Lokapāla

Lokapāla · loka-pāla, “guardian of the worlds”

Grammar: masculine compound: loka (world) and pāla (guardian, protector).

Meaning: a guardian of the worlds; one of the devas who guard the quarters of space, also called the dikpālas, “guardians of the directions”. The office of lokapāla is a station the devas hold by dharma, and the lokapālas are named among the devas at the great events of the Purāṇa.

In the scriptures: the Brahma Purāṇa names the lokapālas often, in both its parts.

Yama gains the office. The Sūta tells the munis that Yama, grieving deeply over what he had done before, delighted the people by dharma, and so gained the meaningful name Dharmarāja, the lordship of the pitṛs and the office of lokapāla (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 6).

Their cities. On top of Meru is the city of Brahmā, fourteen thousand yojanas wide, and at its eight corners are the cities of the eight dikpālas (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 18).

The limbs of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In his stotra to Purushottama, King Indradyumna says: “All the many mūrtis beginning with Balarāma seem separate, but all are you. Garuḍa, the conch, the discus and the rest, the dikpālas, and the forms beginning with Keśava are all your limbs” (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 49). Granting him darśana, Bhagavān Vishṇu declares: “I am the three mūrtis. The dikpālas, as they are called, are I. The whole world, moving and unmoving, is I. There is nothing other than me” (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 51).

Atri‘s tejas. When Atri Maharshi had performed tapas for three thousand divine years, his tejas rose upward in the form of Soma and flowed from his eyes in ten streams. The presiding devatās of the ten directions together, by Brahmā’s command, tried to bear that tejas, but could not, and let it fall; and Brahmā took it up onto his chariot (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 9).

Conquered by Rāvaṇa. Brahmā tells the munis that the rākshasa Daśakaṇṭha defeated the devas, gandharvas and kinnaras, conquered the lokapālas, the kings of the earth, the tapasvins and the siddhas, and kept their wives in Laṅkā (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 176). In his stotra at Cakreśvara, Pippalāda tells how the ten-headed Rāvaṇa, who had conquered the guardians of the quarters, shook Kailāsa, and pressed down by Bhagavān Śiva‘s toe sank beneath the nether worlds, until Bhagavān Śiva granted him pardon (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 40).

With the doers of puṇya. Vyāsa tells the munis that those who in this world built temples of gold and gems go in vimānas swift as the wind, with the lokapālas (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 216).

In the Gautamī Māhātmya. Brahmā tells Nārada of the lokapālas at many events:

  • With the ṛshis and the Ādityas and Maruts, the guardians of the quarters built the vedi for the wedding of Bhagavān Śiva (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 3).
  • When the water of the Gaṅgā flowed from Brahmā’s kamaṇḍalu, the ṛshis, the devas, the pitṛs and the dikpālas caught the auspicious stream that flowed to the east, “hence it is called the most excellent” (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 4).
  • When Garuḍa refused to give up the nāga he had caught, Bhagavān Vishṇu, bearer of the cakra and the gadā, laughed in front of Nandī while the lokapālas watched (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 20).
  • For the sake of Soma, the lokapālas came to the Gautamī with the cows, devas, mountains, yakshas, rākshasas, siddhas, guhyakas, gandharvas, Maruts, nāgas, oshadhis, Mātṛs, Rudras, Ādityas, Vasus and Aśvins (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35).
  • At Daksha’s yajña, when the leader of the bhūtas seized the cakra of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the guardians of the quarters went away in fear (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 39).
  • Gabhastinī, before she entered the fire, left her infant son, Pippalāda, by the holy fig trees and asked all beings, the dikpālas and the oshadhis to protect him (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 40).
  • At Śavatīrtha the lokapālas, the Rudras, the Ādityas and the Aśvins came in their vimānas, and Daśaratha shone in their midst (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53).
  • Kaśyapa went with the lokapālas to Brahmā and told him all that had happened; Brahmā sent him to the Gautamī with Indra, the Vasus and the lokapālas to bathe and praise Maheśāna, so that by Bhagavān Śiva’s grace all would be well (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54).
  • While the dikpālas, the Earth and the Waters listened, the Gautamī Gaṅgā spoke to Daridrā in praise of Lakshmī (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67).
  • While the lokapālas watched, Śrī Rāma told Sītā, purified in the fire, to come and sit on his lap (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 84).
  • The leaders of the devas in war with the asuras were Agni, Indra, Varuṇa, Tvashṭṛ, Pūshan, the Aśvins, the Maruts and the dikpālas (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 90), and the devas begged Manyu to be their senāpati, saying, “You are Indra and Varuṇa; you alone are the guardians of the quarters. Enter us” (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 92).
  • The Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts and lokapālas joined their palms and prayed to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104).
  • When Bhagavān Śiva granted darśana to Gautama Maharshi, Gautama asked again for the good of all the worlds while the lokapālas listened (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 105).

Related terms: Dikpāla · Yama · Indra · Varuṇa · Meru

Other meanings

Lokapāla has more than one meaning in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Besides the meaning above, it names those listed here, each with where it is told.

  • Lokapāla Tīrtha: a holy tīrtha named in the Brahma Purāṇa’s great list of the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth; whoever bathes there with the rite the chapter gives gains the fruit of the aśvamedha yajña. Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 6, 9, 18, 49, 51, 176, 216; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 3–4, 20, 35, 39–40, 53–54, 67, 84, 90, 92, 104–105