Tobatsu bishamonten 兜跋毘沙門天 is the Japanese name for Vaiśravaṇa and is not found in Chinese sources. In Buddhist sūtras and legends, Vaiśravaṇa is generally portrayed as the deity of wealth and longevity, as well as a warrior god that protects the dharma and the sovereignty of kingdom. In terms of iconography, Vaiśravaṇa is identifiable by the adjoining Goddess Pṛthvī, the armor, the multi-sided bird-shaped crown, the flamed wheel behind two shoulders, and the wheels of sun and moon on the chest. The purpose of this article is to investigate the rise of Vaiśravaṇa in East Asia and the historical root of the East Asian Vaiśravaṇa. By analyzing the iconographical and textual sources in Japan, China, Central Asia, Tibet, India and Iran, I postulate that the Japanese Tobatsu bishamonten is related to the Khotanese Vaiśravaṇa. In Khotan, the worship of Vaiśravaṇa is closely associated with the royal power—a clue which I will investigate in order to show that Vaiśravaṇa combines the profile of two deities: Pharo, the god of Persian royalty and Pāñcika-Kuvera-Vaiśravaṇa, the Indian god of wealth. This postulate could explain the particularities in Vaiśravaṇa’s iconography. Moreover, as the Vaiśravaṇa cult spread to China and Japan, it not only preserved its association with wealth and protection, but also incorporated folk beliefs. In its iconography, Vaiśravaṇa also gradually shed its foreign characteristics and adapted to local aesthetics.
