Śakra (

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 ...

: शक्र Śakra;

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'' Buddhism ...

: सक्क Sakka) is the ruler of the

Trāyastriṃśa The (Sanskrit; Pali ) heaven is an important world of the devas in the Buddhist cosmology. 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 t ...

Heaven according to

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 ...

. He is also referred to by the title "Śakra, Lord 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" (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ').Sakka
/ref> The name Śakra ("powerful") as an epithet of

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

is found in several verses of the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

. In

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

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 Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...

, Śakra is sometimes identified with the

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...

(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 The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

(usually in February). The Trāyastriṃśa heaven in which Śakra rules is located on the top of

Mount Meru 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 ...

, 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 The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

, as well as several

suttas Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

. Śakra is married to Sujā, daughter of the chief of the

asuras 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 translated ...

Vemacitrin Vemacitrin (Sanskrit) or Vepacitti (Pāli) is the name of a leader of the Asuras who figures prominently in many Buddhist sūtras. Vemacitrin is the most prominent of the leaders of the Asuras in their fight with the devas Devas may refer to: ...

(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 Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

as a being who consults the

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 ...

on matters of morality. Together with

Brahmā Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

, he is considered 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 ...

, a protector of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

Etymology

"Śakra" is a Sanskrit word meaning "mighty" or "powerful," and is used as an epithet of Indra in hymn 5.34 of the Rigveda. This seems to have been the standard name carried over into Buddhist tradition.

Names

Śakra is known by several names in Buddhist texts. Some of these include: *Indra (

;

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 因陀羅;

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 ...

: ''Yīntuóluó'';

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 ...

: ''Indara'', Tib. དབང་པོ་ ''dbang po'') *Mahendranīla (Sanskrit; lit. "Great

the Dark") *Sahassākkha (Chinese: 娑婆婆; pinyin: ''Suōpópo''; Japanese: ''Sababa''; or 婆婆; pinyin: ''Pópo''; Japanese: ''Baba''). *Sahasrekṣaṇa (Sanskrit; Chinese: 千眼; pinyin: ''Qiānyǎn''; lit. "Thousand Eyes") *(Chinese: 天主; pinyin: ''Tiānzhǔ''; lit. "Lord of Heaven")

Theravāda

Sakka's mythology and character is expounded upon in the

Pali 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 ...

, particularly in the Sakka Saṃyutta of the

Saṃyutta Nikāya The Saṃyukta Nikāya/Samyutta Nikaya (''Saṃyukta'' ''Nikāya/'' SN, "Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three basket ...

. Sakka plays a significant role in several of the Jātaka tales. The commentator Buddhaghoṣa has identified Sakka as being identical to Vajrapāṇi. In the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16), Sakka speaks the following verse, which has become standard in Buddhist funeral rites:

Mahāyāna

In the Book of Equanimity, Śakra plays a central role in the fourth

koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...

. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Śakra utters a stanza in response to the Buddha's death as a recognition of the

Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". Twenty-Four Guardian Devas in Chinese Buddhist tradition.

Iconography

In Southeast Asia, primarily among Theravada communities, Śakra is depicted with blue or black skin.

Folk belief

Śakra is equated with

Haneullim Haneullim or Haneulnim (하늘님 "Heavenly Lord"/"Lord of Heaven") is the sky God of Cheondoism and Jeungsanism. In the more Buddhist-aligned parts of these religions, he is identified with Indra. In the more Taoist-aligned parts of these relig ...

in Korean folk religion. According to the Samguk yusa, Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, it is believed that Śakra is Hwanung's father. In

, some equate him with the

. The ceremonial name of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

alludes to Śakra: This name is composed of both

Pāli 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'' Buddhism ...

and

, prefaced with the only one Thai word, ''Krung'', which means 'capital'. It can thus be written as: "Krung-dēvamahānagara amararatanakosindra mahindrāyudhyā mahātilakabhava navaratanarājadhānī purīramya uttamarājanivēsana mahāsthāna amaravimāna avatārasthitya shakrasdattiya vishnukarmaprasiddhi."

Popular culture

Śakra makes several appearances in popular culture, including: *He is a character in the mobile game

Monster Strike is a Mobile game, mobile Japanese role-playing game, Japanese role-playing physics game with elements of Puzzle video game, puzzle, strategy game, strategy and Cooperative video game, cooperative multiplayer. It is developed by Mixi, XFLAG for i ...

. *He appears as a villain in the Chinese comic

Fung Wan ''Fung Wan'' () or ''Feng Yun'' is a Hong Kong ''wuxia'' manhua series. It is the first manhua released by Ma Wing-shing in 1989 with the help of his assistant Siu Kit under his own company, Jonesky Publishing. Before the third part, the manhua ...

. *He also appears as a villain in the manga series

RG Veda is a manga created by Clamp, consisting of ten volumes in all. It was first published in Japan in 1989 as Clamp's debut manga. The story features elements of Vedic mythology; the title itself is pronounced ''Rigveda'', the name of one of ...

. *Indra Ōtsutsuki from the

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

series is loosely based on Śakra. His younger brother's name is Asura, which plays on the myth of the battle between the deva and the asura. *It is possible that Kami and Mr. Popo from the

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...

series share a connection with Śakra. Mr. Popo's name is phonetically similar to the Chinese pronunciation of Sahassākkha (婆婆 ''Pópo''), an epithet of Śakra. Kami's role as guardian deity is also similar to Śakra's relationship with the human world. This is further supported by the function of the Lookout, Kami's temple, which is reminiscent of

heaven. Traditionally, this heaven is 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).

References

Bibliography

Bhikkhu Analayo Bhikkhu Anālayo is a bhikkhu (Buddhist monk), scholar, and meditation teacher. He was born in Germany in 1962, and went forth in 1995 in Sri Lanka. He is best known for his comparative studies of Early Buddhist Texts as preserved by the various ...

(2011)
Śakra and the Destruction of Craving – A Case Study in the Role of Śakra in Early Buddhism
The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 12, 157-176 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakra Buddhist gods Mythological kings Thunder gods Trickster gods Buddhist deities Buddhist cosmology Buddhism in China