Resurrection of Third Prince Nezha

哪吒Nezha (Chinese) / Nataku (Japanese) is a child god in Chinese folk religion and Taoism.  One version of his origin myth is found in The Great Compendium of Deities of the Three Religions (a 7-volume work dated to the Ming Dynasty) :¹

Nezha was an immortal spirit in the service of the heavenly Jade Emperor. Because the mortal world was plagued by demons, the Jade Emperor commanded him to take birth as the third son of Li Jing, the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King. The child Nezha battled the dragons of the Eastern Sea and the armies of the demon queen Shiji.  

When Nezha’s father blamed him for bringing the wrath of the demon hordes upon his family, Nezha returned his flesh and bones to his father.  He took his immortal soul to Buddha, who resurrected him in a body made from parts of the lotus plant. With this new immortal body, Nezha continued his battle against demonic forces.

The Chinese deity Nezha traces his origins to the character of Nalakubara, a son of the god Kubera (also known as Vaiśravaṇa), from the Hindu epics.² In the Buddhist pantheon, Nalakubara’s father Vaiśravaṇa is one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Known as 毗沙門天 Pishamentian in Chinese Buddhism (Bishamonten in Japanese), the pagoda-carrying Vaiśravaṇa crossed over into Chinese folklore as Li Jing, the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King.³ His son’s Chinese name Nezha is a contraction of the Sanskrit name Nalakubara. Nezha’s personality and backstory evolved in a very different direction from original Indian Nalakubara. 

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Notes

1. “哪吒” “Nezha”. 三教源流搜神大全 The Great Compendium of Deities of the Three Religions, vol.4
2. Shahar, Meir. (2014). Indian mythology and the Chinese imagination: Nezha, Nalakūbara, and Kṛṣṇa. Tel Aviv University
3. 郭绍林 Guo, Shaolin (2002). “托塔天王何以是李靖” “Why is Li Jing the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King?”. 洛阳大学学报 Luoyang University Xuebao, 2002 Issue 3.