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.According to Paul Harrison the very early Lokakwema corpus of texts trans-lated into Chinese reflect the emergence of Mañjuzrc as an important archetypal bodhisattvafigure by the middle of the second century C.E..64 In Indian Buddhist art, on the other hand,Mañjuzrc appears relatively late (from about the fifth century).It is possible that any actualcult of Mañjuzrc originated in Central Asia (Khotan?) or even China.In China he is por-trayed with Vimalakcrti, the lay Bodhisattva with whom he has a profound discussion inthe VimalakCrtinirtinirdeZa, from the sixth century onwards.65 Apparently the associationof Mañjuzrc with Wutai (Wu-t ai) Shan in north China was known in classical times inIndia itself, identified by Chinese scholars with the mountain in the north-east (when seenfrom India or Central Asia) referred to as the abode of Mañjuzrc in the AvataTsaka SEtra.66There are said to have been pilgrimages from India and other Asian countries to Wutai Shanby the seventh century.67 Several Mongol and Manchu Chinese emperors were officiallyrecognized by their Tibetan lamas such as Phags pa (pronounced: Pakpa ) and the FifthDalai Lama as emanations of Mañjuzrc.68 In Nepal, Mañjuzrc is associated with the originsof Newar Buddhist civilization through a legend whereby he drained a lake to form theKathmandu valley.69According to the 25,000-verse Perfection of Wisdom, a Bodhisattva who has reached thetenth stage is to be known, quite simply, as a Tathagata which is to say, a Buddha.Althoughhe is not a Buddha, from our side he (or she) is so amazing that we could not distinguishhim from a Buddha.In the MañjuZrCbuddhakWetraguUavyEha we are told how Mañjuzrc many,many aeons ago gave rise to the bodhicitta in the presence of a previous Buddha.In pro-ducing the bodhicitta he made a series of vows.He would always act for the benefit ofsentient beings, without greed, miserliness or resentfulness.He would always observecomplete morality and be perfectly pure.Moreover, most significantly, Mañjuzrc would neverwish to attain a rapid (self-seeking) enlightenment (bodhi), but rather would continue tobenefit sentient beings until the end of future.70 He would purify an immense, inconceiv-able Buddha Field, and would cause his name to be known throughout the 10 directions.Mañjuzrc has now attained the tenth stage of a Bodhisattva.He is asked why he does notproceed straightway to full Buddhahood.The reply is that in fully understanding emptinessand acting accordingly there is nothing more to do.He has let go of the notion of fullBuddhahood.He no longer seeks enlightenment; indeed, in the light of emptiness hecannot attain enlightenment (Chang 1983: 170 ff., 177 8, 183).In saying this, of course,Mañjuzrc indicates that he is already fully enlightened.According to the AñgulimAlCya SEtra, 9780203428474_4_010.qxd 16/6/08 11:59 AM Page 228228 MahÖyÖna BuddhismMañjuzrc is now actually a Buddha, with a Buddha Field (Lamotte 1960: 29 30).Wehave seen that a tenth-stage Bodhisattva can manifest in whatever way he or she wishesfor the benefit of beings.In an important section of the }EraTgamasamAdhi SEtra, a workfirst translated into Chinese perhaps towards the end of the second century, Mañjuzrcis said to have been in the past a Buddha, who manifested all the deeds of a Buddha andfinally entered nirvaua or so it seemed.Nevertheless, in so doing the great Bodhisattvasdo not give up their (compassionate) nature as Bodhisattvas, and in entering final nirvauathey have not in fact completely disappeared and abandoned sentient beings.71 The samepoint is made in a short setra which may depend upon the }EraTgamasamAdhi, known asthe MañjuZrCparinirvAUaSEtra (translated into Chinese at the end of the third century).Mañjuzrc,through his meditative power, many times manifests entry into final nirvaua (parinirvAUa)in different regions, and even leaves holy relics behind.All this is for the benefit of beings.He emanates as many Buddhas as are needed, but he can also manifest as a poor wretch,in order that beings can make merit through compassion and donations.Immense benefitsarise from seeing even an image of Mañjuzrc, and also pronouncing his name.Through suchpractices beings will be freed from the lower realms (Lamotte 1960: 35 9).According to aChinese tradition, Mañjuzrc vowed to take the same form as every pilgrim who visits hissacred mountain of Wutai.Thus he could appear even as a thief or gambler.An importantabbot and Chan monk of recent times, Xuyun (Hsü-yün; dates said to be 1840 1959) tellshow he was helped on his arduous pilgrimage by a beggar whom he later realized to be Mañjuzrchimself.72 Various scholars in Buddhist history are said to have seen and received visionaryinspiration from Mañjuzrc, most notably, perhaps, Tsong kha pa, and Mañjuzrc is said inTibet to be the inspirer of the profound wisdom teachings of the Madhyamika.According to one relatively early Mahayana setra, ]akyamuni Buddha disclosed thatin the past he was a disciple of Mañjuzrc, and his very status as a Buddha is now due toMañjuzrc, who is both father and mother to innumerable Buddhas.73 Mañjuzrc, is, of course,wisdom incarnate, and one remembers here both Prajñaparamita and Tara as mother ofall the Buddhas.He is referred to by one scholar, appropriately named Mañjuzrcmitra(late seventh/early eighth centuries), as the errorless comprehension of the character ofbodhicitta, the birthplace of all the Buddhas (MañjuZrCnAmasaTgCti 1985: 8).The supremacyof Mañjuzrc is stated repeatedly in one of the most important texts on Mañjuzrc used forchanting in Tibetan Buddhism, the tantric MañjuZrCnAmasaTgCti.Mañjuzrc holds the enlighten-ment of a fully enlightened Buddha (ibid.: 8: 42).He is the fully awakened, supreme,omniscient one (ibid.: 9: 15).He is the progenitor of all the Buddhas, and at the same timetheir most excellent son (ibid.: 6: 19).Mañjuzrc is master (indra) of the gods, and godof gods (ibid.: 10: 6), who dwells in the mind of all beings (ibid.: 9: 20).At this sublime point, however, let us note that just as in India early Mahayana may havebeen characterized by cultic practices centred on certain setras, and certain meditative absorp-tions, so it was very likely also marked by groups centred on different and often rival Buddhasand Bodhisattvas.In one lovely setra, Mañjuzrc is bettered in a discourse on wisdom by an8-year-old girl.74 She had been treading the Bodhisattva path for 60 aeons when Mañjuzrc 9780203428474_4_010.qxd 16/6/08 11:59 AM Page 229The cults of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas 229made his vows.Her future Buddha Field will be oh, so much better than that of Mañjuzrc(Chang 1983: 93 4).Still, Mañjuzrc s Buddha Field is said elsewhere to be much better thanSukhavatc (ibid.: 183 4).So there!The iconography of Mañjuzrc is a relatively late development.In Indo-Tibetan Buddhismhe is usually represented as a young prince, seated on a lotus, with a sword in his righthand, held above his head, and a book in the left.Sometimes in the left hand he holds thestem of a lotus, and the book is placed on the lotus behind his left shoulder.The sword issaid to be the sword of gnosis which cuts aside the bonds of ignorance.The book is thePrajñApAramitA, usually held in Tibet to be the AWXasAhasrikA version.In Sino-Japanese art in particular, and Central Asian art which is influenced by China,Mañjuzrc rides on a lion, and often parallels Samantabhadra, the Bodhisattva of theAvataTsaka SEtra, who rides an enormous six-tusked elephant.The two bodhisattvas arefound placed either side of the Buddha Vairocana to form a triad.Because of the import-ance of the AvataTsaka in East Asian Buddhism, and also because of his role as a guardianof the Lotus SEtra, Samantabhadra has a significant place as a cult figure in Sino-JapaneseBuddhism
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