Rear of the Hall of the Heavenly Kings

Weituo Bodhisattva (Skanda)

Weituo, also called Weituo Tian or the Heavenly General Weituo, is a well-known Buddhist protector bearing a vajra weapon. He is counted among both the Twenty and the Twenty-Four Heavenly Deities. In Chinese temples, his image usually stands behind Maitreya, facing the Mahavira Hall and guarding the monastery.

About the names Weituo and Skanda

Weituo (韦陀, also written 韦驮) is the Chinese name written in Hanyu Pinyin. Skanda is the Sanskrit name commonly used for the corresponding guardian in English-language descriptions of Buddhist art. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's record of a Weituo statue is titled “Bodhisattva Skanda” and identifies his Chinese name as Weituo.

Here we use “Weituo Bodhisattva” to keep the Chinese temple name recognisable, and introduce “Skanda” alongside it so that visitors can relate it to other English-language accounts. Bodhisattva means 菩萨. The names connect the Chinese protector tradition with its Indian background; the development of that tradition is outlined below.

Indian origins: His Indian counterpart is Skanda, the youthful warrior son of Shiva, also known as Kumara or the six-faced youth. In early Chinese translations, including those associated with the *Golden Light Sutra*, the translator Dharmakshema rendered the name with forms such as Jiantuo or Weituo.

A copying error: The Tang monk Huilin's *Pronunciations and Meanings in the Complete Buddhist Canon* explains that Skanda-deva should have been rendered Saijiantuo. Similar-looking Chinese characters were confused during copying, producing the form Weituo. Later the first character was replaced by the common surname Wei.

A Chinese heavenly general: The Tang record of Vinaya Master Daoxuan's spiritual encounters describes a general surnamed Wei, called Wei Kun, serving the Southern Heavenly King Virudhaka. He lived a pure, celibate life and worked tirelessly to protect the Dharma. As the stories spread, this General Wei became associated with Skanda, whose name had been written in a similar way. The two figures gradually merged into the Weituo known today.

His great vow: protecting the Dharma and future Buddhahood

Weituo appears as an armoured heavenly general holding a vajra. In Chinese Buddhist protector traditions, he is often described as the last to become a Buddha in the Fortunate Aeon, named Louzhi Tathagata. See this account from the Gaya Buddhist community.

Volume 6 of the *Compassionate Lotus Sutra*, translated into Chinese by Dharmakshema, tells of Chilijieji (持力捷疾), who vows to support the Buddhas and protect the Dharma. Baozang Tathagata gives him the name Huojing Yaowang (火净药王) and predicts his future awakening as Louzhi Tathagata. The passage names Chilijieji and Huojing Yaowang directly; it does not call him Weituo. The scriptural narrative and its later interpretation in protector traditions should therefore be explained separately.

In the scripture, Chilijieji vows to offer food first when the Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon are about to attain awakening, and after their passing to gather their relics, build stupas and protect the true Dharma.

He also vows to help beings during times of war, famine and epidemic, easing their suffering and afflictions.

The Buddha making the prediction within the story is Baozang Tathagata; Shakyamuni is recounting this past-life narrative. The 1,004 Buddhas mentioned in the passage precede Louzhi Tathagata and do not include him.

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from the prediction; the ellipsis marks an omission:

“When the 1,004 Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon are about to attain complete, unsurpassed awakening, you will offer them food and fulfil the vows described above. After Naluoyan Shengye (那罗延胜叶) has entered nirvana and the true Dharma has ended, you will attain complete, unsurpassed awakening, named Louzhi Tathagata…”

Vows to protect the Dharma (arranged in ten excerpts)

The following ten excerpts are translated from the continuous vow passage of Chilijieji, later called Huojing Yaowang, in Volume 6 of the *Compassionate Lotus Sutra*. The numbering and headings are editorial aids, rather than ten headings listed in the original scripture:

1. To practise the bodhisattva path: “May I practise the bodhisattva path at that time, completing austere practice, precepts, giving, learning, effort, patience, kind speech, merit and wisdom, together with all that supports the path.”

1. To protect the true Dharma: “When the Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon are about to become Buddhas, may I be the first to offer them food. After their passing, may I collect their relics, build stupas, make offerings and protect the Dharma. May I guide those who break the precepts back to good conduct; those who have lost right view back to right view; those with scattered minds back to concentration; and those who lack proper conduct back to noble conduct. If beings wish to cultivate goodness, may I show them how.”

1. To keep the lamp of the Dharma alight: “After those World-Honoured Ones have passed away, when the true Dharma is near its end, may I protect it so that it is not cut off, and keep its lamp burning in the world.”

1. To help beings through calamities: “In a time of war, may I teach beings to refrain from killing and follow the path through to right view. May I draw them out of the ten harmful actions and establish them in the ten good actions, dispelling blindness and showing them what is good. May I completely clear the five kinds of corruption: of the age, lifespan, beings, afflictions and views. In a time of famine, may I guide beings in the six perfections, from giving to wisdom. As they practise these, may hunger, darkness, corruption, hostility, robbery, conflict and affliction settle. In a time of epidemic, may I guide beings in the six principles of harmony and the four ways of drawing people together, so that disease and darkness come to an end. Throughout half the Fortunate Aeon, may I remove these sufferings.”

1. To become a Buddha last: “After the 1,004 Buddhas have appeared during half an aeon, passed away and their true Dharma has ended, may I attain complete, unsurpassed awakening.”

1. To be equal to those Buddhas: “May my lifespan and my assembly of disciples be equal to those of the 1,004 Buddhas, without difference. As they guided beings during half an aeon, may I also guide beings for half the Fortunate Aeon.”

1. To guide those who remain: “Among the disciples of those Buddhas, there will be people who break the precepts, fall into wrong views, show no respect for the Buddhas, harbour anger and harmful thoughts, damage the Dharma and divide the Sangha, slander the wise and commit grave wrongdoing. World-Honoured One, when I attain complete awakening, may I draw them all out of the mire of birth and death and lead them into the fearless city of nirvana.”

1. To continue teaching through Buddha forms: “After my passing, my true Dharma and the Fortunate Aeon will end together. Then may my teeth, bones and relics become Buddha images, each bearing the thirty-two marks and eighty signs of excellence. May they go throughout the ten directions to countless worlds without Buddhas. May each teach through the three vehicles and guide boundless beings without turning back. If an epidemic arises in a world without the Dharma, may these Buddha forms go there and teach as I have described.”

1. To become a wish-fulfilling jewel: “In worlds without precious resources, may I become a wish-fulfilling jewel, showering down treasures and bringing forth stores of pure gold.”

1. To become a great healer: “Where beings have lost their roots of goodness and are surrounded by suffering, may I shower down udosa incense, sandalwood, aloeswood and other fragrances. May they be freed from the illnesses of affliction, wrong views and the body's four elements. May they diligently practise the three bases of merit, and at life's end be born among humans or in the heavens.”

A story often repeated by tour guides

A common claim says that the position of Weituo's vajra reveals a temple's lodging rules: resting it on the ground means travelling monks cannot stay; holding it across the arms means a short stay is allowed; carrying it on the shoulder means monks from everywhere are welcome.

This claim is mistaken. A temple following the Dharma is a community open to the ten directions: it receives support from all directions and offers support in return. Such a temple welcomes visiting monastics, and its willingness to do so is one sign of its commitment to the Dharma. Present-day local rules may, of course, affect how stays are arranged.