Maya, was reborn in the
Tusita
Tuṣita (Sanskrit) or Tusita (Pāli) is one of the six deva-worlds of the Kāmadhātu, located between the Yāma heaven and the heaven. Like the other heavens, is said to be reachable through meditation. It is the heaven where the Bodhisatt ...
Heaven, and came down to visit heaven where her son taught her the
abhidharma
The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...
.
The "thirty-three" in the name of the heaven is not an enumeration of the gods who live there (there are far more) but a general term inherited from
Vedic mythology, implying "the whole
pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
of gods". In Theravada Buddhist legends, there were 33 humans in Sakka's original group (who made enough merit to become devas atop Mount Sineru).
In Buddhism, there are "
Yāmā devāḥ", "
Tushitānāṃ", "Nirmāṇaratayaḥ devāḥ", and "Paranirmita-vaśavartinaḥ devāḥ" above Trāyastriṃśa and "Catumaharajika" below. They are called the six heavens together with Śakro devānām (Śakra). More heaven "Sunirmita devāḥ" is sometimes added to these depending on
sūtras
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...
.
Levels
In Mahayana literature, is composed of thirty-three levels. These are enumerated in the . The original Sanskrit names occasionally vary between extant Sanskrit manuscripts and Chinese texts.
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Residents
Below is a list of the
deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
s who are said to dwell here:
*
Śakra
Śakra's wives
*
Sujā
Indrani (Sanskrit: इन्द्राणी, IAST: ''Indrāṇī, lit.'' Indra's queen), also known as Shachi (Sanskrit: शची, IAST: ''Śacī''), is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and ...
Śakra's sons
*Suvira
*
Susīma
Śakra's daughters
*Āśā (Pali: Āsā) (Luck)
*Śraddhā (Pali: Saddhā) (Faith)
*Śrī (Pali: Sirī) (Glory)
*Hrī (Pali: Hirī) (Modesty)
Others
*
Viśvakarmā – the architect of the devas
*
Prajāpati
*
Varuṇa
Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...
*
Īśāna
*
Mātali
Matali () is the charioteer of Indra, the king of the devas, in Hinduism. He also acts as the messenger of Indra, inviting Dushyanta to help the deity in his war against the asuras in the Abhijnanashakuntalam. In the Padma Purana, Matali engage ...
– Śakra's charioteer
*
Pañcaśikha
*Suvīra
*Susīma
*Jālinī
*
Airāvata – Śakra's elephant mount
*Pārileyyaka – an elephant that was reborn in heaven after serving the Buddha
In popular culture
*The ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected into 42 ''tank� ...
'' series features a location called ''the Lookout'' in the English dub and ''Kami's Temple'' (神の神殿 ''kami no shinden'') in the Japanese release. This area is reminiscent of Trāyastriṃśa iconographically, as this heaven is traditionally depicted as a flat surface on the top of
Mt. Sumeru. There are thirty-two trees on the Lookout, which equate to the same number of palaces in Trāyastriṃśa (not counting the thirty-third, Śakra's palace, exemplified by the ''hyperbolic time chamber'').
*In ''
Super Mario Bros. 3'', World 5-1 (Sky Land) features a collection of coins that spell out the number "33." This may be in reference to Trāyastriṃśa, which is further implied by this world's introduction of the Tanooki suit. This power-up allows the player to transform into a stone statue of
Kṣitigarbha, a
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
whose background is explained in the
Kṣitigarbha Sūtra that takes place in Trāyastriṃśa.
See also
*
Svarga
*
Tridaśa, the Hindu equivalent
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trayastrimsa
Buddhist cosmology
Sanskrit words and phrases