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Taishaku Tenno: The Heavenly King Shakra

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In position [17] is Taishaku Tenno – the Heavenly King Shakra, [帝释天]. He is the most prominent god of the Rigveda and is also known as Shakra Devanam Indra. He is the most powerful Lord of the Devas of Kamadhatu (world of desires). He serves as one of the main tutelary gods of Buddhism, together with Bonten (Brahma), he is also one of the twelve gods said to protect the world (Frederic L 1995).
Originally Shakra is the god of thunder, lightning and rain in Indian mythology he was later incorporated into Buddhism as a protective deity. He lives in a palace called Correct-Views or Joyful-to-See in the Trayastrimsha Heaven on the peak of Mount Sumeru and, served by the Four Heavenly Kings, governs the other thirty-two gods of that heaven. While …show more content…

Indra is also one of the deities who offers the assembly heavenly garments, lotus flowers and music.
In Chapter eighteen of the Lotus Sutra it is asserted that anyone who persuades others to sit and hear the Lotus Sutra will obtain the seat of Indra, so one of the causes by which one can become Indra is to share the Lotus Sutra with others. In Chapter nineteen, it is claimed that Indra will come to hear anyone who teaches the Lotus Sutra. Again in Chapters twenty-four and twenty-five state that Bodhisattva Wonderful Voice and Bodhisattva Perceiver of World Sounds respectively can both transform themselves into Indra (among many other forms) in order to expound the Dharma and save others.
Thus based upon the testimony of the Lotus Sutra, Indra is a devotee of the Lotus Sutra and may in fact be an appearance of one of the celestial bodhisattvas who uphold the Lotus Sutra. He is a golden deity with a third eye in armour holding a vajra in his right hand, and with his left hand curled in a fist and resting on his hip. He sits in the posture of royal ease atop a white elephant which holds another vajra in its

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