As Piśāca, head of the demons, he is represented with three eyes and eight arms, and riding on a white bull; a bull or a liṅga being his symbol. The esoteric school takes him for the transformation body of Vairocana, and as appearing in many forms, e.g. Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa (i.e. Brahmā), etc. His wife (śakti) is Bhīmā, or 大自在天婦. As Śuddhâvāsa, or Pure Dwelling, he is described as a bodhisattva of the tenth or highest degree, on the point of entering Buddhahood. There is dispute as to whether both are the same being, or entirely different. The term also means the sixth or highest of the six desire heavens. One of the twenty celestials 二十天. It is a title also applied to Avalokitêśvara 觀音 and others, e.g. Śiva, lord of one great chiliocosm, a deity with eight arms, three eyes, riding on a white bull. Xuanzang says specially worshipped in the Punjab. It is a term also for certain bodhisattvas and certain heavens.

Also commonly rendered in Chinese as 自在天. Transliterated as 魔醯, 摩醯首羅(天王), 摩醯莎羅, and 摩醯首濕伐羅. (Skt. Īśāna, Mahā-deva; Pāli Mahissara; Tib. Dbang phyug chen po). 〔法華經 T 262.9.9c10〕