East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism which developed across East Asia and which rely on the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Kore ...

, the Twelve Heavenly Generals or Twelve Divine Generals are the protective deities, or ''

yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

'', of

Bhaisajyaguru Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

, 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 legends, he was ...

of healing. They are introduced in the Medicine Buddha Sutra or ''Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja

Sūtra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

''. They are collectively named as follows: * * Japanese: or or

Names of generals

The precise names of the generals seem to vary depending on tradition. Those listed below are from an available Sanskrit transcription of the ''Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja Sūtra'':

Descriptions of each Heavenly General

Zhendaluo (真達羅)

Zhaoduluo (招杜羅)

While the ''Honji'' and zodiac correspondences listed above are the standard in Japanese sources, there is variation among texts and regional traditions.

Popular culture

* Statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals stand in

Ngong Ping Ngong Ping () is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is ...

, Hong Kong. * The Heavenly Generals all appear as boss characters in 1994 video game '' Shin Megami Tensei II''. They are depicted as servants of

Āṭavaka Āṭavaka (Sanskrit; Pali: ''Ālavaka'') is a popular figure in Buddhism. He is a yakṣa and regarded as a Wisdom King in Vajrayana, esoteric tradition. Origin Story Introduction The Pali Canon provides the story of Āṭavaka as follows: ...

, and share the unique classification "Shinshou". * The Heavenly Generals and their names were used as character material for the powerful digital monster characters who serve the "Four Holy Beasts" (Digimon Sovereigns in the English Dub) in the Digital World, from the 2001 series ''

Digimon Tamers is a Japanese anime television series and the third television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series takes place in a new setting separate from the preceding series, '' Digimon Adventure'' and ''Digimon ...

'', albeit with the names mismatched, due to being based on the Japanese zodiac classification. * ''

Granblue Fantasy ''Granblue Fantasy'' is a Japanese role-playing video game developed by Cygames for Android, iOS and web browsers, which first released in Japan in March 2014. The game reunites music composer Nobuo Uematsu and art director Hideo Minaba, who pre ...

'' started to release series of playable units in 2015 which called "The 12 Divine Generals". Each of these units are named after the corresponding zodiac they represent. The Japanese version use adapted Hepburn romanization, while the English version adapted from Sanskrit. * ''

Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from March 2018 to September 2024, with its chapters collected in 30 volumes. The ...

'' introduced Mahāla as a summon for one of the Ten Shadows technique, dubbing it the "Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sīla Divine General Makora," which was mistranslated as "Mahoraga," despite the furigana for the both of them being distinct. A golden cursed tool with the power of lightning, and shaped similarly to adornments of the electric-themed Vajra named “Kamutoke” also makes an appearance. *In the Seventh Touhou game, ''

Perfect Cherry Blossom is a 2003 vertically scrolling shooter bullet hell video game developed by Team Shanghai Alice. It is the seventh game in the ''Touhou Project'' series. Playable characters include returning protagonists Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, with S ...

'', the boss of the Extra Stage uses a spellcard called "Feast of the Twelve General Gods".

References

External links

Album of 12 Heavenly Generals at Ngong Ping
{{Chinese Buddhist Pantheon Yakshas Shingon Buddhism War gods Bhaiṣajyaguru Buddhism in China Chinese gods