| Manjushri | |
| Sanskrit Name: | मञ्जुश्री / Mañjuśrī |
| Bengali Name: | মঞ্জুশ্রী |
| Bikol Name: | Mangushli |
| Chinese Name: | 文殊菩薩 (Pinyin: Wénshū Púsà) 文殊師利菩薩 (Pinyin: Wénshūshīlì Púsà) 曼殊室利菩薩 (Pinyin: Mànshūshìlì Púsà) 妙吉祥菩薩 (Pinyin: Miàojíxiáng Púsà) 妙德菩薩 (Pinyin Miàodé Púsà) 妙音菩薩 (Pinyin: Miàoyīn Púsà) |
| Japanese Name: | (romaji: Monju Bosatsu) (romaji: Monjushiri Bosatsu) (romaji: Myōkisshō Bosatsu) |
| Tibetan Name: | འཇམ་དཔལ་དབྱངས་ Wylie: 'jam dpel dbyang THL: Jampelyang འཇམ་དཔལ་ Wylie: 'jam dpel THL: jampel |
| Mongolian Name: | ᠵᠦᠭᠡᠯᠡᠨ ᠡᠭᠰᠢᠭᠲᠦ Зөөлөн эгшигт Манзушир |
| Korean Name: | 문수보살 (RR: Munsu Bosal) 만수보살 (RR: Mansu Bosal) 묘길상보살 (RR: Myokilsang Bosal) |
| Khmer Name: | មញ្ចុស្រី (manh-cho-srei) |
| Thai Name: | พระมัญชุศรีโพธิสัตว์ พระมัญชุศรี |
| Burmese Name: | မဥ္ဇူသီရိ |
| Vietnamese Name: | Văn Thù Sư Lợi Bồ Tát Văn-thù Diệu Đức Diệu Cát Tường Diệu Âm |
| Tagalog Name: | Mangushli |
| Cebuano Name: | Mangushli |
| Veneration: | Mahayana, Vajrayana |
Manjushri (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री|Mañjuśrī) 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 (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्रीकुमारभूत),[1] literally "Mañjuśrī, Still a Youth" or, less literally, "Prince Mañjuśrī". Another name of Mañjuśrī is Mañjughoṣa.
Scholars have identified Mañjuśrī as the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in Mahāyāna literature.[2] Mañjuśrī is first referred to in early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras and through this association, very early in the tradition he came to symbolize the embodiment of prajñā (transcendent wisdom).[1] 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:
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[1] and the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti. His consort in some traditions is Saraswati.
The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, which later came to be classified under Kriyātantra, states that mantras taught in the Śaiva, Garuḍa, and Vaiṣṇava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Mañjuśrī.[3]
Mañjuśrī is 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, as can be seen at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Singapore. (see opposite), 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.[4] 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.[5]
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.
A mantra commonly associated with Mañjuśrī is the following:[6]
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.[7] 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.[7] In some of these texts, the Arapacana syllabary serves as a mnemonic for important Mahāyāna concepts.[7] Due to its association with him, Arapacana may even serve as an alternate name for Mañjuśrī.[6]
The Sutra on Perfect Wisdom (Conze 1975) defines the significance of each syllable thus:
Tibetan pronunciation is slightly different and so the Tibetan characters read: .[8] 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.
thumb|Mañjuvajra, a tantric form of MañjuśrīAccording to the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, "the ultimate heart essence of Mañjuśrī, which accomplishes all endeavors" is the following mantra:[9]
Namaḥ sarvabuddhānām oṁ maṁThe Sādhanamālā also contains a popular mantra which refers to Mañjuśrī as the "lord of speech" (Vāgīśvara):[10]
Oṃ Vāgīśvara MūḥThis 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:[11]
Oṃ Mañjuvajra Hūṃ
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.[12] These made it a popular place of pilgrimage, but patriarchs including Linji Yixuan and Yunmen Wenyan declared the mountain off limits.[13]
Mount Wutai was also associated with the East Mountain Teaching.[14] Mañjuśrī has been associated with Mount Wutai since ancient times. Paul Williams writes:[15]
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.[16] The true origin of the name Manchu is disputed.[17]
Monk Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山) 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:[18] [19]
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.[20] [21]
thumb|Black and white chalk drawing of a Mañjusri statue from Singhasari temple (East Java, Indonesia), probably made in 1823 by J.Th. Bik in Batavia.
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 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.
Harrison, Paul M. (2000). Mañjuśrī and the Cult of the Celestial Bodhisattvas, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 13, 157-193