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| Translations of Trāyastriṃśa | |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Trāyastriṃśa |
| Pali | Tāvatiṃsa |
| Burmese | တာဝတိံသာ (MLCTS:tàwədèɪɰ̃ðà) |
| Chinese | 忉利天 (Pinyin:=Dāolì tiān) |
| Japanese | 忉利天 (Rōmaji:Tōriten) |
| Khmer | ត្រ័យត្រិង្ស (ត្រៃត្រិង្ស), តាវត្តិង្ស (Traytroeng, Tavattoeng) |
| Korean | 도리천 (RR:Doricheon) |
| Sinhala | තව්තිසාව (Tavtisāva) |
| Tagalog | Tasatimsa |
| Thai | ดาวดึงส์ (RTGS: Daowadueng) |
| Vietnamese | Đao Lợi Thiên |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
TheTrāyastriṃśa (Sanskrit;PaliTāvatiṃsa), (Tushita;Heaven of the Thirty-three), is an important celestial realm of thedevas inBuddhist cosmology. The wordtrāyastriṃśa is an adjective formed from the numeraltrayastriṃśat, or "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three devas". It is the name of the second of the six heavens of thedesire realm inBuddhist cosmology, and used by the devas who dwell there. Trāyastriṃśa is ruled byŚakra, also known asIndra.
TheTrāyastriṃśa heaven is the second of the heavens of theKāmadhātu, just aboveCatumaharajika or the realm of theFour Heavenly Kings, and is the highest of the heavens that maintains a physical connection with the rest of the world.Trāyastriṃśa is located on the peak ofSumeru, the central mountain of the world, at a height of 80yojanas ; the total area of the heaven is 80 yojanas square. This heaven is therefore comparable to the GreekMount Olympus in some respects.
According toVasubandhu, inhabitants ofTrāyastriṃśa are each half akrośa tall (about 1500 feet) and live for 1000 years, of which each day is equivalent to 100 years of our world: that is, for a total of 36 million of our years.
SinceTrāyastriṃśa is physically connected to the world through Sumeru, unlike the heavens above it, theTrāyastriṃśadevas are unable to avoid being entangled in worldly affairs. In particular, they frequently find themselves in quarrels with theasuras, a separate set of divine beings who were expelled fromTrāyastriṃśa and who now dwell at the foot of Sumeru, plotting for ways to recover their lost kingdom. There is, however, marriage between the devas and the asuras just as there is between theÆsir and thejötnar inNorse mythology.
The chief of theTrāyastriṃśa devas isŚakra (Pāli:Sakka), also known asIndra. OtherTrāyastriṃśa devas who are frequently mentioned areViśvakarman (Vissakamma), the devas' craftsman and builder;Mātali, who drives Śakra's chariot; and Sujā, Śakra's wife and daughter of the Asura chiefVemacitrin (Vepacitti).
TheTrāyastriṃśa heaven appears several times in Buddhist stories, in which either the Buddha ascends toTrāyastriṃśa, or (more often) deities fromTrāyastriṃśa descend to meet the Buddha. The Buddha's mother,Maya, was reborn in theTusita Heaven, and came down to visitTrāyastriṃśa heaven where her son taught her theabhidharma.[2]
The "thirty-three" in the name of the heaven is not an enumeration of the gods who live there (there are far more) but a general term inherited fromVedic mythology, implying "the wholepantheon of gods". In Theravada Buddhist legends, there were 33 humans in Sakka's original group (who made enough merit to become devas atop Mount Sineru).[3]
In Buddhism, there are "Yāmā devāḥ", "Tushitānāṃ", "Nirmāṇaratayaḥ devāḥ", and "Paranirmita-vaśavartinaḥ devāḥ" above Trāyastriṃśa and "Catumaharajika" below. They are called the six heavens together with Śakro devānām (Śakra). More heaven "Sunirmita devāḥ" is sometimes added to these depending onsūtras.
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In Mahayana literature,Trāyastriṃśa is composed of thirty-three levels. These are enumerated in theSaddharmasmṛtyupasthāna Sūtra. The original Sanskrit names occasionally vary between extant Sanskrit manuscripts and Chinese texts.[4]
Below is a list of thedevas who are said to dwell here:[citation needed]
Śakra's wives
Śakra's sons
Śakra's daughters
Others
Media related toTrāyastriṃśa heaven at Wikimedia Commons
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