Ksitigarbha — “Earth-Store,” “Earth-Womb” — is the great bodhisattva who vowed to descend into the hell-realms to save the suffering, taking as his charge the beings of the lowest and darkest destinies and the souls of the dead. Bearing the staff that opens the gates of hell and the jewel that lights the darkness, he is the compassionate guardian of the underworld and, in Japan as [jizo], the beloved protector of children.
The Vow Not to Rest
Ksitigarbha is renowned above all for the immensity of his vow: he resolved not to attain Buddhahood until all the hells are emptied and every suffering being is saved — “Not until the hells are empty will I become a Buddha; not until all beings are saved will I attain enlightenment.” This is the most radical of compassionate vows, for the hells are never empty, and so Ksitigarbha labours endlessly in the realms of greatest suffering, descending into the very pits of hell to bring comfort, teaching, and liberation to the damned and the dead, who have no other helper.
The Guardian of the Dead and the Hells
Ksitigarbha is the special protector of beings in the hell-realms and of the souls of the dead in their perilous passage through the afterlife and judgment. He is closely associated with the courts of the underworld and with [yama], the lord of death, intervening on behalf of the suffering dead. He is depicted as a serene monk (unusually among bodhisattvas, in monastic rather than princely form), holding a khakkhara — a ringed staff whose sound opens the gates of hell — and a wish-fulfilling jewel that illuminates the darkness of the underworld.
Jizo, the Protector of Children
In East Asia, and supremely in Japan, Ksitigarbha became one of the most beloved of all the bodhisattvas as [jizo] (Dizang in China). There he is the gentle protector of travelers, of women, and above all of children — especially of the souls of dead children and the unborn, whom he shelters and guides in the afterlife. The small stone Jizo statues, often dressed in red bibs and caps by grieving parents, are among the most touching sights of Japan. In Ksitigarbha, Buddhism gave form to compassion that reaches even into hell — the Earth-Store bodhisattva who vowed to empty the hells and save the dead, the monk with the staff that opens the underworld’s gates, beloved across Asia as the tender guardian of children and the helper of the suffering dead.