The Vedic Cosmology
Several deities and beings who appear on the mandala
originate in the Vedic cosmology of ancient India which the
Buddha also accepted but on his own terms. The Vedic cosmology is
a mythic view of the world based on the liturgical hymns known as
the Vedas. The Vedas were brought into India by
the Aryans or Noble Ones, Indo-Eurpeans who migrated into
northwestern India from southern Russia and northern Iran during
the second millennium BCE. The Vedas were the divine
revelation of the religion of the brahmins, the Aryan priestly
caste, and their religion came to be called Brahmanism; named not
after the priests but after the divine itself which they called
"Brahman." Brahmanism would eventually evolve into the
very diverse tradition which is now referred to as Hinduism.
While the Buddha rejected the divine authority of the Vedas
and many of the key assumptions of brahmanism, he also affirmed
on the basis of his own direct knowledge the existence of many of
the elements of the Vedic world view, including the existence of
many hells, heavens, and various supernatural beings like gods,
demons, and hungry ghosts. The Buddha not only claimed to have
seen these realms and beings for himself with his "divine
sight", but he also claimed to have observed how sentient
beings cycle through these many diverse forms of existence in the
interminable process of transmigration. The Buddha, or at least
those who recorded his teachings, therefore took for granted the
Vedic cosmic geography wherein all these natural and supernatural
In order to understand who these deities and other beings are
and what role they play, one must also understand ancient Indian
cosmology. According to the Vedas and also the Buddhist
sutras, our world is a series of disks made of wind, water, and
"golden earth" on the top of which float four
continents in a vast circular ocean. We live on the southern
continent called Jambudvipa (which not coincidentally resembles
the Indian subcontinent). Below Jambudvipa are many hot and cold
hells as well as the region of the hungry ghosts. Around the
perimeter of the world ocean is a vast iron mountain range. In
the center of the ocean are seven golden mountain ranges forming
concentric squares with seven fresh water seas in between. At the
center of these seven golden mountain ranges is a large mountain
called Mt. Sumeru. On the slopes of Mt. Sumeru and above it are
the various heavenly realms which become more rarefied the higher
one goes. The inhabited world is divided into three major realms:
desire, form, and formlessness. The realm of desire extends from
the lowest hell all the way up to the 6th heaven. The realm of
form consists of 17 more rarefied heavens which rise above and
beyond the realm of desire. Above these heavens are the four
heavens of the formless realm. Everything from the vast wind disk
at the very bottom of this structure all the way up to the first
three heavens of the realm of form make up what is known as a Mt.
Sumeru world because Mt. Sumeru forms its centerpiece. According
to this ancient cosmological system, our world is one of
countless such Mt. Sumeru worlds. The higher heavens preside over
increasingly huge numbers of Mt. Sumeru worlds. In this system,
our Mt. Sumeru world is known as the Saha World, which means
"The world of endurance" because there is so much
suffering which must be endured by the sentient beings who live
here undergoing samsara, the constant cycle of birth and death.
One of the easiest ways to make sense of the Mt. Sumeru
cosmology in more depth is to break it down into six realms. The
six realms are not literally different realms but are actually
different forms of existence which correspond to six different
states of mind. These six are the worlds of hell-dwellers, hungry
ghosts, animals, human beings, fighting demons, and the gods.
Later on, four higher realms were added for a total of ten
realms. The higher four consist of the disciples of the Buddha,
the solitary contemplatives, the bodhisattvas, and the Buddhas.
The four higher realms transcend the basic geography of a Mt.
Sumeru world system, so they will not be covered here.
The Realm of the Hell-Dwellers
The eight hot hells and eight cold hells lie
thousands of miles beneath the surface of the southern continent
Jambudvipa. The major hells are stacked one on top of the other
with the worst hell on the bottom. Here, those who have killed,
stolen, indulged in sexual misconduct or intoxicants, lied, or
committed other more heinous crimes against family, holy people
or the Dharma receive the karmic retribution for their deeds at
the hands of brawny ox-headed and horse-headed demons. It is
important to remember that in Buddhism one is not thrown into
hell or punished by some deity. Rather, the hells are the
fruition of one's misdeeds and the externalization of one's own
character which is shaped by one's deeds.The following are the
eight hot hells in order of increasing severity:
Samjiva (Reviving): This hell is reserved
for those who kill or cause the death of sentient beings by
denying them the means to live and who show no remorse but
instead feel justified and pleased by what they have done.
There are many torments to be found here, but the most common
involves being tormented and killed in the same way that one
tormented and killed others and then being revived for
further punishment. But not all of the punishments are so
straightforward. One particularly gruesome punishment for
hunters involves the hell-dwellers being forced to eat a
mixture of excrement and molten copper filled with diamond
beaked maggots which precede to consume the evildoers from
the inside out. This hell is divided into several regions
with names like Place of the Cooking Pot, Hell of Torments
Received in the Air, or the Black Weasel Hell.
Kalasutra (Black Rope): This hell is reserved for those
who steal, exploit others, or otherwise take what is not
their due. Here the hell-dwellers are stretched out on the
ground and their bodies are marked off by ink or charcoal
blackened ropes. The demons then use the markings to guide
them as they hack the unfortunates into tiny pieces with
fiery swords, axes, and saws. There are various other
torments to be found here as well. Another one involving the
black ropes has the evildoers forced to tight-rope walk on
them over boiling cauldrons with heavy iron packs strapped on
their backs. Inevitably, the hell-dwellers lose their balance
and fall into the cauldrons.
Samghata (Crushing): This hell is reserved for those who
indulged in sexual misconduct either through various forms of
infidelity, inappropriate sexual practices, or rape. The
torment for which this hell is named involves iron mountains
which slam together to crush the sexually indiscreet into
jelly. Another torment involves seeing a sexually
irresistible man or woman beckoning one from the top of a
tree. When the hell-dweller climbs to the top they are cut to
pieces by the hot iron leaves which point downward against
the climber. Upon reaching the top, the beloved is no longer
there but beckons from the bottom of the tree as the sharp
blazing iron leaves turn to point upwards. This cycle repeats
itself indefinitely. Other torments involve hooks and the
pouring of molten copper into various orifices until they
bore their way out of various other orifices.
Raurava (Howling): This hell is reserved for those who
abuse alcohol and other intoxicants and/or those who cause
others to use and abuse intoxicants. It is said that
substance abuser fall into this hell laughing because they
are still too drunk to realize what is going to happen to
them. Many of the torments here involve the drinking of
molten copper. Other torments involve being pounded into
jelly by an iron pestle. Needless to say, these tortures
cause the howling for which this hell is named.
Maharaurava (Great Howling): This hell is reserved for
liars, slanderers, those who abused others or spread stories
to cause dissension and all other manner of verbal
wrongdoing. In one region of this hell, demons stretch out
the evildoers tongue out for several miles. Then they dig a
trench in the tongue and fill it with molten copper. The rest
of the tongue is then devoured by worms. In another
punishment, a multitude of snakes are hatched within the body
of the evildoer which then proceed eat their way out. These
and many other tortures are the cause of the great howling
for which this hell is named.
Tapana (Hot): This hell is for those who not only commit
the misdeeds punished in the former hells, but who also cling
to or even propagate false views which they use to
rationalize their actions. Various extreme views and false
practices are punished here with flames and molten copper,
crocodiles, swarms of hornets, spears, swords, axes, and even
flowers with diamond thorns and many other instruments of
tortures. The heat here is said to be as much as 16 times
greater than in the previous hells.
Pratapana (Very Hot): This hell is reserved for those who
violated religion or family in order to gratify their sexual
desires. This hell is ten times hotter than even the previous
Tapana or Hot Hell. This hell includes various lakes of fire,
poisonous insects which bite and sting as they invade various
orifices, and fierce demons with swollen back bellies, hooked
fangs, and blazing eyes who administer the many tortures to
be found here.
Avichi (Uninterrupted): This hell is reserved for those
who deliberately and coldbloodedly commit one or more of the
most heinous acts of all - the murder of one's father or
mother, the murder of an arhat, the harming of a Buddha (who
can not be murdered), and creating a schism in the Sangha.
These crimes are not just acts of violence, but a rejection
of the very basis of morality and liberation from suffering.
Those who commit such acts fall into the flames upside down
for 2,000 years. The tortures here are so great and the
flames so hot that the other hells seem like heavens in
comparison. This hell is often described as a gargantuan red
hot iron cube with two doors. One door opens in order to
entice the evildoers to run across the cube in a desperate
race to get out but it always shuts just as they arrive. Then
the other door opens and the process repeats itself without interruption.
"In the Abhidharmakosha, each of the
eight hot hells has an entrance in each of its four
sides, each entrance leading into four kinds of sub-hell
(utsada), making a total of 128 sub-hells (see
figure 16). The four kinds are Kukula ('heated by burning
chaff'), Kunapa ('corpses and dung'), Ksuramarga ('razor
road'), and Nadi Vaitarani ('burning hell').
"In the first sub-hell, evildoers are forced to
walk over hot ash. In the second they wallow in a
quagmire of corpses and excrement, and maggots infest
their skin chewing the bone to the marrow. The third is
of three kinds: (a) the razor road, where evildoers have
to walk along a road of upward-facing sword blades; (b)
the razor forest, where leaves like blades fall when the
wind blows, nearly severing the evildoer's arms and legs,
which are then pulled off and eaten by dogs with black
spots; and (c) the forest of blades, where evildoers are
forced at sword point to climb trees whose trunks are
embedded with blades, so that if they try to climb up or
down they are impaled, but if they stop hordes of ravens
peck out and eat their eyes. The fourth is a hell in the
form of a long, narrow moat or river of boiling water;
evildoers are thrown in, tossed up to the surface, and
drawn under again by the currents like grains of rice. If
they try to pull themselves out by putting their hands on
the bank, guards sweep off their hands with swords and
spears." (Buddhist Cosmology, pp. 51-2)
Next to the eight hot hells and their sub-hells are the eight
cold hells, bringing the total number of hells up to 144. There
is no specific correlation between the different cold hells and
specific actions as there are with the eight hot hells. However,
one might imagine that the cold hells deal with coldheartedness
and sins of omission rather than sins of commission. Which is to
say that one receives the recompense for refusing to do that
which ought to be done rather than with the act of doing what
ought not to be done. These cold hells are:
Arbuda (Blistering): In this hell the cold is so intense
that it raises blisters or chilblains.
Nirarbuda (Broken Blisters): In this hell it is even
colder and the blisters break open.
Atata: This hell is named after the sound of chattering
Hahava: This hell is named after the sound made by those
shivering in the cold.
Huhuva: This hell is also named after the sound made by
those shivering in the cold.
Utpala (Blue Lotus): This hell is so cold that the skin
of the evildoers here turns blue and splits open like the
petals of a blue lotus.
Padma (Red Lotus): In this hell the skin splits open like
a blood red lotus.
Mahapadma (Deep Red Lotus): In this hell the skin splits
open like a deep red lotus.
The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts
"Hungry spirits are the dead; the Sanskrit term preta
means 'the departed.' The idea of hunger was added later to
express the miserable condition in which the dead spirits
were thought to exist. The original abode of these spirits
lies 500 yojanas beneath Jambudvipa. Among the dead spirits,
some are virtuous and some are not. The former pass a
pleasant life in groves and trees or escape this nether world
to sport in heavenly palaces. The latter live in holes filled
with urine and feces, and suffer from continuous hunger. The
typical description of a hungry spirit without virtue is a
being with a distended stomach and a long, thin neck like a
needle who, though starving, cannot ingest anything through
the throat. Some are shown managing to catch moths by
attracting them to flames from their mouths, and others
appear eating excrement, snivel, pus, and scum." (Buddhist Cosmology, p. 54)
"There are three classes of hungry ghosts (preta,
gaki), each with three sub-classes. Firstly, there are
the ghosts with no possessions, divided into 'torch-mouthed
ghosts', who breath flames; 'needle-throated ghosts', who
have needle-thin throats and distended bellies; and 'ghosts
with foul-smelling mouths'. Secondly, there are ghosts with a
few possessions, divided into 'needle-haired ghosts', whose
bodies are covered with hairs like needles; 'ghosts with foul
smelling hair'; and 'ghosts with large ulcers'. Thirdly,
there are the 'ghosts with many possessions', divided into
'ghosts who receive discards', who live on food thrown away
after being used as offerings; 'ghosts who receive lost
food', who live on the food left by the wayside by travelers;
and 'powerful ghosts', such as yakshas (yasha),
pisacas (bishaja) and rakshasas (rasetsu)." (pp. 99-100, The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism)
As the above passage states, the world of hungry ghosts
includes the flesh-eating rakshasas who supposedly lived in Sri
Lanka; the grave haunting vampires known as pisacas, and the
powerful wilderness spirits known as yakshas. The rakshasas and
the yakshas are especially important in Buddhism and may in fact
be synonymous or at least overlapping terms. The rakshasa may be
particularly monstrous yakshas, or the yakshas may be rakshasas
who have pledged to serve the devas and become guardians of the
forests, villages, and towns.
The Realm of Animals
Animals are of course very familiar to us. They inhabit the
seas, the land, and the air. The world of animals consists of all
those creatures who are ruled by instinct. They do not show any
forethought but live only for immediate gratification of their
desires. In addition, with few exceptions, they live by the rule
of the stronger over the weaker. This is the world of predator
and prey, territoriality, and rule by the alpha male.
The Buddhist world of animals also encompasses the very
powerful supernatural beings like the nagas, the garudas, the
kimnaras, the gandharvas and the mahoragas that inhabit many of
the gardens and palaces of heaven. These beings, together with
the devas, the yakshas, and the asuras, are known collectively as
the eight kinds of non-human beings who protect the Dharma. The
nagas are dragons who live in the oceans, rivers, and clouds and
who control the rains and waters. The garudas are giant birds who
are always hunting for the nagas. The kimnaras are half-human
half-animal musicians of the heavenly realms. The gandharvas are
also heavenly musicians who are sometimes classed with these
other divine "animals" though they are themselves fully
human in form. The mahoragas are giant snakes.
The Realm of the Fighting Demons
The fighting demons are the asuras who dwell in a huge city
beneath the ocean ruled by the Asura King Rahula. The asura are
immensely strong and quarrelsome. They are jealous of Indra and
the gods who dwell at the summit of Mt. Sumeru and are constantly
plotting against them and on occasion they even try to scale Mt.
Sumeru to attack the gods. Indra, the four heavenly kings, and
the hosts of heaven always defeat them however.
The Realm of Human Beings
Human beings of various kinds live on the four continents
which surround Mt. Sumeru. The southern continent is called Jambudvipa,
which is the name of a mythical rose-apple tree that is supposed
to grow there. Jambudvipa is shaped like the Indian sub-continent
and has two small islands off the tip, one of which corresponds
to Sri Lanka. Jambudvipa, of course, corresponds to India which
was the entire known world to those who created the Mt. Sumeru cosmology.
West of Mt. Sumeru is the continent called Aparagodaniya.
Here, the inhabitants herd cattle and live very comfortable lives
in this rich land. This continent is circular and also has two islands.
East of Mt. Sumeru is the continent called Purvavideha.
The people who live here are very gentle, refined, and have a
noble bearing. This continent is shaped like a half moon and has two islands.
North of Mt. Sumeru is the continent called Uttarakuru.
The people here are extremely virtuous and live for a thousand
years. This continent is very much like the Garden of Eden in
that there is no crime, or disease, or violence and food is
easily attainable without work. It is shaped like a square and has two islands.
The Realm of the Gods
There are three major divisions to the god realms. The first
six heavens are still a part of the realm of desire along with
the previous five worlds. The next 18 heavens are collectively
known as the realm of form. The last four heavens make up the
realm of formlessness. The realm of desire, from the hells to the
lower heavens, consists of all those realms wherein the beings
who live in them are motivated by sensual desires and in turn
undergo sensual experiences of varying degrees of pleasure or
pain. The following are the six heavens of the realm of desire:
Catur-maharaja-kayikah Heaven (Heaven of the Four
Heavenly Kings): Halfway up Mt. Sumeru is a terrace upon
which dwell the Four Heavenly Kings. It is also at this
height that the sun and moon are said to circle Mt. Sumeru in
their chariots. Beneath this terrace are three more terraces
where the servants and armies of the Four Heavenly Kings live
and guard the slopes of Mt. Sumeru from the depredations of
the ashuras. The full range of sensual pleasures are enjoyed
here, though children are not born but rather appear fully
formed at the age of five.
Trayatrimsha (Heaven of the Thirty-three gods): At the
summit of Mt. Sumeru are the palaces and gardens of Indra and
the rest of the thirty-three gods. This celestial city is
called Lovely View and in the center is the Palace of Victory
which belongs to Indra. The buildings of this city are all
made of gold, and the ground is soft like cotton. Four major
gardens and four peaks surround the central palace. Eight
deities dwell on each of these peaks. As in the previous
heaven, all sensual pleasures are enjoyed here. Children
appear miraculously at the age of six.
The next four heavens are each just as large as the entire
Heaven of the Thirty-three. They are located far above one
another over the peak of Mt. Sumeru in order of increasing refinement.
Yama (Heaven of Time): Far above the summit of Mt. Sumeru
is the palace of King Yama and his attendants. King Yama is
supposed to have been the first mortal man to have died, and
for this reason he is in charge of the newly deceased. He is
also the chief magistrate of the underworld - consisting of
the hells and the world of the hungry ghosts where he holds
his court. The sensual pleasures here are more refined than
in the lower heavens, and an embrace is all that is needed to
conceive children. The children appear miraculously at the
age of seven.
Tushita (Heaven of Contentment): This heaven is far above
the previous heaven. It's name means
"contentment."This is the heaven where bodhisattvas are reborn just before their final birth as a buddha. It is
currently the residence of Maitreya Bodhisattva. Children are conceived through simply holding hands, and the children
miraculously appear at the age of eight.
Nirmana-rati (Heaven of Joy in Transformations): This
heaven is also far above it's predecessor. This is the heaven
of those who create their own pleasure. Children are
conceived when those who live here simply smile upon one
another and they appear at the age of nine.
Para-nirmita-vasavartin (Heaven of Free Enjoyment of
Transformation by Others): This heaven is also far above it's
predecessor. This heaven is for those who are able to control
and enjoy that which is created by others. In other words,
all things are provided for them, and the beings who live
here have great influence over those who dwell in the lower
heavens. It is in this heaven that Mara, the Devil King of
the Sixth Heaven, makes his home. Children are conceived here
through a mere glance, and they appear at the age of ten.
The realm of form is much more refined the heavens in this
realm correspond to different degrees of mental concentration and
stability which are called the "dhyanas." The four
dhyanas are brought about through meditation and all are
characterized by the temporary suppression of the five hindrances
of sensual desire, ill-will, sloth-and-torpor,
restlessness-and-worry, and doubt. The four dhyanas are
distinguished by different degrees of mental stability and each
is more subtle and refined than the one before. The heavens of
the realm of form are reached by those who have not only
cultivated good conduct but were also able to abide in the
dhyanas through meditation. Each of these heavens is spatially
located above the others.
The first three heavens of the realm of form are associated
with first dhyana. The first dhyana is characterized by thinking
of and thinking about the subject of meditation, the joy of
having achieved the state of meditative absorption, a sense of
happy abiding in the state of meditative absorption, and
one-pointedness of mind. These heavens are much larger than the
previous heavens, and are the same diameter as the Mt. Sumeru
world with it's four continents.
Brahma-parisadya (Brahma Assembly): This heaven is the
residence of the followers of Brahma.
Brahma-purohita (Brahma Officials): This heaven is where
Brahma's officials reside.
Maha Brahma (Great Brahma): This heaven is the residence
of Great Brahma.
The next three heavens of the realm of form are associated
with second dhyana. The second dhyana is characterized by the
sublimation of discursive thought, and the presence of the joy of
having achieved the state of meditative absorption, a sense of
happy abiding in the state of meditative absorption, and
one-pointedness of mind. These heavens are the size of a thousand Mt. Sumeru worlds.
Parittabha (Little Light)
Aparamanabha (Unlimited Light)
Abhasvara (Sound of Light): In this heaven, light
actually becomes the main mode of communication.
The next three heavens of the realm of form are associated
with third dhyana. The third dhyana is characterized by the
sublimation of all but serene happy abiding in the state of
meditative absorption and one-pointedness of mind. These heavens
are the size of a million Mt. Sumeru worlds.
Parittasubha (Little Purity)
Apramanasubha (Unlimited Purity)
Subhakrtsna (Universal Purity)
The next nine heavens of the realm of form are associated
with the fourth dhyana. The fourth dhyana is characterized by the
the transcendence of all conceptual thoughts, and also pleasure
and pain. In their place is a sense of perfect equanimity and
one-pointedness of mind. These heavens are the size of a billion Mt. Sumeru worlds.
Punyaprasava (Blessed Rebirth)
Asajnisatva (No-Thought): This heaven is the destination of
those who believe that simply eliminating conscious thought
itself is nirvana. While it is a very exalted state, it is still
only temporary and can be considered a spiritual dead-end.
The last five of the nine heavens of the fourth dhyana are
also known as the Pure Abodes, because they are where those who
have attained the stage of Non-returner are reborn and where they
Abriha (Devoid of Troubles)
Atapa (Free from Heat)
Sudrisha (Beautiful Activity)
Sudarshana (Beautiful Appearance)
Akanistha (Highest): This is the residence of Ishvara,
the Freedom God, who is sometimes known as Maheshvara, the
Great Freedom God.
The realm of formlessness is much more ephemeral and is the
result of the attainment of states of consciousness that
transcend material existence altogether.
Space: This heaven corresponds to the state of mental
concentration on the vastness of space.
Consciousness: This heaven corresponds to the state of
mental concentration on the vastness of conscious awareness
Nothingness: This heaven corresponds to the state of
mental concentration which has transcended all particular
Neither-perception-nor-non-pereception: This heaven
corresponds to the state of mental concentration which has
transcended perception and non-perception altogether.
Eight Kinds of Supernatural Beings
In addition to the geography of the Mt. Sumeru world system
and the six worlds which compose it, one should know something
about the population. In addition to human beings and animals,
there are many kinds of gods, demons, and other supernatural
creatures. The major ones are included in the group called the
eight kinds of supernatural beings who protect and revere the Dharma. These are:
1. Devas or gods: This category includes all those who
live in the heavenly realms, from the celestial courtiers,
the apsaras, to the Four Heavenly Kings, Indra, Brahma, and
all the other devas, or shining ones. The major devas and
groups of devas who inhabit the heavenly realms are:
Apsaras: These are the attendants, retainers,
entertainers, and celestial nymphs who populate the
The Four Heavenly Kings: These are the guardians who
defend the world and the four sides of Mt. Sumeru from
the fighting demons. They are: Vaishravana - Heavenly
King of the North; Dhritarashtra - Heavenly King of the
East; Virudhaka - Heavenly King of the South; and
Virupaksha - Heavenly King of the West. They dwell in the
Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, and from there command
their armies under the direction of Indra.
The Thirty-three Gods of the Heaven of the
Thirty-three: According to the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad (cited in The Myths and Gods of India
by Alain Danielou) there are thirty-three gods and these
consist of their ruler, Indra; the lord of creation,
Prajapati; the eight spheres-of-existence, the Vasus; the
eleven divinities-of-life, the Rudras; and the twelve
sovereign-principles, the Adityas.
The Vasus rule the elements of the earthly realm.
Their name means "dwellings" because they rule
the dwelling places of all that exists. Danielou lists
them as follows:
"The eight Vasus include the earthly-sphere
(prthiva) and the fiery energy which dwells
in it, Agni; the sphere-of-space (antariksa)
and the fiery energy which dwells in it, Vayu, the
Wind; the heavenly-sphere (dyaus) and the
fiery energy which dwells in it, the Sun (Surya);
then comes the sphere-of-constellations (naksatra)
and the gentle energy which dwells in it, the Moon or
Offering (Soma). " (The Myths and
Gods of India, pp. 85-86)
The Rudras rule the life-forces and their dynamism
keeps the world in motion and change. Their name means
"howlers" and they are called this because of
the suffering that is caused when the life forces
withdraw upon death. They are fearsome warlike deities
and are aspects of the god Shiva. According to the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, there are ten Rudras corresponding to the
ten life-forces of human beings and an eleventh
corresponding to the self or atman. Danielou states:
"Eight of the Rudras are equivalents to eight of the
auspicious manifestations of Siva (asta-murti);
the others represent the fearful forms of fire. The first
can be propitiated through worship; man should keep aloof
from the others." (Ibid, p.103). The eleven could
also possibly be the five deities who are the components
of Siva, the five deities who are the five faces of Siva, and the self.
The Adityas rule the intellect and the celestial
sphere. They are the sons of Aditi, the
Primordial-Vastness. Danielou lists them as: "The
twelve-sovereign principles are generally given as Mitra
(solidarity), Varuna (fate), Aryaman (chivalry), Daksa
(ritual skill), Bhaga (the inherited share), Amsa (the
god's given share), Tvastr (craftsmanship), Savitr (the
magic power of words), Pusan (prosperity), Sakra
(courage), Vivasvat (social laws), and Visnu (cosmic
law)." (Ibid, p. 115)
Yama: The first human being to have passed away was
Yama, and he then became the first ancestor and
eventually the ruler and judge of the dead. Though he
presides over the worlds of the hells and hungry ghosts,
his palace is in the Heaven of Time.
Mara: The "murderer" who rules over the
realm of desire from the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of
Transformation by Others, the sixth and highest heaven of
the realm of desire.
Maha Brahma: The Great Brahma who dwells in the Maha
Brahma Heaven dwells in the realm of form and transcends
the realm of desire and the machinations of Mara, but
there is still a subtle (or perhaps not so subtle)
egotism which keeps him bound to the six worlds of
rebirth. The Great Brahma believes himself to be the
omnipotent creator of the world.
Ishvara: The Freedom God who dwells in the Highest
Heaven. Sometimes he is called Maheshvara, the Great
Freedom God. He is the highest and most sublime of the devas.
2. Ashuras or fighting demons: These are the anti-gods
who fight against the devas out of pride and envy.
3. Nagas or dragons: These are the serpents or dragons
who live in the ocean and rule over the rain, rivers, and
tides. They also guard the hidden treasures of the world.
They are classified as supernatural animals.
4. Gandharvas: These are the court musicians of the
heavenly realms. They are classified as supernatural animals.
5. Kimnaras: These are court singers and dancers. The men
are said to have horse heads and sing, while the women are
fully human in form and dance. Kimnaras are also portrayed as
birds with human heads and torsos. They are classified as
6. Garudas: These are either giant birds who hunt and eat
the nagas, or they are humanoids with wings and the heads of
birds. They often serve as mounts for the devas. They are
classified as supernatural animals.
7. Mahoragas: These are also celestial musicians. They
are either giant snakes or humanoids with the heads of
snakes. They are classified as supernatural animals.
8. Yakshas: The Yakshas are the spirits of the forests,
fields, villages, and towns. They are also serve as the armed
forces of the Heavenly King Vaishravana. This last type of
supernatural being is actually part of a much larger
category, the rakshasas, who are themselves a powerful type
of hungry ghost. The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in
Shingon Buddhism states: "The sutras of both
exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism describe three types of
Raksasas: firstly, the demons who belong to the company of
Yaksas; secondly, the unbelievers, who are the enemies of the
gods; and thirdly, those who haunt cemetaries at night and
hinder the offerings of the sacrifice, the evil demons who
raised up corpses and capture and eat men." (p. 492)