The Meaning of His Names — Vessavaṇa, Vaiśravaṇa, and Kubera
One deity, many names. Kubera, Vaiśravaṇa, Vessavaṇa, Lord Kubera — each name is a key that hides a story. Some come from his lineage, some from the land he ruled, and some from the merit he made in past lives.
It is said that the great are rarely known by a single name.
So it is with our guardian deity. Along the long road across lands and ages, he has been given many names — Kubera, Vaiśravaṇa, Vessavaṇa, Tao Kubera, and many more.
Many who hear these names grow confused, wondering whether they belong to different deities. The answer is that they are all one and the same deity; it is only that each name is like a key, unlocking a different facet and a different story of who he is.
Let us unravel the meaning of each name, one by one.
"Vaiśravaṇa" and "Vessavaṇa" — Two Accents of One Name
Let us begin with the name by which we call him most often.
The word Vessavaṇa that we use in Thai derives from the Pali Vessavaṇa (pronounced wet-sa-wa-na); in Sanskrit it is Vaiśravaṇa, which the Thai renders as Waisarawan.
Both words are one and the same name, only pronounced differently according to the language — like a person's name that a Westerner and a Thai pronounce unalike, yet which refers to one and the same person.
So what does this name mean? Here it grows interesting, for there are two differing lines of explanation.
Two Origins of the Name "Vessavaṇa"
The First Line (the Brahmanic tradition) — it comes from his being the "son of Vishravas," as told in an earlier chapter, that he is the son of the sage Vishravas. The word Vaiśravaṇa is thus a family name, meaning "one descended from Vishravas" — much like a surname of our own.
The Second Line (the Buddhist tradition) — the Buddhist commentaries explain that he came to rule a city named "Visāṇa," and so gained the name Vessavaṇa in the sense of "the lord of Visāṇa" — a name drawn from the land he ruled.
Both of these explanations have their source in the scriptures of each tradition; there is no need to choose which is wrong and which is right. Rather, they reflect how his story has been told in two streams of belief that see him from differing angles.
A Note for Those Who Wish to Research Further
The suffix "wan" in the Thai "Vessuwan" is a shift in sound and a spelling according to Thai orthography, from the original "vaṇa" in Pali. Some scholars therefore write "Vessavaṇa" to keep it closer to the original Pali form. Both forms are thus held to be acceptable.
"Kubera" — A Name of Merit in the Past
The name Kubera, besides being a name used in the Hindu tradition, is also given a moving origin in a Buddhist legend that explains how the name came to be.
As the commentaries tell it, in a distant past life he was once born as a poor brahmin named Kubera, who made his living pressing cane into sugar at a milling house. One day faith arose in him, and he set his heart on offering the profit from his milling house as a gift to those who keep the precepts, with a mind full of devotion — and he went on doing so, again and again, with gladness of heart.
By the fruit of this pure giving, when his life came to its end, he was reborn as a great deity, partaking of vast celestial wealth, and took the name of his former life as a brahmin: "Tao Kubera."
A Reflection
This legend does not merely tell the origin of a name; it also holds a teaching of great importance — his celestial riches were not won by luck or by chance, but arose from "giving" with a pure heart in the past. Those who venerate him to ask for wealth should therefore call to mind the very source of his wealth: that he was one who gave.
Other Names That Reflect His Roles
Besides his three principal names, he bears yet other names and epithets, each of which reflects a different role and duty.
Dhanapati / Dhanada — Lord of Wealth and Giver of Wealth, reflecting his being the god of riches.
King of Yakshas — reflecting his sovereignty over the host of yaksha attendants.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings (one among the four) — reflecting his duty as guardian of the North.
It can be seen that all his names, when set side by side, are like the pieces of a jigsaw that gradually fit together into a complete being — god of wealth, King of Yakshas, and guardian of a direction, all gathered into one.
Why We Should Know His Names in Full
The reader may wonder what use there is in knowing all these many names.
The answer is that when we understand where each name comes from and what it means, we can read the old texts, the chants, or the verses of veneration with far deeper understanding — for scriptures of differing ages and traditions tend to call him by differing names. If one does not know that all of them are one and the same being, one may grow confused or be led astray.
What is more, each name is also a door that opens onto a different side of his story — to utter the name "Kubera" is to call to mind the perfection of giving in the past; to utter the name "King of Yakshas" is to call to mind his mighty army of yakshas; and to utter the name "Vessavaṇa" is to call to mind the guardian deity to whom we bow.
Before We Go On
When we utter the name "King of Yakshas," King of the yakshas, we cannot help but wonder where the realm of this king lies, how great it is, and how vast and numberless is his host of yaksha attendants.
In the next chapter, we shall journey to visit his renowned city — Āḷakamandā, the celestial city of the North — and come to know the mighty army of yakshas under his command.