Benzaiten
Also known as Benten
or simply Benten is an East Asian Buddhist goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning.
Key facts
- Deity.type
- Buddhist
- Deity.name
- Benzaiten
- Deity.deity_of
- Goddess of all that flows: water, music, arts, love, wisdom, wealth, fortune
- Deity.member_of
- the Seven Lucky Gods
- Deity.image
- 騎龍弁財天-Benzaiten (Goddess of Music and Good Fortune) Seated on a White Dragon MET DP135895.jpg
- Deity.caption
- Benzaiten with a lute (biwa) seated on a white dragon
- Deity.other_names
- Benzaitennyo (弁才天女)Daibenzaiten (大弁才天)Benten (弁天)Myōonten (妙音天)Bionten (美音天)Sarasabakutei (薩羅婆縛底)Sarasabattei (薩羅薩伐底)Sarasantei (薩羅酸底)
- Deity.script_name
- Japanese
- Deity.script
- 弁才天, 弁財天 (shinjitai)辯才天, 辨才天, 辨財天 (kyūjitai)
- Deity.affiliation
- DevaGadgadasvara Bodhisattva (assumed traits of)Kisshōten (assumed traits of)Ichikishimahime (conflated with)Ugajin (conflated with)
- Deity.mantra
~13 min read
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Indian deity
- Bencaitian / Benzaiten
- Esotericism
- Syncretism with Shinto kami
- Bīja and mantra
- Temples and shrines
- Benzaiten Buddhist temples
- Shinto shrines enshrining Benzaiten
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
or simply Benten is an East Asian Buddhist goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning.
Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mainly via Classical Chinese translations of the Golden Light Sutra (Sanskrit: Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra), which has a section devoted to her. Benzaiten was also syncretized with Japanese kami, and adopted into the Shinto religion, and there are several Shinto shrines dedicated to her. As such, Benzaiten is now also associated with dragons, snakes, local Japanese deities, wealth, fortune, protection from disease and danger, and the protection of the state.