Benzaiten
Japanese · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Goddess of music, eloquence, and arts; only female of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Domains
- music
- eloquence
- water and springs
- wealth and fortune
Powers
- Inspire music, words, and knowledge
Epithets
- 弁才天 Goddess of eloquence, music and the arts; the Japanese SarasvatīSuvarṇaprabhāsa (Golden Light) Sūtra 金光明経, the Sarasvatī chapter (primary)
- 弁財天 Goddess of wealth (variant writing emphasizing 財 'wealth')Japanese Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) cult; Enoshima/Chikubushima tradition (secondary)
Relations
- syncretism: SarasvatiBenzaiten is Sarasvatī transmitted via the Golden Light Sutra: music, eloquence and water persist; Japan adds the snake/dragon associations, Ugajin fusion and wealth-granting role of the Seven Lucky Gods.Suvarṇabhāsottama Sūtra (Sutra of Golden Light), Sarasvatī chapter, the channel of her transmission to Japan (primary); Catherine Ludvik, Sarasvatī: Riverine Goddess of Knowledge (2007) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Konkōmyō-kyō (Golden Light Sutra), Japanese transmission 8th c. (primary); Shichifukujin tradition (secondary)