What Is Vaiśravaṇa

Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamonten) and Tamonten are two names for the same deity. The four deities who guard the Buddha's world from the four directions are called the Four Heavenly Kings, and Vaiśravaṇa is the guardian of the north. In Japan he is generally called Tamonten as one of the Four Kings, and Bishamonten when he is worshiped on his own.

Devas (ten) are deities who protect the Buddha's teaching. Among them, Vaiśravaṇa has long been cherished in Japan as a deity of both martial fortune and prosperity. He is also one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, seven deities enshrined together as bringers of happiness.

In Sanskrit he is Vaiśravaṇa, a name understood to mean "widely heard" or "renowned." The Chinese name Duowen (Tamon in Japanese), "hearing much," translates this sense of hearing. In Indian mythology it is another name for Kubera, the god of wealth, and his role in governing treasure and good fortune comes from here.

At the opening of the Sutra of King Vaiśravaṇa, Vaiśravaṇa comes before the Buddha and asks to teach his own mantra for the sake of people. His words contain all three vows.

Vaiśravaṇa is shown as an armored deity. His basic form has a stern face, a jeweled stupa in one hand and a jeweled staff or halberd in the other, and a demon (jaki) under his feet.

The jeweled stupa is the attribute that belongs to Vaiśravaṇa alone. A stupa is a monument that holds relics of the Buddha Śākyamuni, and it also stands for the Buddha's teaching. Holding it high, he shows his role as protector of that teaching.

Vaiśravaṇa is sometimes enshrined with his family. In the Bishamonten triad, Kichijōten, regarded as his consort, and his son Zennishi-dōji stand on either side of him.

The Sutra of Golden Light (Konkōmyō Saishōō-kyō) contains a method for painting images that Tamonten (Vaiśravaṇa) himself teaches: Kichijōten is to be painted to the left of a central Buddha, and Tamonten himself to the right. The custom of enshrining Vaiśravaṇa and Kichijōten side by side is based on this teaching.

The main sutras on Vaiśravaṇa are the Sutra of King Vaiśravaṇa, which teaches his fundamental vow, and the Sutra of Golden Light, which teaches how the Four Heavenly Kings protect the realm. In its chapter "The Four Heavenly Kings Protect the Nation," the four kings vow before the Buddha that they will surely protect the rulers and people who cherish this sutra.

As the guardian of the north among the Four Heavenly Kings, Vaiśravaṇa has been honored as a protector of the Buddha's teaching and of the realm. Once sutras and images arrived from China, he was soon worshiped on his own in Japan as well, and became the principal deity of prayers for martial fortune and prosperity.

In Tang-dynasty esoteric Buddhism, beginning with the Sutra of King Vaiśravaṇa translated by Amoghavajra (Fukū Sanzō), the methods of Vaiśravaṇa's mantra, mudrā, recitation, and painted images were set in order. A tale was also handed down in Tang China that Vaiśravaṇa's heavenly troops answered Amoghavajra's prayers and saved the frontier city of Anxi when enemies surrounded it. This miracle tale is recorded in the origin story of the Bishamon giki, a ritual manual said to have been translated by Amoghavajra, and it shows how deeply the Tang revered Vaiśravaṇa as protector of the nation.

In esoteric Buddhism, rites that increase fortune and dignity are called zōyaku, rites of increase. They are one category of rite, alongside sokusai, which averts calamities, and chōbuku, which subdues harmful forces. Vaiśravaṇa has been regarded as the principal deity of rites of increase centered on the wish-fulfilling jewel.

In the sutra, Vaiśravaṇa (Tamonten) himself teaches the method of the wish-fulfilling jewel.

Vaiśravaṇa has been deeply revered throughout Japan as a martial deity and guardian, and as a god of fortune. This devotion goes back to the Asuka period. The Nihon shoki records that in the battle against Mononobe no Moriya, Prince Umayado (Prince Shōtoku) carved images of the Four Heavenly Kings from nurude wood, and that he vowed to build a temple for the Four Kings if he won.

At Byodoji, Temple 22 of the Shikoku pilgrimage and a temple of Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism, the Vaiśravaṇa goma is performed on the night of the 1st of every month. The 1st is the sakujitsu, the day that begins the month. The separate ritual manual of Vaiśravaṇa sets the 1st and 15th of the month as days to begin practice, and in the same manual Vaiśravaṇa vows always to protect those who keep the practice, as one protects the pupil of one's eye and one's own life. This rule was carried on in the Gojikkanshō, and the goma Byodoji performs at the start of each month follows that tradition.

The Vaiśravaṇa enshrined at Byodoji is a standing image in joined-woodblock construction (yosegi-zukuri), held to date from the Edo period. Clad in armor, he holds a halberd in his right hand and raises a jeweled stupa in his left.

At Byodoji, we receive prayers for fortune and victory and offer them in the wisdom-fire of the goma. The page below explains the goma and how to apply.