Trāyastriṃśa

{{Short description|Second in the six heavens in Buddhist cosmology}}

File:The Buddha and Nanda in the Heaven of the 33 Gods, Pakistan, San Diego Museum of Art.JPG visit the Divya Apsaras in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, Gandhara.]]

File:Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg from the Trayastrimsa Heaven at Sankissa.{{cite book |title=A Guide to Sanchi |first=John |last=Marshall |year=1918 |place=Calcutta |publisher=Superintendent Government Printing |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 |page=56}}]]

{{Infobox Buddhist term

| title = Trāyastriṃśa

| en =

| pi = Tāvatiṃsa

| sa = Trāyastriṃśa

| bn =

| my = {{lang|my|တာဝတိံသာ}}

| my-Latn = tàwədèɪɰ̃ðà

| zh = 忉利天

| zh-Latn = =Dāolì tiān

| ja = 忉利天

| ja-Latn = Tōriten

| km = ត្រ័យត្រិង្ស (ត្រៃត្រិង្ស), តាវត្តិង្ស
(Traytroeng, Tavattoeng)

| ko = 도리천

| ko-Latn = Doricheon

| mnw =

| mnw-Latn =

| shn =

| shn-Latn =

| si = තව්තිසාව

| si-Latn = Tavtisāva

| ta =

| th = ดาวดึงส์
({{RTGS|Daowadueng}})

| tl = Tasatimsa

| bo =

| bo-Latn =

| vi = Đao Lợi Thiên

}}

The {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} (Sanskrit; Pali {{IAST|Tāvatiṃsa}}), (Tushita; Heaven of the Thirty-three), is an important celestial realm of the devas in Buddhist cosmology. The word {{IAST|trāyastriṃśa}} is an adjective formed from the numeral {{IAST|trayastriṃśat}}, or "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three devas". It is the name of the second of the six heavens of the desire realm in Buddhist cosmology, and used by the devas who dwell there. Trāyastriṃśa is ruled by Śakra, also known as Indra.

Description

The {{IAST|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. {{IAST|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 {{IAST|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 {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} is physically connected to the world through Sumeru, unlike the heavens above it, the {{IAST|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 {{IAST|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 {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} devas is Śakra (Pāli: Sakka), also known as Indra. Other {{IAST|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 {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} heaven appears several times in Buddhist stories, in which either the Buddha ascends to {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}}, or (more often) deities from {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} descend to meet the Buddha. The Buddha's mother, Maya, was reborn in the Tusita Heaven, and came down to visit {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} heaven where her son taught her the abhidharma.{{Cite web |url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/maha/mahamaayaa.htm |title=Māyā, Mahāmāyā |website=Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names |access-date=2018-04-07}}

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). {{Cite book |title=Buddhist Legends |chapter=II. 7. How Magha Became Sakka |chapter-url=https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/English-Texts/Buddhist-Legends/02-07.htm |access-date=2021-01-30 |translator=Eugene Watson Burlingame |year=1921 |publisher=Harvard University Press |place=Cambridge, Mass.}}

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.

Levels

File:วัดกก เขตบางขุนเทียน กรุงเทพมหานคร (6).JPG

In Mahayana literature, {{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}} is composed of thirty-three levels. These are enumerated in the {{IAST|Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna Sūtra}}. The original Sanskrit names occasionally vary between extant Sanskrit manuscripts and Chinese texts.{{cite thesis |type=PhD dissertation |last1=Stuart |first1=Daniel Malinowski |title=A Less Traveled Path: Meditation and Textual Practice in the Saddharmasmrtyupasthana(sutra) |date=2012 |publisher=University of California |place=Berkeley |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nk367zn}}

{{IAST|Sudharmanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|善法堂天}})
{{IAST|Tuṅganivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|山峯天}})
{{IAST|Śikharanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|山頂天}})
{{IAST|Sudarśananivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|善見城天}})
{{IAST|Rasthanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|鉢私地天}})
{{IAST|Koṭaranivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|倶吒天}})
{{IAST|Caitrarathanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|雑殿天}})
{{IAST|Nandananivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|歓喜園天}})
{{IAST|Vaibhrājanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|光明天}})
{{IAST|Pāriyātrakanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|波利耶多天}})
{{IAST|Āmiśrataṭanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|離険岸天}})
{{IAST|Kuñjarataṭanivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|谷崖岸天}})
{{IAST|Maṇigarbhānivāsinī}} ({{lang|zh|摩尼蔵天}})
{{IAST|Āvartacarā}} ({{lang|zh|旋行天}})
{{IAST|Tapanīyagṛhā}} ({{lang|zh|金殿天}})
{{IAST|Mālācchāyā}} ({{lang|zh|鬘影天}})
{{IAST|Nimnonnatācāriṇī}} ({{lang|zh|柔軟天}})
{{IAST|Nānābhaktavicitrāśarīrā}} ({{lang|zh|雑荘厳天}})
{{IAST|Yogavahā}} ({{lang|zh|如意天}})
{{IAST|Sūkṣmacarā}} ({{lang|zh|微細行天}})
{{IAST|Saṃhṛṣṭagītadhvanyabhiratā}} ({{lang|zh|歌音喜楽天}})
{{IAST|Tejomālinī}} ({{lang|zh|威徳輪天}})
{{IAST|Candrāyatanacarā / Candrāyaṇacarā}} ({{lang|zh|月行天}})
{{IAST|Yamanaśālā}} ({{lang|zh|閻摩那娑羅天}})
{{IAST|Nimeṣonmeṣagatī}} ({{lang|zh|速行天}})
{{IAST|Prabalecchācchāyāśarīrā / Pramāṇecchāśarīrā / Pavanecchācchāyā / Pravaṇecchāśarīreṣu}} ({{lang|zh|影照天}})
{{IAST|Maṇicīrā / Śalecarāḥ}} ({{lang|zh|智慧行天}})
{{IAST|Nikāyasabhāginī}} ({{lang|zh|衆分天}})
{{IAST|Maṇḍalanivāsinī / Maṇḍalaniratā}} ({{lang|zh|曼陀羅天}})
{{IAST|Utkarṣacārinī / Autkarṣa}} ({{lang|zh|上行天}})
{{IAST|Tejomukhā}} ({{lang|zh|威徳顔天}})
{{IAST|Tejojālinī / Tejohvālāmālinī}} ({{lang|zh|威徳燄輪光天}})
{{IAST|Prakīrṇakā}} ({{lang|zh|清浄天}})