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BISHAMONTEN - God of War & Warriors
Also called Tamonten, The Black Warrior
Guardian of the Northern Quarter
Member of the TENBU and JUNITEN
Member of the SHITENNO
One of Japan's SEVEN LUCKY GODS
Origin: India
Sanskrit = Vaishravana or Vaisravana
Male. The god of war and warriors, and a dispenser of wealth and good fortune. Bishamonten is also considered a god of healing, with the power to save emperors from life-threatening illness and to expel the demons of plague.
Bishamonten is usually clad in armor, with a spear in one hand and a pagoda in the other. He is the scourge of evil doers, and the most powerful among the Guardians of the Four Directions (Jp. = Shitenno; Skt. = Lokapala), who he commands. When portrayed among the Shitenno, he is known as Tamonten. Among the four, he alone is worshipped independently in Japan. He is also one of Japan's Seven Lucky Gods.
Bishamon's name in Sanskrit is Vaishravana, which means "one who hears everything in the kingdom." It is very likely that his imagery and iconography originated with the Hindu deity named Kubera / Kuvera.
The small pagoda he often carries symbolizes the divine treasure house. He is both a protector of and dispenser of its treasure -- he shares the pagoda's vast treasures with only "the worthy." In Japan, as a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, he is called Tamonten (Listens to Many Teachings), and in this capacity he protects the places where Buddha preaches and listens always to Buddha's teachings. Said to live halfway down the north side of Mount Sumeru, Bishamon/Tamonten protects the north, and commands two classes of mythical spirits and demons -- the Yasha (Yaksa) and the Rasetsu (Raksha).
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(L) courtesy www.narahaku.go.jp/meihin/cyokoku/cyo_fra.html
(R) courtesy Handbook on Viewing Buddhist Statues
ANIMAL ASSOCIATIONS
Unknown, but Bishamon is also sometimes referred to as the warrior Hachiman, and Hachiman's animal is the pigeon. In the Kamakura Era, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine was the main shrine for warriors to pray for victory prior to battle. Even today, hundreds of pigeons congregate daily on the roofs of the shrine complex.
SHITENNO - Tamonten, Protector of the North
Bishamonten is also known as Tamonten, the Guardian on the North, and the most powerful of the Four Heavenly Kings (Shitenno), the Guardians of the Four Directions. As a member of the Shitenno, he listens to sutras, protects holy places, carries a pagoda-shaped treasure house in his left hand, and a spear in his right. Associated with the color black (others say blue), Tamonten is the god of war and protector against demons. For many more details and photos, please see the TAMONTEN page.
Sanskrit Seed Sound for Bishamonten = VAI
Mantra for Bishamonten / Tamonten
Tamonten, another name for Bishamonten
Ivory Bishamonten in collection of
Andres Bernhard AKA Rapick - Italy
PHOTO BELOW AND TEXT:
Courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum
www.emuseum.jp/cgi/pkihon.cgi?SyoID=1&ID=w003&SubID=s000
 All the deities shown here are considered, in China, to be benevolent deities who expel the "demons of plague." This set was originally mounted as a handscroll that was known as the "second edition of the Masuda family Hell Scroll." After the war, the handscroll was cut into sections and the paintings mounted as hanging scrolls. The acts of each of the gods in exterminating evil are briefly explained in the texts accompanying the illustrations.
Here, Bishamonten is portrayed as a benevolent deity who protects devotees of the Lotus Sutra. Examples of Bishamon Ten holding a bow, as he is painted here, are found in Chinese works of the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties.
 This scroll, called the Extermination of Evil (Hekija-e) or Exorcists Scroll, is conjectured to have been made during the time of Emperor Goshirakawa (1127-92, r. 1155-58) in the latter part of the Heian period (794-1185) and kept in the treasure house of Rengeo-in Temple (Sanjusangendo). <end text from Tokyo National Museum>
OTHER BISHAMONTEN ASSOCIATIONS
- Kichijouten, Kichijoten, Kisshouten
Wife of Vishnu in Hindu myths; wife or sister of Bishamonten in Buddhist myths; goddess of fortune. Click here to visit the Kichijouten page.
- Kubera: Hindu God of Wealth. Says Meher McArthur, the curator of East Asian Art at the Pacific Asia Museum (Pasadena):
"In Tibet and Nepal, Vaishravana (Jp. = Bishamonten / Tamonten) is closely related to the God of Wealth, Kubera, who is considered to be his most important manifestation. It is possible that Vaishravana is the Buddhist form of the earlier Hindu deity, Kuvera/Kubera, who was the son of an Indian sage, Vishrava, hence the name, Vaishravana. According to Hindu legend, Kubera performed austerities for a thousand years, and was rewarded for this by the greator god, Brahma, who granted him immortality and the position of God of Wealth, and guardian of the treasures of the earth. As Vaishravana, this deity also commands the army of eight Yasha (Yaksa), or demons, who are believed to be emanations of Vaishravana himself. The most important of these eight are the dark-skinned Kubera of the north and the white Jambala of the east. Each of these emanations holds a mongoose that spews jewels. In Tibet and Nepal, he is worshipped as the God of Wealth in all three manifestations: Vaishravana, Kubera, and Jambala."
"In many Tibetan and Nepalese images of Kubera, the deity is shown as a plump figure wearing a crown, ribbons and jewelry, and holding a mongoose, representing this god's vistory over the naga (snake deities), who symbolize greed. As God of Wealth, Vaishravana/Kubera squeezes the mongoose and causes the creature to spew out jewels."
< quoted from McArthur's book "Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs & Symbols." ISBN 0-500-28428-8, Published 2002 by Thames & Hudson. Click here to view or buy book at Amazon. >
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