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Bishamonten
biɕamonteɴ Bishamonten | |
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No image | |
| Species | |
| Abilities |
Divine power |
| Age |
Older than the history of Buddhism |
| Occupation |
God of treasure, warfare, and punishing evil |
| Location |
Half way down Mount Sumeru |
| Relationships |
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Appearances | |
| Official Games | |
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Bishamonten (毘沙門天), also known as Vaiśravaṇa or Jambhala, is an actual god in Buddhist mythology with many depictions in different areas of Asia. He is the guardian of the northern direction, and his home is in the northern quadrant of the topmost tier of the lower half of Mount Sumeru. He is the leader of all the yakṣas who dwell on the Sumeru's slopes. In Japan he is thought of as an armor-clad god of warriors and warfare, and punisher of evildoers. Bishamonten is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, symbolizing the divine treasure house whose contents he both guards and gives away. In Japanese folklore, he is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. He is a principal Deity of Shigisan Shingon Buddhism, one of the sect of Shingon Buddhism in Japan.
Background Information
Name
The name Bishamonten (毘沙門天) is comprised of 毘沙門 bishamon, an approximation of the original Sanskrit name (Vaiśravaṇ) and the suffix 天 ten meaning "heaven" or "god." He is also sometimes called Tamonten (多聞天), which means "listening to many teachings".
Relationships
Byakuren has long been devoted to Bishamonten and she decided to summon Bishamonten to her temple. However, he was very busy and, thus, never came. Byakuren realized that the youkai around her temple were fearful of Bishamonten, thinking that he would exterminate them. Bishamonten was around the temple most of the time, which made the youkai scared of going to the temple.
Byakuren came up with a plan to introduce Shou, the most straightforward and honest youkai to Bishamonten on the mountain and in exchange, to gather faith. Bishamonten quietly took Shou as his disciple and avatar.
As Bishamonten doesn't fully trust Shou, he assigned his helper Nazrin to watch Shou. Despite Bishamonten's worries, Shou didn't cause any problems at all.
Additional Information
- Bishamonten is said to have aided Prince Shotoku against the Mononobe clan; it is unknown whether this is true in the Touhou canon.
Official Sources
- 2009/08/15 Undefined Fantastic Object - Settings and Extra Story.txt (Shou's profile)
See Also
- Wikipedia entry for Bishamonten
 | This page is part of Project Characters, a Touhou Wiki project that aims to write proper descriptions for all official characters of Touhou Project. Please keep the character page guidelines in mind when contributing. |
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