Śrīmahādevī

Statue of Jíxiáng Tiānnǚ (Śrīdevī) in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi Province, China

Śrīmahādevī ("great goddess Śrī"), also known as Śrīdevī ("goddess Śrī") or Mahāśrī ("great Śrī"). Also known as Lakṣmī, the goddess (devi) of fortune and beauty.

A deity who brings prosperity, she often appears in Buddhist sources and iconographies as the wife of Vaiśravaṇa.

Śrīdevī (Lakṣmī) appears as a Mahayana deity in Golden Light Sutra, which is included in the Chinese and Tibetan canons. This version of Śrīdevī is particularly significant in East Asian Buddhism, where she is regarded as a goddess of fortune and prosperity, and as a sister or wife of Vaiśravaṇa, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

In Tibet, Śrīdevī (Palden Lhamo; dPal ldan lha mo) is also the name for a tantric deity.

Name variations

In Sanskrit:

• Śrīmahādevī ("great goddess Śrī")
• Śrīdevī ("goddess Śrī")
• Mahāśrī ("great Śrī")
• Lakṣmī

In Chinese:

• Jíxiáng tiān 吉祥天, "Mahāśrī/Lakshmi"
• Jíxiáng tiānnǚ 吉祥天女, "auspicious goddess"
• Gōngdé tiān 功德天, "goddess of fortune/merit"
• 功德天女, sister of merit

In Japanese:

• Kisshōten
• Kichijōten (吉祥天)
• Kisshō Tennyo (吉祥天女)
• Kudokuten (功徳天)

In Tibetan:

• Palden Lhamo (dpal lden lha mo དཔལ་ལྡན་ལྷ་མོ་)
• lha mo dpal
• Synonyms: དཔལ་, དཔལ་ཅན་, དཔལ་ཆེན་མོ་, དཔལ་གྱི་ལྷ་མོ་, དཔལ་ལྡན་མ་, ལྷ་མོ་དཔལ་, ཤྲཱིཿ་

In China

In Chinese Buddhism, Śrīmahādevī is referred to as Jixiang Tiannü (吉祥天女) or Gongdetian (功德天) or other names. She is a goddess of fortune and prosperity and the sister of Vaiśravaṇa (C. Pishamen tian 毗沙門天), one of the Four Heavenly Kings. She is also regarded as one of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities, and her image is frequently enshrined in the main hall of Chinese Buddhist monasteries together with the other deities.

Her mantra, the Shrīdevī Dhāraṇī (大吉祥天女咒), is classified as one of the Ten Small Mantras (十小咒), which are a collection of dharanis that are commonly recited in Chinese Buddhist temples during morning liturgical services.

In Japan

The famous Standing Statue of Kichijōten, Japan.

In Japan, Śrīdevī is known as Kisshōten or Kichijōten. She became important in Japan early on because of the Śrīdevī section of the Golden Light Sutra (J. Konkōmyō saishōōkyō).

In 767, Kichijōten icons were enshrined at state temples in the capital and in the provinces as the main icons for the Kichijōten keka penance ritual at New Year's. This ritual was also part of the Hirosawa Shingon school version of the goshichinichi mishuhō 後七日御修法, a major New Yearʼs ritual consecrating the emperor. It is still performed at New Years at many temples, perhaps the most famous one being Yakushiji 藥師寺 in Nara. Iconographically, she often appears holding a jewel in her left hand.

In Tibet

In Tibet, Śrīdevī is known as Palden Lhamo (dpal ldan lha mo). There are multiple deities with this name in Tibet.

According Himalayan Art Resources, Shri Devi is a category of female tantric Buddhist deities within the Tibetan tradition.

Mahayana deity

Palden Lhamo is the name for the deity Lakshmi/Śrīdevī in the Tibetan translation of the Golden Light Sutra.

According Himalayan Art Resources, the form of Shri Devi closest to the Indian goddess Lakshmi is the peaceful deity named "Pal Lhamo".

Protector deity

Main article: Palden Lhamo (protector)

Palden Lhamo is also the name for a wrathful female tantric deity, consort (yum) of Nag po chen po (Skt. Mahākāla). She is often one of the protectors of Buddhist monasteries and temples. She is the guardian of the sacred lake Lhamo La-tso, which is associated with visions and portents that guide the search for reincarnations of Dalai Lamas.

Further reading

• Neighbour-Parent, Mary. "Kichijouten 吉祥天". JAANUS. Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation.