Enma

Enma is the god of hell in Buddhism. He is the god who judges whether the souls of people go to heaven or hell.

History

Enma is the god of hell who judges right and wrong after a human dies and falls into hell. Enma gives many kinds of dreadful punishments. The word Enma comes from Yama in Sanskrit and Pali,^[source?] a language for Buddhist writings in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. He is said to be a human ancestor in the Rigveda (an ancient Indian sacred book). He is a god of the Indian Veda myth, and he is said to be the incarnation of the Jizo Bosatsu, the stone statue which is the god of help in Japanese Buddhism.

Believers in Buddhism think Enma comes from the start of the world. He was linked with death at first. People thought he was king of paradise for the dead, the god who ruled people when they lived in heaven. People thought he tied up the souls of the people with the rope that he held in the hand. He became a feared god. Then he was treated as just the god of death. Because he is also an incarnation of the god of help, it is said that he can come and go freely between heaven and hell.

Appearance

The appearance of Enma is usually frightening in nature. Enma is always shown wearing Chinese traditional clothes from the Song era (AD 960–1279). Why he wears Chinese traditional clothes is unknown. Usually, his dress and face are both red. He has a square crown on his head and a mace in his right hand. His eyes are open wide and angry, and are slanted upwards.

However, in other countries and at different times in history, Enma is pictured differently. For example, in old pictures from India, Enma has a crown and is riding a water buffalo. He has a club and a big rope. Another Enma from ancient India has a flag and steps on water buffalo with one leg. Enma is well-built, with thick arms and a very big chest.

His job

Enma was the first person in the world to die. He went to paradise, called Gokuraku Jyoudo (極楽浄土). He lived in paradise and his job was looking after the dead. People believed Enma was the god of paradise. Over time, people became scared of Enma. His job was changed from looking after the dead to judging them. Enma used a club and a big rope to tie up the souls of dead people. He ruled the lower world and judged the dead. He decided if a dead person went to heaven or hell. Furthermore, he made his judgment on what they had done in their lives. People who had behaved well went to heaven. People who had behaved badly go to hell.

Stories

The stories about Enma are very mysterious. The most famous story is how Enma will pull someone’s tongue out if they did a bad thing. Japanese parents teach their children to be honest by using this story. Enma can also bring dead people back to life. Abe-no-seimei, a famous person in Japanese history, died and was revived by Enma. He also can decide when life should end.

One of the strangest stories involves an actor who died and met Enma. The actor went to hell because he played other people – in other words "lying". He told Enma all about himself his life and Enma started to be interested in his acting. He said “I would like to see you act.” The actor agreed and said "I need a costume, so please give me yours." Enma gave it to him and the actor played as Enma, saying "Ogres! Ogres! Take this bad man away!" Enma was taken away and punished. The actor became a new Enma instead of the real Enma.

Other websites

Saburo Ienaga. Nippon bunnka-shi. Iwanami shotenn, Tokyo. ISBN, 0-3337-4940-5
http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/kyoto/sinnyodou.html, 4th, June
http://www.e-kyoto.net/sanpo/rekishi/b01/tour03.htm Archived 2009-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, 4th, June

Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Watanabe, Hideo (2005), The First Love of Enma, Bungeisya.