MAÑJUŚRĪ

An important figure in Mahāyāna Buddhim, a bodhisattva especially associated with Prajñā (Wisdom). Mañjuśrī is a key figure in numerous sutras, and he has been the focus of significant cultic activity throughout Mahāyāna Buddhist countries.

His name means "gentle glory." Many of his alternate names or titles refer to his relation to speech (Vāgīśvara, "lord of speech") and to his youthfulness (Kumārabhūta, "in the form of a youth" or "having become the crown prince"). Because he is destined soon to become a Buddha, Mañjuśrī is often called "Prince of the Dharma.”

The most common artistic representations and literary descriptions of Mañjuśrī (including scriptures, ritual texts, and meditation manuals) depict him as a golden-complexioned sixteen-year-old prince wearing a five-peaked crown. In his right hand he wields the sword of discriminating insight, which cuts through all ignorance and illusion, penetrating to the truth. In his left hand he grasps a book, the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, whose teachings he has mastered and upholds. He sits upon a blue lion, which represents the roar of sovereign truth.

Perhaps the most extraordinary site for cultic activity related to Mañjuśrī has been a mountain complex in northern China named Wutai Shan, Five Terrace Mountain, where—until the mid-twentieth century—pilgrims from all over Asia have traveled in quests for visions of the bodhisattva. Beginning as a local mountain cult, the numinous precincts of this region eventually were identified as the special earthly domain of Mañjuśrī, and by the mid-eighth century it had become a thriving international Buddhist center, with seventy-two notable monasteries and temples, as well as numerous retreat huts.

Mañjuśrī traditionally is believed to be a bodhisattva of the tenth stage (bhūmi), the highest level prior to attaining buddhahood. He dwells continually in a meditative trance known as "heroic valor" (sūraṃgamasamādhi), and is thus able to manifest throughout the Dharmadhatu, in order to aid all beings.

Sutras in which Mañjuśrī appears

Mañjuśrī appears in 6 of the 9 translations of Lokakṣema, a Kushan Buddhist monk from Gandhara who traveled to China during the Han Dynasty and translated Buddhist texts into Chinese. These are:

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñā-pāramitā-sūtra (T. 224)
The Tuṣāra Sūtra (’Frost’) 兜沙經 (T. 280)
The Druma-kinnara-rāja-paripṛcchā-sūtra (T. 624)
The Ajātaśatru-kaukṛtya-vinodanā-sūtra (T. 626).
The Mañjuśrī asks about the Rank of Bodhisattva 文殊師利問菩薩署經 (T. 458)
The Lokānuvartanā-sūtra (T. 807)

Mañjuśrī also appears throughout the early Mahāyāna Buddhist canon:

Mañjuśrī appears as an important figure in one of the earliest Mahāyāna sutras translated into Chinese, the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra, which explains the ‘heroic’ (śūraṅgama) state of concentration wherein Mañjuśrī abides. There are records of a translation of this text being made in China in 186 AD, however it does not survive. The earliest surviving complete translation was made by Kumārajīva between 402 and 409 CE.
One of Mañjuśrī’s most well-known appearances is in the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra (’The Advice of Vimalakirti’), in which he is a primary character. One of the earliest known versions of this sutra is a Chinese translation made Zhi Qian 支謙 c. 222–252 CE.
There is the Mañjuśrī Parinirvāṇa Sūtra, a brief Chinese text purported to be a translation by Nie Daozhen 聶道眞, a collaborator of Dharmarakṣa, dated circa 280–312 CE.
Mañjuśrī is also a primary character in the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra (The ‘Lotus Sutra’), the oldest translation being by Dharmarakṣa's Chinese translation in 286 C. E.
Mañjuśrī is also essential to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. He first appears in Ch. 7, in which he arrives from a world-system to the East along with nine other bodhisattvas from the other directions, and the entire Second Assembly (Ch. 7-12) is orchestrated by Mañjuśrī. This opening chapter on the “Names of the Buddha” has also circulated as an independent sutra (See T. 280 佛說兜沙經).

Mañjuśrī appears in many of the sutras included in the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra 大寶積經 as well.

Three sutras are dedicated to him by name and include him as a primary character:

Sutra #10 Mañjuśrī Samantamukha Sūtra 文殊師利普門 / The Universal Gateway of Mañjuśrī
Sutra #15 Mañjuśrī Vyākaraṇa Sūtra 文殊師利授記 / The Prediction of Mañjuśrī
Sutra #46 Mañjuśrī-'abhi'-Prajñā Sūtra 文殊說般若 / Mañjuśrī's Explanation of Prajñā

He also appears as a character / interlocuter in eight sutras:

Sutra #16 Bodhisattva bhūtatathatādarśaṇa Sūtra 菩薩見實 The Bodhisattva's Vision of Reality
Sutra #22 Mahāprātihārya Sūtra 大神變 / Great Spiritual Transformation
Sutra #23 Mahākāśyapa Sūtra 摩訶迦葉
Sutra #24 Upāli Sūtra 優波離
Sutra #33 Vimaladatta Bodhisattva Paripṛcchā Sūtra 無垢施菩薩應辯
Sutra #34 Guṇaratnasaṅkusumita Bodhisattva Sūtra 功德寶花敷菩薩
Sutra #35 Suguṇadevaputra Sūtra 善德天子 (name appearing over 200 times!)
Sutra #36 Suṣṭhitamatidevaputra Sūtra 善住意天子

And he simply appears as being in attendance in four sutras:

Sutra #1 Trisaṃvara Sūtra 三律儀 / The Meaning of the Triple Vinaya
Sutra #5 Amitabhatathāgata Sūtra 無量壽如來 / Immeasurable Life Thus Come One
Sutra #40 Viśuddhaśraddhādarikā Sūtra 淨信童女 / Lady Pure Faith
Sutra #45 Aksyamati Sutra

There are also two tantric texts closely associated with Mañjuśrī:

Mañjuśrī-Mūla-Kalpa - often cited as the earliest example of an extant Indian Buddhist Tantra. Some scholars identify it as a compilation from the 6th century with later additions.

Mañjuśrī-Nāma-Saṃgīti - preached by Shakyamuni Buddha for Vajrapani and his wrathful retinue in order to lead them into buddhahood. The essence of the teaching is that Manjushri bodhisattva is the embodiment of all knowledge. It is a short text, only about 160 verses and a prose section, yet said to be a complete summary of all the Buddha Dharma. The text is datable to about 775 CE.

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva

MAÑJUŚRĪ

Sutras in which Mañjuśrī appears

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