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| Translations of Trāyastriṃśa | |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | त्रायस्त्रिंश (IAST: trāyastriṃśa) |
| Pali | tāvatiṁsa |
| Burmese | တာဝတိံသာ (MLCTS: tàwədèɪɰ̃ðà) |
| Chinese | 忉利天 (Pinyin: Dāolìtiān) |
| Japanese | 忉利天 (Katakana: トウリテン) (Rōmaji: tōriten) |
| Khmer | ត្រ័យត្រិង្ស (alt. ត្រៃត្រិង្ស) តាវត្តិង្ស (UNGEGN: traitrings tāvattings) |
| Korean | 도리천 (Hanja: 忉利天) (RR: doricheon) |
| Sinhala | තව්තිසාව (tavtisāva) |
| Tibetan | སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ་ (Wylie: sum cu rtsa gsum pa THL: sumchu tsa sumpa) |
| Tagalog | Tasatimsa |
| Thai | ดาวดึงส์ (RTGS: daodueng) |
| Vietnamese | Đao Lợi Thiên (Chữ Nôm: 忉利天) |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
Trāyastriṃśa (Sanskrit: त्रायस्त्रिंश, pronounced [t̪ɾɑː.jɐs̪.t̪ɾĩ.ɕɐ], romanized: trāyastriṃśa; Pali: tāvatiṁsa; lit. 'of the thirty-three [heavenly beings]'[2]) is a celestial realm of the devas in Buddhist cosmology and constitutes the second of the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu). The term is a Sanskrit adjectival form derived from the numeral त्रयस्त्रिंशत् (trayastriṃśat), meaning "thirty-three", a reference to the pantheon of devas who preside over it, modeled after the thirty-three Vedic deities. It is ruled by Śakra.
The Trāyastriṃśa heaven is the second of the heavens of the Kāmadhātu, just above Catumaharajika or the realm of the Four 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 of Sumeru, the central mountain of the world, at a height of 80 yojanas ; the total area of the heaven is 80 yojanas square. This heaven is therefore comparable to the Greek Mount Olympus in some respects.
According to Vasubandhu, inhabitants of Trāyastriṃśa are each half a krośa 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.
Since Trāyastriṃśa is physically connected to the world through Sumeru, unlike the heavens above it, the Trāyastriṃśa devas are unable to avoid being entangled in worldly affairs. In particular, they frequently find themselves in quarrels with the asuras, a separate set of divine beings who were expelled from Trāyastriṃśa 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 the Æsir and the jötnar in Norse mythology.
The chief of the Trāyastriṃśa devas is Śakra (Pāli: Sakka), also known as Indra. Other Trāyastriṃśa devas who are frequently mentioned are Viśvakarman (Vissakamma), the devas' craftsman and builder; Mātali, who drives Śakra's chariot; and Sujā, Śakra's wife and daughter of the Asura chief Vemacitrin (Vepacitti).
The Trāyastriṃśa heaven appears several times in Buddhist stories, in which either the Buddha ascends to Trāyastriṃśa, or (more often) deities from Trāyastriṃśa descend to meet the Buddha. The Buddha's mother, Maya, was reborn in the Tusita Heaven, and came down to visit Trāyastriṃśa heaven where her son taught her the abhidharma.[3]
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 from Vedic mythology, implying "the whole pantheon 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). [4]
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 on sūtras.
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In Mahayana literature, Trāyastriṃśa is composed of thirty-three levels. These are enumerated in the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna Sūtra. The original Sanskrit names occasionally vary between extant Sanskrit manuscripts and Chinese texts.[5]
Below is a list of the devas who are said to dwell here:[citation needed]
Śakra's wives
Śakra's sons
Śakra's daughters
Others
Media related to Trāyastriṃśa heaven at Wikimedia Commons
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