Maheśvara (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

: महेश्वर;

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

: ''Mahissara'';

traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

/ Japanese: 大自在天;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: ''Dàzìzàitiān'', Romanji: ''Daijizaiten'') is the ruler of all

three realms Trailokya ( sa, त्रैलोक्य; Kannada: ತ್ರೈಲೋಕ್ಯ; pi, tiloka, Tibetan: khams gsum; Chinese: 三界) literally means "three worlds"Fischer-Schreiber ''et al.'' (1991), p. 230, entry for "Triloka." Here, synonyms f ...

of samsara in Buddhist Mythology. He is also sometimes referred to as Sabbalokādhipatī Devā in

literature. His main duty is to give spiritual knowledge. The Buddhist Maheshvara was also like all Bodhisattava, copied in brahmin deity called shiva.

Etymology

The Sanskrit name Maheśvara is composed of two "Mahā" and "Īśvara". The "ā" of mahā and the "ī" of īśvara combine to form a sandhi, which becomes "e", forming the word "Maheśvara". Mahā means "Great" and Īśvara means "lord", hence the name Maheśvara means "the great lord".

Contemporary Maheśvara

Present Maheśvara is Buddhist by religion, and was reborn as a

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

, because of his merit of donating a cup of honey to

Kassapa Buddha Kassapa Buddha (Pāli), known as Kāśyapa (काश्यप) in Sanskrit, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 24 of the '' Buddhavaṃsa'', one of the books of the Pali Canon. He was the last Buddha before th ...

in one of his previous lives. According to Karandavyuha Sutra, Maheśvara was born from the brow of

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

. According to Buddhist traditions, he helps good people, mostly who follow the

Buddhist precepts Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of ...

and eat a vegetarian diet, and also punishes bad people for their evil deeds. He helps yogis doing Kundalini Meditation. He is bodhisattva of Tenth Bhumi. He is one of the important deity venerated in

Sri Lankan Buddhism Theravada Buddhism is the largest and official religion of Sri Lanka, practiced by 70.2% of the population as of 2012. Practitioners of Sri Lankan Buddhism can be found amongst the majority Sinhalese population as well as among the minority ...

. He is one of the twenty four protective deities of

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...

and of the sixteen dharmapalas of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

Maheśvara and Vajrapāni

A popular story tells how Vajrapāni kills one Maheśvara, because of his evil deeds. The story occurs in several scriptures, most notably the ''Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṅgraha'' and the ''Vajrāpanyābhiṣeka Mahātantra''. The story begins with the transformation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra into Vajrapāni by

Vairocana Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...

, the cosmic Buddha, receiving a

vajra The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shap ...

and the name "Vajrāpani".

then requests Vajrapāni to generate his adamantine family in order to establish a

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

. Vajrapāni refuses because Maheśvara "is deluding beings with his deceitful religious doctrines and engaging in all kinds of violent criminal conduct". Maheśvara and his entourage are dragged to

Mount Meru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...

, and all but Maheśvara submit. Vajrapāni and Maheśvara engage in a magical combat, which is won by Vajrapāni. Maheśvara's retinue become part of Vairocana's mandala, except for Maheśvara, who is killed, and his life transferred to another realm where he becomes a

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

named ''Bhasmeśvaranirghoṣa'', the "Soundless Lord of Ashes".

Mantra

* Chinese: : : ' : ' * Japanese: : : ' : ' Both the Chinese and Japanese mantras are phonetic transcriptions of verses originally composed in Sanskrit.

References

{{Buddhism topics Buddhist mythology Buddhist gods Twenty-Four Protective Deities

Etymology

Contemporary Maheśvara

Maheśvara and Vajrapāni

Mantra

See also

References