Manjushri

Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents '' prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word " mañju" and an honorific " śrī"; it can be literally translated as "Beautiful One with Glory" or "Beautiful One with Auspiciousness". Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta (),Keown, Damien (editor) with Hodge, Stephen; Jones, Charles; Tinti, Paola (2003). ''A Dictionary of Buddhism.'' Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p.172. literally "Mañjuśrī, Still a Youth" or, less literally, "Prince Mañjuśrī". Another name of Mañjuśrī is Mañjughoṣa.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism

Scholars have identified Mañjuśrī as the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in Mahāyāna literature. Mañjuśrī is first referred to in early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Prajñāpāramitā ''sūtra''s and through this association, very early in the tradition he came to symbolize the embodiment of ''prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom). The ''Lotus Sutra'' assigns him a pure land called ''Vimala'', which according to the '' Avatamsaka Sutra'' is located in the East. His pure land is predicted to be one of the two best pure lands in all of existence in all the past, present, and future. When he attains Buddhahood his name will be Universal Sight. In the ''Lotus Sūtra'', Mañjuśrī also leads the Nagaraja's daughter to enlightenment. He also figures in the '' Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' in a debate with Vimalakīrti where he is presented as a Bodhisattva who discusses non-duality with him.

An example of a wisdom teaching of Mañjuśrī can be found in the ''Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' ( Taishō Tripiṭaka 232). This ''sūtra'' contains a dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the Buddha on the One Samādhi (Skt. ''Ekavyūha Samādhi''). Sheng-yen renders the following teaching of Mañjuśrī, for entering ''samādhi'' naturally through transcendent wisdom:

Vajrayāna Buddhism

Within Vajrayāna Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is a meditational deity and considered a fully enlightened Buddha. In Shingon Buddhism, he is one of the Thirteen Buddhas to whom disciples devote themselves. He figures extensively in many esoteric texts such as the '' Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa'' and the ''Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti''. His consort in some traditions is Saraswati.

The ''Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa'', which later came to be classified under Kriyātantra, states that ''mantra''s taught in the Śaiva, Garuḍa, and Vaiṣṇava ''tantra''s will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Mañjuśrī.

Iconography

Mañjuśrī is usually depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality. The scripture supported by the padma (lotus) held in his left hand is a ''Prajñāpāramitā sūtra'', representing his attainment of ultimate realization from the blossoming of wisdom.

Mañjuśrī is often depicted as riding or seated on a blue lion, or sitting on the skin of a lion. This represents the use of wisdom to tame the mind, which is compared to riding or subduing a ferocious lion.
In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art, Mañjuśrī's sword is sometimes replaced with a '' ruyi'' scepter, especially in representations of his '' Vimalakirti Sutra'' discussion with the layman Vimalakirti. According to Berthold Laufer, the first Chinese representation of a ''ruyi'' was in an 8th-century Mañjuśrī painting by Wu Daozi, showing it held in his right hand taking the place of the usual sword. In subsequent Chinese and Japanese paintings of Buddhas, a ''ruyi'' was occasionally represented as a Padma with a long stem curved like a ''ruyi''.

Another manifestation of Mañjuśrī that is venerated in Chinese Buddhist tradition is the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Bowl Mañjuśrī ^{h/sup> (千臂千缽文殊菩薩; ''Qiānbì'' ''Qiānbō Wénshū Púsà'').Roy, Dhriti (2023). “From Textual References to Iconographic Representation: The Evolutionary Journey of Bodhisattva Manjusri in the Chinese Buddhist Tradition”, Dharmadoot, 2567 B.E., Vol.89, ISSN: 2347-3428, pp. 49-65. The canonical source for this iconographic form is the "Mahāyana Yoga of the Adamantine Ocean, Mañjusrī with a Thousand Arms and Thousand Bowls: Great King of Tantras" h/sup> (大乘瑜伽金剛性海曼殊室利千臂千鉢大教王經; ''Dàchéng yújiā jīngāngxìng hǎi mànshūshìlì qiānbì qiānbō dàjiào wáng jīng''), usually known simply as the "Sutra of Mañjusrī with a Thousand Arms and Thousand Bowls" (千臂千鉢曼殊室利經; ''Qiānbì qiānbō mànshūshìlì jīng''). In this manifestation, Mañjuśrī is depicted with a thousand arms, each holding an alms bowl, with each bowl containing a figure of Śākyamuni Buddha.}

He is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas of Chinese Buddhism, the other three being Kṣitigarbha, Avalokiteśvara, and Samantabhadra. In China, he is often paired with Samantabhadra.

In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is sometimes depicted in a trinity with Avalokiteśvara and Vajrapāṇi.

Mantras

Arapacana mantra

A mantra commonly associated with Mañjuśrī is the following:Buswell, Robert. Lopez, Donald. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.'' 2013. p. 527

:''oṃ arapacana dhīḥ''

The Arapacana is a syllabary consisting of forty-two letters, and is named after the first five letters: ''a, ra, pa, ca, na''.Buswell, Robert. Lopez, Donald. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.'' 2013. p. 61 This syllabary was most widely used for the Gāndhārī language with the Kharoṣṭhī script but also appears in some Sanskrit texts. The syllabary features in Mahāyāna texts such as the longer ''Prajñāpāramitā'' texts, the '' Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra'', the ''Lalitavistara Sūtra'', the '' Avataṃsaka Sūtra'', the ''Dharmaguptaka Vinaya'', and the '' Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya''. In some of these texts, the Arapacana syllabary serves as a mnemonic for important Mahāyāna concepts. Due to its association with him, ''Arapacana'' may even serve as an alternate name for Mañjuśrī.

The ''Sutra on Perfect Wisdom'' (Conze 1975) defines the significance of each syllable thus:

# ''A'' is a door to the insight that all dharmas are unproduced from the very beginning (''ādya-anutpannatvād'').
# ''RA'' is a door to the insight that all dharmas are without dirt (''rajas'').
# ''PA'' is a door to the insight that all dharmas have been expounded in the ultimate sense (''paramārtha'').
# ''CA'' is a door to the insight that the decrease (''cyavana'') or rebirth of any dharma cannot be apprehended, because all dharmas do not decrease, nor are they reborn.
# ''NA'' is a door to the insight that the names (i.e. ''nāma'') of all dharmas have vanished; the essential nature behind names cannot be gained or lost.

Tibetan pronunciation is slightly different and so the Tibetan characters read: ' (). In Tibetan tradition, this mantra is believed to enhance wisdom and improve one's skills in debating, memory, writing, and other literary abilities. "" is the seed syllable of the mantra and is chanted with greater emphasis and also repeated a number of times as a decrescendo.

Other mantras

Mañjuvajra, a tantric form of Mañjuśrī
According to the ''Mañjuśrī­mūlakalpa'', "the ultimate heart essence of Mañjuśrī, which accomplishes all endeavors" is the following mantra:

Namaḥ sarvabuddhānām oṁ maṁ

The ''Sādhanamālā'' also contains a popular mantra which refers to Mañjuśrī as the "lord of speech" (Vāgīśvara):Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh. ''The Indian Buddhist Iconography Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals'' (2nd Ed.)'','' pp. 113, 116. K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, Calcutta, 1958.

Oṃ Vāgīśvara Mūḥ

This mantra is very popular in Nepal, where Vāgīśvara Mañjuśrī is a popular deity.

Another Mañjuśrī mantra is the mantra for Mañjuvajra, a tantric form of Mañjuśrī associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, it is:

Oṃ Mañjuvajra Hūṃ

In Buddhist cultures

In China

Mañjuśrī is known in China as ''Wenshu'' (). Mount Wutai in Shanxi, one of the four Sacred Mountains of China, is considered by Chinese Buddhists to be his bodhimaṇḍa. He was said to bestow spectacular visionary experiences to those on selected mountain peaks and caves there. In Mount Wutai's Foguang Temple, the Manjusri Hall to the right of its main hall was recognized to have been built in 1137 during the Jin dynasty. The hall was thoroughly studied, mapped and first photographed by early twentieth-century Chinese architects Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin. These made it a popular place of pilgrimage, but patriarchs including Linji Yixuan and Yunmen Wenyan declared the mountain off limits.

Mount Wutai was also associated with the East Mountain Teaching. Mañjuśrī has been associated with Mount Wutai since ancient times. Paul Williams writes:

According to official histories from the Qing dynasty, Nurhaci, a military leader of the Jurchens of Northeast China and founder of what became the Qing dynasty, named his tribe after Mañjuśrī as the Manchus. The true origin of the name Manchu is disputed.

Monk Hanshan () is widely considered to be a metaphorical manifestation of Mañjuśrī. He is known for having co-written the following famous poem about reincarnation with monk Shide:

In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuśrī manifests in a number of different Tantric forms. Yamāntaka (meaning 'terminator of Yama i.e. Death') is the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī, popular within the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Other variations upon his traditional form as Mañjuśrī include Namasangiti, Arapacana Manjushri, etc. In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is also an '' yidam''. The Emperor Manjushri as a honorific title was also given to Qing emperors such as the Qianlong Emperor.

In the Taoist pantheon, Mañjuśrī is adopted as a Taoist deity known as Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun. This deity appears in the Ming Dynasty novel '' Fengshen Yanyi'' as a senior disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun, the highest deity in Taoism. However, the books ''Qunxian Xianpo Tianmen'' and ''Western Tang Dynasty Biography'' state that Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun and Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva are not the same person.

Black and white chalk drawing of a Mañjusri statue from Singhasari temple (East Java, Indonesia">East_Java.html" ;"title="Singhasari temple (East Java">Singhasari temple (East Java, Indonesia), probably made in 1823 by J.Th. Bik in Batavia.

In Nepal

According to Swayambhu Purana, the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake. It is believed that Mañjuśrī came on a pilgrimage from his earthly abode-Wutaishan (five-peaked mountain) in China. He saw a lotus flower in the center of the lake, which emitted brilliant radiance. He cut a gorge at Chovar with his flaming sword to allow the lake to drain. The place where the lotus flower settled became the great Swayambhunath Stupa, and the valley thus became habitable.

In Indonesia

In eighth century Java during the Mataram Kingdom, Mañjuśrī was a prominent deity revered by the Sailendra dynasty, patrons of Mahayana Buddhism. The Kelurak inscription (782) and Manjusrigrha inscription (792) mentioned about the construction of a grand Prasada named ''Vajrāsana Mañjuśrīgṛha'' (Vajra House of Mañjuśrī) identified today as Sewu temple, located just 800 meters north of the Prambanan. Sewu is the second largest Buddhist temple in Central Java after Borobudur. The depiction of Mañjuśrī in Sailendra art is similar to those of the Pala Empire style of Nalanda, Bihar. Mañjuśrī was portrayed as a youthful handsome man with the palm of his hands tattooed with the image of a flower. His right hand is facing down with an open palm while his left-hand holds an ''utpala'' (blue lotus). He also uses the necklace made of tiger canine teeth.

Other culture

* Manzaširi - A primeval giant in Kalmyk mythology, whose body formed the world. The name is likely a corruption of Manjushri.

In Hinduism especially in Tantras like Kkuteshvara Tantra and Bhairava Tantra Lord Manjughosha is seen as a manifestation of god Shiva. He has 5 jewels on his head . He is considered as youth in appearance. He holds a sword in one hand and a book on other. He is worshipped for gaining knowledge , wealth and his mantra practice may help in conquering devas and daitya ganas.

Gallery

File:Hermitage hall 342 - 03.jpg, Mañjuśrī figure from Candi Jago, 14th century Java, Indonesia.
File:WLA ima Manjusri.jpg, Mañjuśrī figure brandishing sword of wisdom in Nepal
File:Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Manjusri Bodhisattva.jpeg, Palm leaf manuscript painting of Mañjuśrī. Nalanda, Bihar, India.
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Zilveren Manjusri beeld afkomstig uit Ngemplak Semongan TMnr 10016132.jpg, Silver figure of Mañjuśrī holding a long-stemmed lotus. Central Java, Indonesia.
File:He Chaozong 1.JPG, Blanc de Chine figure of Mañjuśrī holding a '' ruyi'' scepter. China, 17th century.
File:Manjusri Chua Quan Am.jpg, Mañjuśrī on lion with cintamani. Quan Am Temple, Ho Chi Minh City.
File:Monju crossing the sea.jpg, Mañjuśrī crossing the sea. Japan.
File:Bodhisattva Manjushri seated in lalitasana, from China, Jin Dynasty, 12th century CE. British Museum.jpg, Bodhisattva Manjushri seated in lalitasana, from China, Jin Dynasty, 12th century CE. British Museum.
File:Manjusri, God of Wisdom.jpg, Drawing of Mañjuśrī, Bodhisattva of Wisdom
File:艋舺龍山寺文殊菩薩寶像 20240804.jpg, Statue of Mañjuśrī at Bangka Lungshan Temple, Taipei
File:Manjushri at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.JPG, Manjushri, seated on a blue lion at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Singapore
File:Thousand-armed and bowls Manjusri, Les grottes de Touen-Houang.jpg, Mural of the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Bowl Mañjuśrī in Cave 144 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, China. Photographed by Paul Pelliot in 1908.
File:Thousand-armed and bowls Manjushri in Xiantong Temple, Mount Wutai.jpg, Statue of the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Bowl Mañjuśrī in Xiantong Temple at Mount Wutai, China

See also

* Mañjuśrīmitra
* Manjusri Monastery
* Washing the Elephant

References

Citations

Sources

*

Further reading

Harrison, Paul M. (2000)
Mañjuśrī and the Cult of the Celestial Bodhisattvas
Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 13, 157-193

External links

Page dedicated to the Manjusri mantra, with several audio versions.

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