| Ksitgarba
Buddhism
The death bodhisattva, "he whose origin is the earth". He rules the lands of the dead and judges those who are to spend time there before they enter their new bodies. Like other bodhisattvas ("ones who achieve enlightenment"), he is a Buddha who has renounced Nirvana so that he can help those less advanced on the path to Buddhahood. He also roams the Buddhist hells and gives comfort to the damned. In Japan, this gentle monk (Jizo-bosatsu) assumes protectorship of the souls of infants whose parents, in their grief, have failed to offer prayers for the rebirth of their souls.
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