Virūḍhaka is a major deity in Buddhism. He is one 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 a ...

and a

dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are als ...

Names

The name ''Virūḍhaka'' comes from the identical

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

term, which refers to sprouting grain. As such, his name means "increase" or "growth.". Other names include: *

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 增長天;

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: 増長天;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Zēngzhǎng Tiānwáng'';

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ''Zōjōten'' or ''Zōchōten'';

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 증장천왕 ''Jeungjang Cheonwang'';

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: Tăng Trưởng Thiên, a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

of Sanskrit Virūḍhaka *

: 毘楼勒叉;

: ''Bí lóu lè chā'';

: ''Birurokusha'';

: 비루늑차''Biluneugcha'';

: ''Tỳ Lưu Ly.'' This is a transliteration of the original Sanskrit name. *Tibetan: འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ, Wylie: 'phags skyes po, THL: Pak Kyepo, "Noble Birth" *Thai: ท้าววิรุฬหก Thao Virunhok is an honorific plus the modern pronunciation of Pali Virūḷhaka.

Characteristics

Virūḍhaka is the guardian of the southern direction. He lives on the southern part of Sumeru. He is leader of the

Kumbhanda A (Sanskrit) or (Pāli) is one of a group of dwarfish, misshapen spirits among the lesser deities of Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition base ...

and

pretas Preta ( sa, प्रेत, bo, ཡི་དྭགས་ ''yi dags''), also known as hungry ghost, is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion as undergoing suffer ...

Theravāda

In the

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

Theravāda 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' ...

, ''Virūḍhaka'' is called ''Virūlha'' or ''Virūḷhaka''. Virūḷhaka is one of the Cātummahārājāno, or " Four Great Kings," each of whom rules over a specific direction.

China

In China, Virūḍhaka's name Zēngzhǎng Tiānwáng (增長天 lit. Growth King) is a reference to his ability to teach sentient beings to grow in compassion. In Chinese temples, he is often enshrined within the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (天王殿) with the other three Heavenly Kings. In iconographic form, he is clad in armor while brandishing a sword. He is also regarded as one of the '' Twenty Devas'' (二十諸天 Èrshí Zhūtiān) or the '' Twenty-Four Devas'' (二十四諸天 Èrshísì zhūtiān), a group of Buddhist dharmapalas who manifest to protect the Dharma.

Japan

In Japan, Zōjōten (増長天) is commonly depicted with a fierce expression. He is clad in armor, often brandishing a sword or spear while trampling a jaki. Zouchou

References

External links

* Four Heavenly Kings Lokapalas War gods Twenty-Four Protective Deities {{deity-stub