Jizo Bosatsu is considered to relieve people of Rokudo (the six posthumous worlds of Jigoku-do (paths to hell), Gaki-do (path of hungry ghosts), Chikusho-do (path of animals), Shura-do (path of bellicose demons), Ningen-do (path of humans) and Ten-do (path of heavenly beings) during the period before Miroko Bosatsu (Buddha of the Future, Bodhisattva of the Present) appears in this world, and it is believed that each Jizo Bosatsu is dispatched to each world.
地蔵菩薩は弥勒菩薩がこの世に現れるまでの無仏の間、六道（地獄・餓鬼・畜生・修羅・人間・天）へ救いの手を差し伸べるとされ、各道に各地蔵が派遣されているという考えに基づく。