Eight Legions
The Eight Legions 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".
Etymology
The name aṣṭasenā is composed of two Sanskrit terms.Aṣṭa means eight, with connections to the Latin octo and the Persian hašt. Senā means legion, but can be rendered army, general, warrior and the like.
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:
| Sanskrit | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese | Tibetan | 天部 | 천중 | Thiên, Thiên chúng | ལྷ lha | Deva |
| Nāga | 龍眾 | 竜 | 용 | Long, Long chúng | klu | Naga | ||||
| Yakṣa | 夜叉 | 夜叉 | 야차 | Dạ Xoa | gnod sbyin | Yaksha | ||||
| Gandharva | 乾闥婆 | 乾闥婆 | 간다르바 | Càn Thát Bà | dri za | - | ||||
| Asura | 阿修羅 | 阿修羅 | 아수라 | A Tu La | ལྷ་མ་ཡིན་ lha ma yin | Asura | ||||
| Garuḍa | 迦樓羅 | 迦楼羅 | 가루다 | Ca Lâu La | khyung | - | ||||
| Kiṁnara | 緊那羅 | 緊那羅 | 긴나라 | Khẩn Na La | mi'am ci | Nara | ||||
| Mahoraga | 摩睺羅伽 | 摩睺羅伽 | 마후라가 | Ma Hầu La Già | ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ་ lto 'phye chen po | - |
Variations
At Kōfuku-ji in Nara, Japan, there is a famous group of statues that represent the Eight Legions. Some of these figures differ from the common list. Their names in Japanese are as follows:- Gobujō
- Sagara
- Kubanda
- Ashura
- Karura
- Kinnara
- Hibakara