Hariti

Hārītī (Sanskrit), also known as , , is a female rākṣasī or yakṣinī (nature spirit) in Buddhism. She appears as a character in all Buddhist traditions and she is revered as a fierce Dharma Protector and a fertility goddess in Mahayana Buddhism. Hārītī appears in various Mahayana sutras, including in the ''Lotus Sutra'', where she vows to protect those who uphold the sutra. She is also mentioned as a protector in the ''Candragarbhasūtra.''

In East Asian Buddhism, she is one of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities, while in the Vajrayana tradition of Nepalese Buddhism she is also revered as a protection goddess. She is particularly important in some sects of Japanese Nichiren Buddhism. In the Mahayana tradition, she is associated with fertility, the protection of children, easy delivery and happy child rearing. She is also known to scare irresponsible parents and unruly children. In some Asian folk traditions, her darker side as causing terror to children is sometimes emphasized.

Theravada

According to a Thai-Burmese Thervada oral story popular in Southeast Asia, Abhiriti or Hariti was a yakshini born in the Buddhasasana of Buddha Vesabhu. She is considered to be a daughter of Mother Dhamma. Once in a city of the human realm, a helpless Yaksha infant was hungry and crying. None of the humans was willing to console him because of his brutal appearance. The innocent demon prayed to Mother Dhamma. Mother Dhamma looked at him with infinite compassion or mercy. From that compassion, Hariti was born. She came to the human realm and fed the hungry demon infant from her lactating breasts. When he was satisfied and stopped crying, Hariti took the child to the guardians of the Yaksha realm. Kubera, the king of Yakshas, was very impressed with Hariti. He proposed marriage to her, and with the permission of Mother Dharma, she became the mother of all asuras/demons.

There are hundreds of stories about the dedication of Hariti to her devotees and response to their prayers. Once, the human realm experienced extreme drought and dying crops. Buddhist monks advised the people to ask Hariti to help them. Humans and yakshas alike started praying to Yaksha king Kubera and Mother Hariti. With the help of Hariti and her divine powers of compassion, rain fell, greenery was returned and the earth realm was blessed with prosperity. Hariti created a divine jar to provide infinite prosperity to the human realm.

Yakshas usually live longer than humans, perhaps even for many kalpa (eons or ages). Hariti is considered as the possessor of mysterious wealth. She is steadfast in ethics, mindfulness, and wisdom.

Once, Hariti was dwelling in the city of Rajgir where Buddha Shakyamuni was staying. At that time, she had no children. Wanting to experience motherhood, she started taking unhappy human babies from Rajgir into her abode. The babies' mothers in Rajgir pleaded to the Buddha. Buddha went to Hariti's abode and brought one of the kidnapped children (though beloved by Hariti) with him to his vihara in Rajgir. Hariti was devastated when she found the child was gone.

After futilely searching for the little one she loved, Hariti appealed to the Buddha. The Buddha asked Hariti to consider how deeply she was suffering in the absence of one child, and similarly, many of other mothers and families were still suffering from the loss of their beloved children, kidnapped by Hariti or otherwise disappeared in this world of suffering. Hariti realized and acknowledged that their suffering was greater than hers. She returned all the kidnapped babies to their mothers and became steadfast in the Dhamma. The Buddha taught Hariti dhamma practices that could be associated with the upbringing of a child. Hariti started practicing universal metta (loving kindness) and karuna (compassion) to all beings. Hariti declared that she was no longer a yaksha with no children, but now the mother of all beings. Hariti promised the Buddha that she would protect and love children of all realms, human and non-human. Hariti practices and teaches the four Brahma viharas to all worldly beings, for benefits of all her human and non-human children. Buddha hailed Hariti as the Jagatmata or the Mother of All Realms. In some schools of Theravada Buddhism, she is the Supreme Mother of all humans and non-humans, who eliminates or destroys obstacles to the practice of dhamma.

Mahayana Buddhism

According to a similar Mahayana tale, Hārītī was originally a rākṣasī of Rajgir at the same time that Gautama Buddha lived there. She had hundreds of yaksha children of her own, whom she loved and doted upon, but to feed them, she abducted and killed the children of other humans. The bereaved mothers of her victims pleaded to the Buddha to save them. So, the Buddha invited the youngest of Hariti's sons, Piṅgala (in a variant version, the youngest daughter), to Rajgir, and asked him to hide under the Budhha's rice bowl. After having desperately searched for her missing son throughout the universe, Hārītī finally appealed to the Buddha for help.

The Buddha pointed out that she was suffering because she lost one of her hundreds of children, and then asked if she could imagine the suffering of parents whose only child had been devoured. Hārītī pondered, and then replied with deep contrition that their suffering must be many times greater than hers. She then vowed to protect all children, and instead of children's flesh, she would only eat pomegranates. Henceforth, Hārītī became the protector of all children and women in childbirth. The Buddha then revealed her son hiding under his rice bowl. Feeling very grateful through this compassionate exchange with the Buddha, Hārītī achieved bodhi and mettā, which enabled her to withstand black magic, evil powers, and gave her the facility to cure the sick.

In the Japanese version of the tale, Kishimojin enlisted the aid of the to abduct and murder the children of other families. In some variants of the myth, the Ten Rākṣasī Women are themselves daughters (or daughters' daughters) of Kishimojin.. When Kishimojin accepted the Buddha's teachings, the Ten Demon Daughters did likewise.

In Japanese tradition, Kishimojin becomes an aspect of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, bearing the epithets and .

In Nichiren Buddhism, Hārītī is referred to as "the Mother of Devil Children," in the 26th chapter of th
Lotus Sutra
In Shingon Buddhism, she is named or . Her iconography is based mostly on the ..

In Chinese Buddhism, Hārītī is also known as Hēlìdì (訶利帝) or Hēlìdìmǔ (訶梨帝母). She is one of the Twenty-Four Protective Devas (二十四諸天 Èrshísì zhūtiān), a group of Dharmapalas who are venerated as protectors of Buddhists and the Dharma. Statues of this group (and Hārītī) are often enshrined within the Mahavira Hall in Chinese temples and monasteries.

Iconography

As seen in the early 1st century BCE examples below, Hariti was sometimes depicted in a monumental yakshi form, accompanied by or carrying one or more children. The iconography of the Greek goddess Tyche shows similarities to Hārītī, and may have been transmitted to East Asia from Gandharan India through the influence of Greco-Buddhism. In Greek art, Tyche was depicted in the presence of children, carrying a cornucopia (horn of plenty), an emblematic gubernaculum (ship's rudder), and the wheel of fortune; she may stand on the wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate.Katsumi Tanabe, ''Alexander the Great: East-West Cultural Contact from Greece to Japan'' (Tokyo: NHK Puromōshon and Tokyo National Museum, 2003). We also see Kushan influences via the goddess Ardoksho or Ardoxsho.

References

Bibliography

* Langenberg, Amy Paris (2013)
Pregnant Words: South Asian Buddhist Tales of Fertility and Child protection
History of Religions 52 (4), 340-369
* Lesbre, E. (2000)
La conversion de Hārītī au Buddha: origine du thème iconographique et interprétations picturales chinoises
Arts asiatiques 55 (1), 98-119

External links

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Buddhism and children
Buddhist goddesses
Childhood goddesses
Chinese goddesses
Japanese goddesses
Rakshasa
Tutelary goddesses
Twenty-Four Protective Deities
Yakshas
Buddhism in China
Chinese gods