#atavaka

Race: Deity

Alignment: Light-Law

May 28th, 2024 (Sorry for the slight delay, I'm sick and had to take memorial day to recuperate :(

Most people really only know Buddhism for the spiritual aspect- as a religion, surprisingly, most people outside of Buddhist circles only know about the Buddha himself, and maybe, just maybe, Son Wukong. Most Buddhist tales go under the radar, and I find this beyond unfortunate, given how utterly fascinating the mythos tends to be. Case in point, today's Demon of the Day, a former demon turned vassal of light, Atavaka. One of many Yaksha, a race of spirits who are typically benevolent and who appear in many eastern traditions including Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, this once cruel man-eating demon had his life turned around by the grace of peace.

As recanted in the Pali Canon, this man-eating monster took to slaughtering the people of the kingdom of Ātavī, residing in the forest bordering it called, confusingly, Ātavl. One day, returning home from his travels, the king of Ātavī came across Atavaka laying in wait for any prey to come his way. Seeing a golden opportunity for slaughter, the demon went on the offensive, having been given the blessing of one of the Four Kings of Buddhism to kill and eat anything that came near. The king of Ātavī, fearing for his life, made a deal in exchange for his continued living- he would send prisoners on death's row to be devoured by the demon in exchange for his life.

As the years went on, the prisoner supply went short, and once all other measures fell through, the King desperately decided to start sacrificing the newborns and children of the village as well- each parent would be forced to give away their children to the demon, causing many to leave out of fear of losing their precious ones. Soon, the King's own son was the only one left, and this is when the Buddha got involved. Seeing the fact that it would only escalate further to sheer ravaging, he decided to take manners into his own hands, walking to pay the demon a quick visit. Once at the metaphorical front door of Atavaka, he was greeted only by the doorkeeper, who warned him of Atavaka's violent nature. When the Buddha wasn't perturbed, he went to report the arrival to Atavaka, who responded with shock turned fury. Rushing down to give the Buddha as nice a greeting as any, only to find out the man was now sitting atop his throne.

Trying everything at his disposal, only for nothing to work, Atavaka eventually conceded and asked him to leave, to which he did. Then, he asked the Buddha to come back. To which he did. This repeated four times, until eventually, the Buddha stopped following the instructions, causing Atavaka to propose a set of questions, to which if he couldn't answer, he would be slaughtered. Each question pertained to a certain buddhist philosophy- things like conviction being the highest wealth, how practicing Dharma will bring one to their highest bliss, how truth is important, the works. Blindsided by the given answers, Atavaka saw the cosmic law, the Dharma, and vowed his life to Buddhism.

Since then, Atavaka has been a popular figure in Buddhist mythology as one of the eight great Yaksha generals, given a shrine and worshipped with vigor and love. In my opinion, the point of this story is simple- it's to show how the Dharma can save even the most far-gone souls and give them a new purpose in life, a frankly beautiful message, in my eyes. It also touches on how nobody is below redemption, no matter how horrible their actions. Hm, where have I heard that before? Ichiban would be a great friend of the Buddha.

In SMT, his depiction is unique, to say the least- it stands out against most other depictions while still remaining obviously Buddhist, though I do kinda wish they kept the dark skin.

Some quick picrew edits for Daigen and Atavaka 🤭