Twelve Heavenly Generals

In East Asian Buddhism, the Twelve Heavenly Generals or Twelve Divine Generals are the protective deities, or yaksha, of Bhaisajyaguru, the buddha of healing. They are introduced in the Medicine Buddha Sutra or Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra.^[1] They are collectively named as follows:

• simplified Chinese: 十二神将; traditional Chinese: 十二神將; pinyin: Shí'èr Shén Jiāng
• Japanese: Jūni Shinshō (十二神将) or Jūni Shinnō (十二神王) or Jūni Yakusha Taishō (十二薬叉大将)^[2]

Names of generals

The precise names of the generals seem to vary depending on tradition. Those listed below are from an available Sanskrit transcription of the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja Sūtra:^[3]

Sanskrit	Hanzi	Pinyin	Rōmaji	Vietnamese	Tagalog	Tibetan (Wly.)	Zodiac	Zodiac (Japan) [4]	Honji
Kiṃbhīra	宮毘羅	Guānpíluò Jīnpíluò	Kubira Kompira (Shinto)	Cung Tỳ La	Kimbhila	Ji 'jigs	Boar	Rat	Maitreya
Vajra	伐折羅	Fázhéluò	Basara, Bazara	Phạt Chiết La	Vajla	Rdo rje	Dog	Ox	Mahāsthāmaprāpta
Mekhila	迷企羅	Míqǐluò	Mekira	Mê Súy La	Mekhila	Rgyan 'dzin	Rooster	Tiger	Amitābha
Antila	安底羅	Āndǐluò	Anchira, Anteira	An Để La	Antila	Gza' 'dzin	Monkey	Rabbit	Avalokiteśvara
Anila	頞儞羅	Ènǐluò	Anira	Át Nể La	Anila	Rlung 'dzin	Sheep	Dragon	Mārīcī
Saṇṭhila	珊底羅	Shāndìluò	Sanchira, Santeira	San Để La	Santhila	Gnas bcas	Horse	Snake	Ākāśagarbha
Indala	因達羅	Yīndàluò	Indara	Nhân Đạt La	Indala	Dbang 'dzin	Snake	Horse	Kṣitigarbha
Pāyila	波夷羅	Bōyìluò	Haira	Bà Di La	Payila	Gtun 'dzin	Dragon	Sheep	Mañjuśrī
Mahāla	摩虎羅	Mòhǔluò	Makora	Ma Hổ La	Mahala	Sgra 'dzin	Rabbit	Monkey	Yamantaka[5]
Cidāla	真達羅	Zhēndàluò	Shindara	Chân Đạt La	Sidala	Bsam 'dzin	Tiger	Rooster	Samantabhadra
Caundhula	招杜羅	Zhāodùluò	Shōtora	Chiêu Đổ La	Saundhula	'dzin	Ox	Dog	Vajrapāṇi
Vikala	毘羯羅	Píjiéluò	Bikara Bigyara	Tỳ Yết La	Bikala	Rdzogs byed	Mouse	Boar	Śākyamuni

Descriptions of each Heavenly General

Zhendaluo (真達羅)

Zhendaluo (真達羅) around 3m tall statue in Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou China

Short description about Zhendaluo

Zhaoduluo (招杜羅)

Zhaoduoluo (招杜羅) around 3m tall statue in Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou China

Short description about Zhaoduluo

One of the Twelve Heavenly Generals at the Tokyo National Museum.

Another one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals.

While the Honji and zodiac correspondences listed above are the standard in Japanese sources, there is variation among texts and regional traditions.^[6]

Popular culture

• Statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals stand in Ngong Ping, Hong Kong.
• The Heavenly Generals all appear as boss characters in 1994 video game Shin Megami Tensei II. They are depicted as servants of Āṭavaka, and share the unique classification "Shinshou".
• The Heavenly Generals and their names were used as character material for the powerful digital monster characters who serve the "Four Holy Beasts" (Digimon Sovereigns in the English Dub) in the Digital World, from the 2001 series Digimon Tamers, albeit with the names mismatched, due to being based on the Japanese zodiac classification.
• Granblue Fantasy started to release series of playable units in 2015 which called "The 12 Divine Generals". Each of these units are named after the corresponding zodiac they represent. The Japanese version use adapted Hepburn romanization, while the English version adapted from Sanskrit.
• Jujutsu Kaisen introduced Mahāla as a summon for one of the Ten Shadows technique, dubbing it the "Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sīla Divine General Makora," which was mistranslated as "Mahoraga," despite the furigana for the both of them being distinct. A golden cursed tool with the power of lightning, and shaped similarly to adornments of the electric-themed Vajra named “Kamutoke” also makes an appearance.
• In the Seventh Touhou game, Perfect Cherry Blossom, the boss of the Extra Stage uses a spellcard called "Feast of the Twelve General Gods".