弁才天

Japanese

Kanji in this term
弁	才	天
べん Grade: 5	ざい Grade: 2	てん Grade: 1
goon		on'yomi

Alternative spellings
辯才天 (kyūjitai) 弁財天

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

弁才天

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Benzaiten

Wikipedia

弁才天 (Benzaiten): the goddess Benzaiten or Saraswati.

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 辯才天 (MC bjenX dzoj then, literally “Eloquent Deva”). First referenced in Japanese in the 700s in the 最勝王経 (Saishōō-kyō, “Golden Light of the Most Victorious Kings Sutra”).^[1]

The Hindu goddess Sarasvati entered Japanese Buddhism during the late Heian period (794–1185).^[2] She came to be regarded in Japan as a goddess of wealth, and her name written as 弁財天 (Benzaiten) with the character 財 (zai, “treasure”).^[3] The name is attested with 才 (sai, “genius”) as 辯才天 from the thirteenth century,^[2] with the initial character simplified to 弁 in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) べんざいてん [bèńzáꜜìtèǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])^[4]
• IPA^(key): [bẽ̞nd͡za̠itẽ̞ɴ]

Proper noun

弁(べん)才(ざい)天(てん) • (Benzaiten) 

1. (Budhhist deity) Benzaiten, Japanese name for the Hindu and Buddhist goddess Saraswati

   Synonym: 弁天 (Benten)

Related terms

• 七福神(しちふくじん) (Shichi Fukujin, “Seven Gods of Good Fortune”)
• 吉(きつ)祥(しょう)天(てん) (Kitsushōten), Kisshōten: the goddess of happiness, charm and beauty, of fertility, nature, and of human creativity, and the patronesses of joy, amusement and festivities.
• 福(ふく)禄(ろく)寿(じゅ), Fukurokuju: the god of happiness, wealth and longevity.
• 毘(び)沙(しゃ)門(もん) (Bishamon) / 毘(び)沙(しゃ)門(もん)天(てん), Bishamonten: the god of warriors.
• 大(だい)黒(こく) (Daikoku) / 大(だい)黒(こく)天(てん), Daikokuten: the god of wealth, commerce and trade. Ebisu and Daikoku are often paired and represented as carvings or masks on the walls of small retail shops.
• 寿(じゅ)老(ろう)人(じん), Jurōjin: the god of longevity.
• 恵(え)比(び)須(す) / 恵(え)比(び)寿(す) / 夷(えびす) / 戎(えびす), Ebisu: the god of fishers or merchants, often depicted carrying a sea bream.
• 布(ほ)袋(てい), Hotei: the fat and happy god of abundance and good health.

References

1. “弁才天・辯才天・弁財天・辨財天”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
2. “弁才天”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
3. “弁才天”, in 日本大百科全書：ニッポニカ (Nippon Dai Hyakka Zensho: Nipponica, “Encyclopedia Nipponica”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 1984
4. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN