Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Sanskrit; Pali: ''Dhataraṭṭha'') is a major deity in

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and one of the

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhism, Buddhist gods or Deva (Buddhism), ''devas'', each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. The Hall of Four Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhism, Ch ...

. His name means "Upholder of the Nation."

Names

The name ''Dhṛtarāṣṭra'' is a Sanskrit compound of the words ''dhṛta'' (possessing; bearing) and ''rāṣṭra'' (kingdom; territory). Other names include: *

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

: 持國天;

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), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

: 持国天;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Chíguó Tiān;

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 ...

: Jikokuten;

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

: 지국천 Jiguk cheon;

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

: Trì Quốc 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 ...

of Sanskrit ''Dhṛtarāṣṭra'' *Traditional Chinese: 提頭頼吒; Simplified Chinese: 提头赖吒; pinyin: Títóulàizhā; Japanese: Daizurata; Korean: 제두뢰타; Tagalog: Dhltalastla; Vietnamese: Đề-đầu-lại-tra. This is a transliteration of the original Sanskrit name. * Tibetan: ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང, Wylie: yul 'khor srung, THL Yulkhor Sung, "Defender of the Area" * Thao Thatarot is an honorific plus the modern pronunciation of Pali Dhataraṭṭha.

Characteristics

Dhṛtarāṣṭra is the guardian of the eastern direction. He lives on the eastern part of Sumeru. He is leader of the

gandharvas A ''gandharva'' () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they ...

and piśācas. Most East Asian depictions of Dhṛtarāṣṭra show him playing a lute, but the presence of this motif varies.

Theravāda

In the

Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

Theravāda Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is called Dhataraṭṭha. Dhataraṭṭha is one of the Cātummahārājāno, or " Four Great Kings." each of whom rules over a specific direction. He has many sons who go by the title "Indra, as well as a daughter named ''Sirī''.

China

In China, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is considered to be a god of music. In Chinese Buddhist iconography, he holds a

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rangi ...

in his hands, indicating his desire to use music to convert sentient beings to Buddhism. 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. In Chinese temples, he is often enshrined within the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (天王殿) with the other three Heavenly Kings. His name Chíguó Tiān (持國天 lit. "King who holds a country") is a reference to the belief that he can help support a country against enemies.

Japan

In Japan, Jikokuten (持国天) is commonly depicted with a fierce expression. He is clad in armor, often brandishing a sword or trident spear while trampling a jaki.

Nāga King

Although an entirely separate figure, Buddhist literature features a Nāga King also named Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He was the father of

Gautama 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 lege ...

in a past life when the latter was a

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

named ''Bhūridatta''. His story may be found in the ''Bhūridatta Jātaka'' of the

Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

. He is also mentioned in several Mahāyāna Sutras, including the Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī Sūtra and the Mahāmegha Sūtra.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhrtarastra Four Heavenly Kings Japanese gods War gods Gandharvas Buddhist gods Twenty-Four Protective Deities Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism Buddhism in China Chinese gods