Eight Legions

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EnglishEight Legions
Sanskritअष्टसेना
Aṣṭasenā
Chinese八部眾;
天龍八部
(Pinyin: Bābùzhòng;
Tiānlóngbābù)
Japanese八部衆;
天龍八部衆
(Rōmaji: Hachibushū;
Tenryūhachibu)
Translations of
Eight Legions
EnglishEight Legions
Sanskritअष्टसेना
Aṣṭasenā
Chinese八部眾;
天龍八部
(Pinyin: Bābùzhòng;
Tiānlóngbābù)
Japanese八部衆;
天龍八部衆
(Rōmaji: Hachibushū;
Tenryūhachibu)
Korean팔부신장;
천룡팔부
(RR: Palbusinjang;
Cheonryongpalbu)
Tibetanལྷ་འདྲེ་སྡེ་བརྒྱད་
Wylie: lha srin sde brgyad
TagalogAstasena
VietnameseBát Bộ Chúng;
Thiên Long Bát Bộ
Glossary of Buddhism

The Eight Legions (Sanskrit: अष्टसेना, Aṣṭasenā; 八部衆) are a group of Buddhist deities whose function is to protect the Dharma. These beings are common among the audience addressed by the Buddha in Mahāyāna sūtras, making appearances in such scriptures as the Lotus Sutra and the Golden Light Sutra. They are also referred to as the "Eight Legions of Devas and Nāgas" (天龍八部).[1]

Asuras are also listed here as protectors of Dharma in the same sense as demigods are referred as "asuratvam" (holy) in Rigvedic "Hymn to all gods" where devas are related to "asuras" (thus, protectors of Dharma). Related word "ahura" in Zoroastrianism also means "god".

The name aṣṭasenā (अष्टसेना) is composed of two Sanskrit terms.

Aṣṭa (अष्ट) means eight, with connections to the Latin octo and the Persian hašt (هشت). Senā (सेना) means legion, but can be rendered army, general, warrior and the like. Yet for the sake of accuracy contrary to the custom, each legion has a unique standard/banner and is composed just of several thousand foot soldiers. For that size of a military unit there is a fitting Sanskrit term "Dhvajinī", i.e. "body of troops bearing a standard". "Sena" is better to translate as "army" due to the fact that enormous Kuru and Pāṇḍava troops that gathered on the battlefield were called "kurupāṇḍava-sena" (one can't label two huge military forces fighting each other as just one legion), and more than that, all wars in India are patronized by the god of war Kārtikeya who probably plays both sides in any conflict if adversary combatants worship devas. His wife's name is Sena, a goddess, commonly known as Deva-Sena, the personified armament of the gods. There were plenty of legions in India serving various kings and lords, but all military forces as a whole could be figuratively named an army, i.e. "Sena" - the Shakti through which the god of war imposed his will.

Summary

The Eight Legions have their origins in ancient India as gods who belong to several domains. Many of these gods are among those spirits who are found in the lower heavens of Cāturmahārājakāyika and the Asura realm, and as such largely consist of nature spirits. While the list of figures within this category vary, the most common are as follows:


Variations

See also

References

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