Brahmā (Buddhism)

Brahmā is a leading God (deva) and heavenly king in Buddhism. He is considered as a protector of teachings (dharmapala), and he is never depicted in early Buddhist texts as a creator god. In Buddhist tradition, it was the deity Brahma Sahampati who appeared before the Buddha and invited him to teach, once the Buddha attained enlightenment.

Brahma lords over the heavenly realm of rebirth called the Brahmaloka, one of the highest realms in Buddhist cosmology. Brahma is generally represented in Buddhist culture as a god with four faces and four arms, and variants of him are found in Mahayana Buddhist cultures.