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The Sanzu-no-Kawa (三途の川, "Sanzu River", literally the "Three-World River" in reference to Buddhist ideas about realms of existence) is a mythological river in Japanese Buddhist tradition similar to the Chinese concept of Huang Quan (Yellow Springs), Indian concept of the Vaitarani and Greek concept of the Styx.[1]
Before reaching the afterlife, the souls of the deceased must cross the river by one of three crossing points: a bridge, a ford, or a stretch of deep, snake-infested waters.[2] The weight of one's offenses while alive determines which path an individual must take. It is believed that a toll of six mon must be paid before a soul can cross the river, a belief reflected in Japanese funerals when the necessary fee is placed in the casket with the dead.[3]
The Sanzu River is popularly believed to be in Mount Osore, a suitably desolate and remote part of Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan.
Similarly to the Sanzu-no-Kawa, there is also the Sai no Kawara (賽の河原, "River-plain of the Dead"), a boundary by which the souls of children who died too early cross over to the realm of the Dead, with the help of Jizō, a Kami/Bodhisattva who helps the souls of children who died too early to avoid the attentions of the Oni and of Shozuka-no-Baba and Datsueba.
Real Sanzu Rivers in Japan
edit- in Kanra, Gunma 36°15′31″N 138°57′09″E / 36.258613°N 138.952444°E (confluence with Shirakura River)
- in Chōnan, Chiba 35°25′22″N 140°15′54″E / 35.422747°N 140.264917°E (confluence with Ichinomiya River)
- in Zaō, Miyagi 38°08′39″N 140°29′29″E / 38.144116°N 140.491333°E (confluence with Nigori River)
- in Mutsu, Aomori 41°19′33″N 141°05′46″E / 41.325877°N 141.096083°E (drains from Usori Lake)
See also
edit- Yomotsu Hirasaka
- Yomi
- Yama
- Yama (Buddhism)
- Naraka
- Ne-no-kuni
- Meido
- Higan (彼岸, "The Other Shore") - The other side of the Sanzu River, opposite the Living World's side.
- Bardo - Buddhist mythology
- Gjöll – Norse mythology
- Hitfun - Mandaeism
- Hubur – Mesopotamian mythology
- Styx – Greek mythology
- Vaitarna River (mythological) – Indian religions
- Naihe Bridge - the entrance and exit to the underworld in Taoism and Chinese folk beliefs; the ghosts must pass over this bridge before they can be reincarnated.
References
edit- ^ Stone, Jacqueline Ilyse; Walter, Mariko Namba (2008). Death and the afterlife in Japanese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. pp. 184, 259. ISBN 978-1-4416-1977-8. OCLC 657757860.
- ^ "River of Three Crossings | Dictionary of Buddhism | Nichiren Buddhism Library". www.nichirenlibrary.org. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ "Meido: The Japanese Underworld | Matthew Meyer". 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
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