Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.91

v2.c36.91

Sakka rules over Tāvatiṃsa devaloka, the lowest heaven but one of the lower plane. His palace is Vejayanta (q.v.) and his chariot bears the same name. Though king of the Tāvatiṃsa devas, he is no absolute monarch. He is imagined rather in the likeness of a chieftain of a Kosala-clan. The devas meet and deliberate in the Sudhammā-sabhā and Sakka consults with them rather than issues them commands. On such occasions, the Four Regent Devas are present in the assembly with their followers of the Cātummahārājika-world.¹¹ Among the Tāvatiṃsa devas, Sakka is more or less primus inter pares, yet he surpasses his companions in ten things: length of life, beauty, happiness, renown, power; and in the degree of his five sense-experiences: sight, hearing, smelling, taste and touch.¹²