About the Cattaro Mahā Rāja (Four Great Rulers)
The Cattaro-mahārāja are a type of celestial beings called a deva, which literally means “Shining One” in the Indian language. Whether devas are real or not depends on what you choose to believe. For our discussions here, you may refer to Guide 2, post #3. The Buddhist scriptures treat the existence of devas and spiritual beings as real. For the purpose of understanding the deva realms from the point of view of traditional Buddhism, we also shall assume that the devas are ‘real’.
The Cattaro-mahārāja were originally Vedic deities from pre-Buddhist India that were later incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon. In Hinduism, they were deva generals who protected the god Indra the Mighty (“Śakra”in Sanskrit) and the world. They were called lokapāla, meaning “Worldly Guardians”.
The early Buddhists adopted the 4 lokapālas that watch over the four cardinal directions of the world. In the Buddhist pantheon, these four high-ranking devas became the Cattaro-mahārāja who ruled the four quarters of the lowest (sixth) level of Heaven. Over them reigned the Deva King who was known as Indra in Hinduism but was referred to as Sakka (Pali for “mighty”) by the Buddhists.
The early Buddhists appealed for protection to these powerful spirit by reciting verses from the suttas known as “paritta” or “pirit” in Sri Lanka. Research show that centuries ago, Sri Lankan pirit was influenced by Indian tantric dhāraṇī & mantras. Sri Lanka, in turn, influenced how paritta chanting was performed in other Theravada countries like Burma and Siam. Meanwhile, the influence of tantra continued northward into Tibet, where the mandala design was fully developed to its present form. The Tibetan mandala eventually reached China and was adapted by both Buddhists and Taoists. In China, principles of feng-shui entered the mandala design. If a Filipino Buddhist encounters a Buddhist mandala, it will most likely be of Sino-Tibetan design.
At this point, it is interesting to note certain commonalities among religions. Indra was a god of war who, like the Greek god Zeus, used a lightning bolt for a weapon. Indra was also the god of thunder like the Norse god Thor. And like the god of the Abrahamic religions who had all sorts of angels and archangels serving under him, Indra employed different kinds of devas. The Buddhist god Sakka/Śakra had all these attributes & power, but without the violence.
As spirit protectors, the Cattaro-mahārāja are similar to the guardian angels in Christianity. But since each of the Catttaro-mahārāja leads an army of spirit beings, they are more like the archangels than regular angels. Because of their role as guardians, they are depicted in Buddhist art as fierce & wrathful. Like gargoyles in Christian churches, their fearsome statues in Buddhist temples serve to ward off malicious spirits.
While the Cattaro-mahārāja are found in the early Buddhist texts, they are not emphasized in the current Theravada traditions of Sri Lanka, Thai and Myanmar. Today, Cattaro-mahārāja are more commonly associated with Taoist & Mahayana Buddhist temples. In the Pali suttas, only the names, domain and cardinal directions of the Cattaro-mahārāja are identified. In Mahayana, the Four Great Heavenly Rulers are also assigned their own specific color, alchemical element, mantra & weapon.
According to Buddhist cosmology, the Cattaro-mahārāja are named in the Pali language as:
Vessavana of the North who has dominion over the yakkhas (gigantic, fierce nature spirits),
Dhatarattha of the East who has dominion over the gandhabbas (sensual good-looking celestial entertainers),
Virulha(ka) of the South who has dominion over the kumbhandas (dwarfish, misshapen spirits of the Underworld), and
Virupakkha of the West who has dominion over the nagas (wily serpentine spirits).
A non-Buddhist may be astounded by the type of spirit helpers that accompany the Deva Guardians of the World; none of these spirits look angelic or innocent at all! Think of this as akin to using trained & domesticated elephants to capture and tame wild elephants from the forest. Or like using one poison to treat another kind of poison, an idea the tantric practitioner will be familiar with.
Because of the potential danger of working with such spirits against evil forces, the Theravadin Buddhist is taught to first recite the Metta Sutta, the Dhajagga Sutta & the Ratana Sutta. Only as a last resort is the paritta from the Atanatiya Sutta recited to ask for aid from the Guardian Spirits. To exorcise a person from an evil spirit, only members of a Noble Community whose hearts and minds are pure are believed to have that capacity.