Manjushri () is a bodhisattva who represents prajñà(transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuà Ârë" is a combination of Sanskrit word "" and an honorific "à Ârë"; it can be literally translated as "Beautiful One with Glory" or "Beautiful One with Auspiciousness". Mañjuà Ârë is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuà ÂrëkumÃÂrabhà «ta (), literally "Mañjuà Ârë, Still a Youth" or, less literally, "Prince Mañjuà Ârë". Another name of Mañjuà Ârë is Mañjughoá¹£a.
Scholars have identified Mañjuà Ârë as the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in MahÃÂyÃÂna literature. Notable traits of Mañjuà Ârë include:
According to Mahayana Sutras, Mañjuà Ârë is always a Buddha with the highest Awakenment all the time, including in the past, present, and future, but just appears as a Bodhisattva in our world.
In à Âà «raá¹ gama SamÃÂdhi Sà «tra, the Buddha revealed that countless eons ago, Mañjuà Ârë had achieved Buddhahood with the name Dragon Superior TathÃÂgata.
In Tathagata's Unimaginable State Sutra, it is written that when Sakyamuni Buddha attained the highest Awakenment, countless Buddhas from other worlds, appearing as Bodhisattvas, came to our world to congratulate him and assist his Dharma-teaching work, and Mañjuà Ârë was one of those Buddhas who appeared as Bodhisattvas.
Another Sutra, Bodhisattva in the Womb Sutra reveals that Mañjuà Ârë is actually a Buddha, but in order to assist Sakyamuni Buddha's Dharma-teaching work, he appears as a disciple of the Buddha. In the Sutra Mañjuà Ârë says: <blockquote> My bodies are as many as the atoms of the universe, appearing as Buddhas in countless Buddha-Worlds elsewhere.<br> I was previously the teacher of Sakyamuni Buddha, and now I appear as his disciple.<br> I would like to manifest my Buddha body, but this world should have only one main Buddha at this moment.<br> Therefore I appear as a disciple in this world, and appear as Buddhas in other Buddha-Worlds. </blockquote>
In Aá¹ gulimÃÂlëya Sà «tra it is written that Mañjuà Ârë is a present Buddha whose Buddha-world is in the north: <blockquote> To the north, passing worlds as numerous as the sands of forty-two Ganges Rivers, there is a world called Constant Joy, where the Buddha is called Joy Store Mani Jewel Accumulation TathÃÂgata, Arhat, Samyak-Saá¹Âbuddha ...... Is that TathÃÂgata anyone else ? Mañjuà Ârë is actually that Buddha. </blockquote>
Mañjuà Ârë will also become a Buddha in the future. According to MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra, when Mañjuà Ârë becomes a Buddha (again) in the future, he will be called Universally Seen, and his Buddha-World will be extremely vast and sublime.
According to Mahayana Sutras, Mañjuà Ârë is the one who guides all living beings of the past, present and future towards Buddhahood, therefore he is honored as the Mother of all Buddhas of the past, present and future (ä¸Âä¸Âä½Âæ¯Âå¦ÂÃ¥ÂÂ祥).
As it is written in Mahayana Sutra on Contemplating the Ground-Like Heart Concerning the Legend of the Buddha (大ä¹ÂæÂÂå¿Âå°è§Âç¶Â) : <blockquote> Manjusri the Great Holy Lord<br> is the Mother of all Buddhas of the past, present and future.<br> All Buddhas of the ten directions,<br> when they first arouse their hearts to seek Bodhi,<br> they do so because of Manjusri's teaching and guidance. </blockquote>
Mahayana Sutra on Contemplating the Ground-Like Heart Concerning the Legend of the Buddha also says : <blockquote> The Buddha said to Manjusri: "You are indeed the Mother of all Buddhas of the past, present and future. All Tathagatas, when they first arouse their hearts, or carry out their practice for Bodhi, they do those things because of your guidance. " </blockquote>
Placing the Bowl Sutra says : <blockquote> The Buddha said : "... I achieved Buddhahood all because of Manjusri's benevolence. Furthermore, all the countless Buddhas in the past were disciples of Manjusri, and all those who will become Buddhas in the future, they will achieve Buddhahood because of Manjusri's mightiness, benevolence, and divine power." </blockquote>
In the Lotus Sà «tra, Mañjuà Ârë also leads the Nagaraja's daughter to enlightenment. He also figures in the Vimalakërti Sà «tra in a debate with Vimalakërti where he is presented as a Bodhisattva who discusses non-duality with him.
Although Mañjuà Ârë, in the previous innumerable eons, had helped countless living beings achieve Buddhahood, the great mentor himself remains a youth forever. In Mahayana Sutras, Mañjuà Ârë is frequently called Manjusri the Youth (Manjusri Kumara-bhuta).
As a symbol of PrajñÃÂpÃÂramitÃÂ, Mañjuà Ârë is often depicted as a youth holding the Sword of Wisdom in one hand, and a PrajñÃÂpÃÂramitàSà «tra in another hand. In Mahayana Buddhism he is often honored as Mañjuà Ârë the Great Wisdom (大æºæÂÂæ®Â師å©).
An example of a wisdom teaching of Mañjuà Ârë can be found in the Saptaà ÂatikàPrajñÃÂpÃÂramitàSà «tra (Taishà  Tripiá¹Âaka 232). This sà «tra contains a dialogue between Mañjuà Ârë and the Buddha on the One SamÃÂdhi (Skt. Ekavyà «ha SamÃÂdhi). Sheng-yen renders the following teaching of Mañjuà Ârë, for entering samÃÂdhi naturally through transcendent wisdom:
Within VajrayÃÂna Buddhism, Mañjuà Ârë is a meditational deity and also 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 Mañjuà Ârëmà «lakalpa and the Mañjuà ÂrënÃÂmasamgëti. His consort in some traditions is Saraswati.
The Mañjuà Ârëmà «lakalpa, which later came to be classified under KriyÃÂtantra, states that mantras taught in the à Âaiva, Garuá¸Âa, and Vaiá¹£á¹Âava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Mañjuà Ârë.
Mañjuà Ârë 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 PrajñÃÂpÃÂramitàsà «tra, representing his attainment of ultimate realization from the blossoming of wisdom.
Mañjuà Ârë 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, Mañjuà Ârë'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 Mañjuà Ârë 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 Mañjuà Ârë that is venerated in Chinese Buddhist tradition is the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Bowl Mañjuà Ârë<sup>]</sup> (Ã¥ÂÂèÂÂÃ¥ÂÂç¼½æÂÂæ®Âè©è©; QiÃÂnbì QiÃÂnbà  Wénshà « Púsà). The canonical source for this iconographic form is the "MahÃÂyana Yoga of the Adamantine Ocean, Mañjusrë with a Thousand Arms and Thousand Bowls: Great King of Tantras"<sup>]</sup> (大ä¹ÂçÂÂä¼½éÂÂÃ¥ÂÂæ§海æ¼æ®Â室å©åÂÂèÂÂÃ¥ÂÂé¢大æÂÂçÂÂç¶Â; Dàchéng yújiàjëngÃÂngxìng hÃÂi mànshà «shìlì qiÃÂnbì qiÃÂnbà  dàjiào wáng jëng), usually known simply as the "Sutra of Mañjusrë with a Thousand Arms and Thousand Bowls" (Ã¥ÂÂèÂÂÃ¥ÂÂé¢æ¼æ®Â室å©ç¶Â; QiÃÂnbì qiÃÂnbà  mànshà «shìlì jëng). In this manifestation, Mañjuà Ârë is depicted with a thousand arms, each holding an alms bowl, with each bowl containing a figure of à ÂÃÂkyamuni Buddha.
He is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas of Chinese Buddhism, the other three being Ká¹£itigarbha, Avalokiteà Âvara, and Samantabhadra. In China, he is often paired with Samantabhadra.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuà Ârë is sometimes depicted in a trinity with Avalokiteà Âvara and VajrapÃÂá¹Âi.
A mantra commonly associated with Mañjuà Ârë is the following:
The Arapacana is a syllabary consisting of forty-two letters, and is named after the first five letters: a, ra, pa, ca, na. This syllabary was most widely used for the GÃÂndhÃÂrë language with the Kharoá¹£á¹Âhë script but also appears in some Sanskrit texts. The syllabary features in MahÃÂyÃÂna texts such as the longer PrajñÃÂpÃÂramitàtexts, the Gaá¹Âá¸Âavyà «ha Sà «tra, the Lalitavistara Sà «tra, the Avataá¹Âsaka Sà «tra, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, and the Mà «lasarvÃÂstivÃÂda Vinaya. In some of these texts, the Arapacana syllabary serves as a mnemonic for important MahÃÂyÃÂna concepts. Due to its association with him, Arapacana may even serve as an alternate name for Mañjuà Ârë.
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: ' (). 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.
Chinese: åµåÂÂÃ¥ÂÂè·Âè æ©諦<br> Tibetan: à ½¨à ½¼à ½¾à ¼Âà ½¨à ¼Âà ½¢à ¼Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ½Âà ¾·à ½±à ½²à ½¿à ¼Â<br> Manchu: <br> Sanskrit: à ¥ à ¤ à ¤°à ¤ªà ¤Âà ¤¨ à ¤§à ¥Âà ¤Â
According to the Mañjuà ÂrëÃÂmà «lakalpa, "the ultimate heart essence of Mañjuà Ârë, which accomplishes all endeavors" is the following mantra:<blockquote>Namaḥ sarvabuddhÃÂnÃÂm oá¹ maá¹ </blockquote>The SÃÂdhanamÃÂlàalso contains a popular mantra which refers to Mañjuà Ârë as the "lord of speech" (VÃÂgëà Âvara): <blockquote>Oá¹ VÃÂgëà Âvara Mà «á¸¥</blockquote>This mantra is very popular in Nepal, where VÃÂgëà Âvara Mañjuà Ârë is a popular deity.
Another Mañjuà Ârë mantra is the mantra for Mañjuvajra, a tantric form of Mañjuà Ârë associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, it is:<blockquote>Oá¹ Mañjuvajra Hà «á¹Â</blockquote>
Mañjuà Ârë 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 bodhimaá¹Âá¸Âa. He was said to bestow spectacular visionary experiences to those on selected mountain peaks and caves there. In Mount Wutai's Foguang Temple, the Wenshu 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. Mañjuà Ârë 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 Mañjuà Ârë as the Manchus. The true origin of the name Manchu is disputed.
Monk Hanshan () is widely considered to be a metaphorical manifestation of Wenshu. He is known for having co-written the following famous poem about reincarnation with monk Shide:
In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuà Ârë manifests in a number of different Tantric forms. YamÃÂntaka (meaning 'terminator of Yama i.e. Death') is the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuà Ârë, popular within the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Other variations upon his traditional form as Mañjuà Ârë include Namasangiti, Arapacana Manjushri, etc. In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuà Ârë 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, Mañjuà Ârë 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 Mañjuà Ârë Bodhisattva are not the same person.
In Korea, Mañjuà Ârë is known as Munsu Bosal (문ìÂÂë³´ì´). A prominent legend recounts how the monk Jajang-yulsa traveled to China and encountered Munsu Bosal on Mount Wutai, a sacred site traditionally associated with Mañjuà Ârë. According to the story, Munsu Bosal instructed Jajang to find a similar five-peaked mountain in Korea and to establish a temple there. Jajang later identified such a place in the Korean Peninsula, which became Odaesan, now one of the most revered sacred mountains in Korean Buddhism.
Another well-known legend involves King Sejo of Joseon, who, in his later years, suffered from a painful and incurable skin disease that even the royal physicians could not treat. Believing the illness to be karmic retribution for his usurpation of the throne from his nephew, King Danjong, Sejo undertook pilgrimages to major Buddhist temples to seek healing. While visiting Sangwonsa Temple near Odaesan, Sejo is said to have been bathing in a nearby stream when a young boy (dongja) appeared and offered to scrub his back. As the boy washed him, the kingâÂÂs pain began to subside. Sejo confided that his illness was a closely guarded secret, to which the boy replied, "You must also promise never to tell anyone that you have seen Munsu Bosal." The boy then vanished without a trace. That evening, the king's skin disease was miraculously cured. In gratitude for what he believed to be divine intervention, King Sejo commissioned the creation of the Wooden Seated Child Manjusri, a statue depicting Mañjuà Ârë in the form of the young boy who had healed him. The statue, now enshrined at Sangwonsa Temple, was later designated as the 221st National Treasure of South Korea.
According to Swayambhu Purana, the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake. It is believed that Mañjuà Ârë 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, Mañjuà Ârë 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 VajrÃÂsana Mañjuà Ârëgá¹Âha (Vajra House of Mañjuà Ârë) 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 Mañjuà Ârë in Sailendra art is similar to those of the Pala Empire style of Nalanda, Bihar. Mañjuà Ârë 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.
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.
Harrison, Paul M. (2000). Mañjuà Ârë and the Cult of the Celestial Bodhisattvas, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 13, 157-193