Four Heavenly Kings - Shitennou

They have been considered guardian deities since the time of Hindu mythology, and in Buddhism, they are the leaders of the Four Heavenly Kings on the slopes of Mount Sumeru, Jikokuten (Shoshinshu in the east), Zochoten (Enbushu in the south), Komokuten (Gokashu in the west), and Tamonten (Bishamonten, Kurushu in the north). They are also called the Four Great Heavenly Kings or the Four Protectors of the World. They are the outer generals of Taishakuten, and serve Taishakuten above and rule over the Eight Deities below, protecting Buddhism, the sentient beings who devote themselves to Buddhism, and the nation. They are widely described in various sutras as guardian deities of Buddhism, along with Brahma and Taishakuten. In India, they were depicted as nobles, but in China and Japan, they took the form of military commanders, and even the appearance of a wrathful face was added. In later times, four brave warriors under the ranks of military commanders were called the Four Heavenly Kings, and the four heavenly kings of Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Watanabe no Tsuna, Sakata Kintoki, Usui Sadamitsu, Urabe Suetake) and Minamoto no Yoshitsune (Kamata Morimasa, Mitsumasa, Sato Tsugunobu, Tadashige) were the four heavenly kings of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Good examples of this are the four heavenly kings of Oda Nobunaga (Shibata Katsuie, Takigawa Kazumasu, Niwa Nagahide, Akechi Mitsuhide), and the four heavenly kings of Tokugawa Ieyasu (Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, Sakai Tadatsugu). The term was also used to refer to four people who excelled in one field, such as the four heavenly kings of waka poetry (Ton'a, Kenko, Joben, Keiun).

[Masataka Eguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

インド神話時代から護世神とされ、仏教では須弥山(しゅみせん)の中腹にある四王天の主として、持国天(じこくてん)（東方の勝身(しょうしん)州）、増長(ぞうちょう)天（南方の瞻部(えんぶ)州）、広目(こうもく)天（西方の牛貨(ごか)州）、多聞(たもん)天（毘沙門(びしゃもん)天。北方の瞿盧(くる)州）をいう。四大天王、護世四王ともいう。帝釈(たいしゃく)天の外将で、上は帝釈天に仕え、下は八部衆(はちぶしゅう)を支配し、仏法、仏法に帰依する衆生(しゅじょう)、そして国家を守護する。梵天(ぼんてん)および帝釈天とともに仏法守護神として諸経に広く説かれている。それぞれの形像については、インドでは貴人の姿で表現されたが、中国、日本では武将形となり、さらに忿怒(ふんぬ)の相も付加されるに至った。後世、武将輩下の勇武の者4人を四天王と称するに至り、源頼光(よりみつ)の四天王（渡辺綱(わたなべのつな)、坂田金時(きんとき)、碓井貞光(うすいさだみつ)、卜部季武(うらべすえたけ)）、源義経(よしつね)の四天王（鎌田盛政(もりまさ)・光政(みつまさ)、佐藤継信(つぐのぶ)・忠信(ただのぶ)）、織田信長の四天王（柴田勝家(しばたかついえ)、滝川一益(かずます)、丹羽(にわ)長秀、明智光秀(あけちみつひで)）、徳川家康の四天王（井伊直政(いいなおまさ)、本多忠勝(ほんだただかつ)、榊原康政(さかきばらやすまさ)、酒井忠次(ただつぐ)）はその好例である。また、和歌の四天王（頓阿(とんあ)、兼好、浄弁、慶運）というように、一道に秀でた者4人をいう場合にも用いられた。

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