Cāturmahārājakāyika

Cāturmahārājakāyika (Sanskrit: चातुर्महाराजकायिक; Pali: Cātummahārājika) heaven is the first world of the devas in Buddhist cosmology. The word Cāturmahārājakāyika refers to the Four Heavenly Kings (Cāturmahārāja) who rule over this world along with the assemblage or multitude (kāyika) of beings that dwell there.

Translations of
Cāturmahārājakāyika
English(Heaven) of the Four Great Kings
Sanskritचातुर्महाराजकायिक
Cāturmahārājakāyika
Paliचातुम्महाराजिक
Cātummahārājika
Chinese四大王衆天
(Pinyin: Sìdàwángzhòngtiān)
Japanese四大王衆天
(Rōmaji: Shidaiōshuten)
Korean사대왕중천
(RR: Sadaewangjungcheon)
Tibetanརྒྱལ་ཆེན་རིགས་བཞི
Wylie: rgyal chen rigs bzhi
THL: gyelchen rikzhi
TagalogKatulmahalakakayika
Thaiจาตุมหาราชิกา
VietnameseTứ Đại Vương Chúng Thiên
Glossary of Buddhism

The beings themselves are generally called cāturmahārājakāyikās or cāturmahārājakāyika devas.[1]

Description

The Chāturmahārājakāyika heaven is the first of the heaven of the Kāmadhātu and the lowest of the heavens that maintains a physical connection with the human world. It is located on the slopes of Mount Sumeru, though some of the devas there dwell inside the mountain and in the sky surrounding it.

The most notable residents of this world are the Four Heavenly Kings who serve Śakra of the higher heaven Trāyastriṃśa, and govern the four cardinal directions. They are also leaders of various races of beings who reside here. Their functions are as follows:

Many of these beings have been likened to spirits and gods of Pagan religions as well as goblins, trolls, and fairies of Western folklore.

Other residents include the garuḍas, the Khiddāpadosikā, Manopadosikā, Sitavalāhakā and Unhavalāhakā devas. Parjanya and Maṇimekhalā, as well as the sun god Sūrya and the moon god Candra also dwell here.[2][3]

References

  1. "The Thirty-one Planes of Existence". Access to Insight. 2005. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
  2. "Cātummahārājikā". Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  3. Mahāthero, Punnadhammo. "The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda sources" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
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