Śakra (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

: 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'' Buddh ...

: 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 th ...

Heaven according to Buddhist cosmology. 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 on ...

. 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 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 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 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, 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, 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 (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 Writing, 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 ...

as a being who consults the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...

on matters of morality. Together with Brahmā, 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 a ...

, 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 ...

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: 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 fo ...

: ''Yīntuóluó''; Japanese: ''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 ...

, particularly in the Sakka Saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Sakka plays a significant role in several of the Jātaka tales. The commentator

Buddhaghoṣa Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher. He worked in the Great Monastery (''Mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajjavāda school and in t ...

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 ''Book of Equanimity'' or ''Book of Serenity'' or ''Book of Composure'' (Chinese: 從容錄, Cóngróng lù; Japanese: 従容錄, ''Shōyōroku'') is a book compiled by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. The book compris ...

, 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-Jap ...

. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Śakra utters a stanza in response to the Buddha's death as a recognition of the Four Noble Truths. It is identical to the Pali formula found in the corresponding sutta.: He is also recognized as one of the 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 in Korean folk religion. According to the

Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

, it is believed that Śakra is Hwanung's father. In

, some equate him with the Jade Emperor. The ceremonial name of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populati ...

alludes to Śakra: This name is composed of both Pāli 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 Japanese role-playing physics game with elements of puzzle, strategy and cooperative multiplayer. It is developed by XFLAG for iOS and Android platforms. The game was created by former Capcom game designer Yoshiki Okamoto. In J ...

. *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. *Indra Ōtsutsuki from the Naruto 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 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 (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