चतुर्महाराज

बुद्ध धर्मया मिथकय् चतुर्महाराज वा ४म्ह जुजु हलिमया प्यंगु दिशाय् रक्षा याइपिं प्यम्ह द्यः ख।

कोरियामि ग्वाङमोक चेओन्वाङ (Gwangmok Cheonwang) वा विरुपाक्षया मूर्ति

४म्ह जुजुया बर्मामि चित्रण।

नामाकरण

जुजुतयेगु मंका नां थ्व कथं दु-

भाषा	च्वैगु रुप	रोमन लिपि	देवनागरी	अर्थ
संस्कृत	चतुर्महाराज	caturmahārāja	चतुर्महाराज	४म्ह जुजु
		लोकपाल	हलिमया रक्षक
बर्मामि भाषा	စတုလောကပါလ စတုမဟာရာဇ်နတ်	IPA: [sətṵ lɔ́ka̰ pàla̰] IPA: [sətṵ məhà ɹɪʔ naʔ]	सतु लोकपाल, सतु महारित नात (?)	४म्ह लोकिक पालक ४म्ह महान जुजु
चिनिया भाषा	天王	Tiānwáng	तियानवाङ	आलौकिक जुजु
	四天王	Sì Tiānwáng	सि तियान्वाङ	४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु
	四大天王	Sì Da Tiānwáng	सि दा तियाङवाङ	४म्ह महान आलौकिक जुजु
कोरियन भाषा	천왕	Cheonwang	चेओनवाङ	आलौकिक जुजु
	사천왕	Sacheonwang	साचेओनवाङ	४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु
	사대천왕	Sadae Cheonwang	सादेइ चेओङवाङ	४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु
जापानी भाषा	四天王	शितेन्नो	Shitennō	४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु
भियतनामी भाषा	四天王	Tứ Thiên Vương	तु थियन भुओङ	४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु
सँदेय् भाषा		rgyal chen bzhi	र्ग्याल चेन ब्झि	४म्ह महान जुजु
मङ्गोल भाषा	Махаранз	maharanja	महारान्जा	(४म्ह) महान जुजु
थाइ भाषा	จาตุมหาราชา	chatumaharaja	चतुमहाराजा	४म्ह महान जुजु
	จาตุโลกบาล	chatulokkaban	चयुलोक्कवन	४म्ह लोकपाल

४म्ह आलौकिक जुजु

The Four Heavenly Kings are said to currently live in the Cāturmahārājika heaven (Pāli Cātummahārājika, "Of the Four Great Kings") on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru, which is the lowest of the six worlds of the devas of the Kāmadhātu. They are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil, each able to command a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the Dharma.

संस्कृत	वैश्रवण (कुबेर)	विरूढक	धृतराष्ट्र	विरूपाक्ष
पाळि	वेस्सवण (कुवेर)	विरूळ्हक	धतरट्ठ	विरूपक्ख
अर्थ	सकल न्यनिम्ह	तःधनिम्ह	राष्ट्र रक्षा याइम्ह	सकल खनिम्ह
		प्रगतिया पालक	बुंया अवलोकक
बर्मेली भाषा	ကုဝေရ	ဝိရဠက	ဓတရဌ	ဝိရုပက္ခ
परम्परागत चिनिया	多聞天王	增長天王	持國天王	廣目天王
	毗沙門天	留博叉天	多羅吒天	毗琉璃天
अःपु चिनिया	多闻天王	增长天王	持国天王	广目天王
	毗沙门天	留博叉天	多罗吒天	毗琉璃天
हान्यु पिन्यिन	Duō Wén Tiānwáng	Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng	Chí Guó Tiānwáng	Guăng Mù Tiānwáng
हानगुल	다문천왕	증장천왕	지국천왕	광목천왕
कोरियामि लिपि रोमनकृत	Damun-cheonwang	Jeungjang-cheonwang	Jiguk-cheonwang	Gwangmok-cheonwang
कान्जी	多聞天 (毘沙門天)	増長天	持国天	広目天
			治国天
हेपबर्न रोमनिकरण	Tamon-ten (Bishamon-ten)	Zōjō-ten	Jikoku-ten	Kōmoku-ten
		Zōchō-ten
फिलिपिनो भाषा	Bathala	Lakambakod	Lakampati	Amansinaya
चिनिया भियतनामी	Đa Văn Thiên	Tăng Trưởng Thiên	Trì Quốc Thiên	Quảng Mộc Thiên
सँदेय् भाषा रोमनीकृत	rnam.thos.sras (Namthöse)	phags.skyes.po (Phakyepo)	'yul.'khor.srung (Yülkhorsung)	spyan.mi.bzang (Chenmizang)
थाइ	ท้าวกุเวร	ท้าววิรุฬหก	ท้าวธตรัฐ	ท้าววิรูปักษ์
	เวสวัณ,เวสสุวัณ,เวสสุวรรณ
रोमनीकृत थाइ	Thao Kuwen	Thao Virunhok	Thao Thatarot	Thao Virupak
	भेस्सभान
रङ्ग	म्हासु	ह्यांउ	वांगु	तुयु
चिं	कुसा	खड्ग	Pipa	बि
	Mongoose			प्यागोडा
	स्तुप			मोति
भक्त	यक्ष	कुम्भन्द	गन्धर्व	नाग
दिशा	यंता	येता	वंता	योता

Further associations between the four directions and elements, seasons, planets, animals, internal organs, etc. can be found at Five elements (Chinese philosophy). Note, however, that the colors assigned to the Four Heavenly Kings represent an independent tradition and do not correspond to the traditional Chinese association of colors and directions.

All four serve Śakra, the lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. On the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each lunar month, the Four Heavenly Kings either send out messengers or go themselves to see how virtue and morality are faring in the world of men. Then they report upon the state of affairs to the assembly of the Trāyastriṃśa devas.

On the orders of Śakra, the four kings and their retinues stand guard to protect Trāyastriṃśa from another attack by the Asuras, which once threatened to destroy the kingdom of the devas. They are also vowed to protect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Buddha's followers from danger.

Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings. From left to right: Vaiśravaṇa, Virūḍhaka, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Virūpākṣa.

According to Vasubandhu, devas born in the Cāturmahārājika heaven are 1/4 of a krośa in height (about 750 feet tall). They also have a five-hundred year lifespan, of which each day is equivalent to 50 years in our world; thus their total lifespan amounts to about nine million years (other sources say 90,000 years).

Painting of Kōmokuten (Virūpākṣa), the Guardian of the West (one of the Four Guardian Kings). 13th century.

In Chinese they are known collectively as "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" (風調雨順 / 风调雨顺), which translates into "Good Climate". This mnemonic reminds one of the symbols the Heavenly Kings carry. For instance, "Fēng" sounds like the Chinese word for "edge" (鋒 / 锋), hence the corresponding symbol is a sword. "Tiáo" sounds like "Tune", hence the corresponding symbol is a musical instrument. "Yǔ" means "rain", hence the corresponding symbol is an umbrella. "Shùn" refers to the symbol of a crimson dragon (赤龍 / 赤龙).

These symbols also link the deities to their followers; for instance, the nāgas, magical creatures who can change form between human and serpent, are led by Virūpākṣa, represented by a snake; the gandharvas are celestial musicians, led by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, represented with a lute. The umbrella was a symbol of regal sovereignty in ancient India, and the sword is a symbol of martial prowess. Vaiśravaṇa's mongoose, which ejects jewels from its mouth, is said to represent generosity in opposition to greed.

	Tamon-ten (north)
Kōmoku-ten (west)	Heavenly Kings (Japanese)	Jikoku-ten (east)
	Zōjō-ten (south)

• Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings of Jikō-ji, Takasago, Hyōgo, Japan.
• 
  Jikoku-ten (east)
• 
  Zōjō-ten (south)
• 
  Kōmoku-ten (west)
• 
  Tamon-ten (north)

स्वयादिसँ

• Guardians of the directions

लिधंसा

• Chaudhuri, Saroj Kumar. Hindu Gods and Goddesses in Japan. New Delhi: Vedams eBooks (P) Ltd., 2003. ISBN 8179360091.
• Nakamura, Hajime. Japan and Indian Asia: Their Cultural Relations in the Past and Present. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1961. Pp. 1–31.
• Potter, Karl H., ed. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, volume 9. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970–. ISBN 8120819683, ISBN 8120803078 (set).
• Thakur, Upendra. India and Japan: A Study in Interaction During 5th cent.–14th cent. A.D.. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1992. ISBN 8170172896. Pp. 27–41.