Manjushri mantra
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The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Variant spellings: Manjushri / Manjusri)
Manjushri’s most distinctive emblem is the flaming sword that he holds aloft in his right hand. The sword symbolizes his mind’s ability to cut through the fetters that bind beings to the cycle of delusion and suffering.
The flames suggest that the sword is not a literal one, and flames in Buddhist iconography invariably represent transformation; Manjughosa’s wisdom does not destroy ignorance in the conventional sense, but transforms it into Wisdom.
In Manjushri’s left hand is his other characteristic emblem: a book held to his heart. This book is the Perfection of Wisdom, which is both the source of his realization and a concrete symbol of it. In the Manjughosa form the book sits atop a lotus that the Bodhisattva holds in his left hand.
Manjushri features prominently in many Perfection of Wisdom texts. He makes a late appearance in the Lotus Sutra, and is particularly prominent in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa. Both of these are early Mahayana sutras. However he is most often found in the later Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, where he is, in effect, the Buddha’s spokesman. In some of these sutras, the dialogues that Manjushri has with the Buddha are so intimate that we can get a sense that we are hearing the Buddha thinking out loud.
Manjushri is associated with ordinary intelligence and mental accuity as well as transcendent Wisdom, and his mantra Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih is said to confer intelligence. Shantideva, the author of the great Bodhicaryavatara ("Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life") is said to have gained his wisdom by communing with Manjushri by night, while appearing by day as a slovenly and lazy scholar-monk.
Some scholars believe that Manjushri has his origins in a Ghandharva (celestial musician) called Pancashikha, who is found in some early Pali texts. the name Pancashikha means five-crests, and has a correspondence with Manjushri’s epithet, Pancaciraka, "Possessing Five [Hair]-Braids."
Being a musician, Pancashikha is also "gentle voiced" and is praised by the Buddha for the quality of his singing. Both figures are also involved in question-and-answer sessions with the Buddha, and both are generally depicted as eternally young, although this is so common a quality that it’s not in itself persuasive.
Manjushri is often known as Kumarabhuta ("Youthful Being"), although he does also manifest in some texts as an elderly man. His quality of having eternal youth (sometimes despite appearances to the contrary) symbolizes the eternal freshness and spontaneity with which the enlightened mind approaches life.
Comments
Comment from Jayarava
Time: December 14, 2007, 10:52 am
Funny. I see this mantra as more packed with conceptual meaning than any other. The letters may be associated with the Avatamsaka Sutra, but the I think the locus Classicus is the Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra where each letter of the Gandhari alphabet (which is in the order a ra pa ca na etc) is associated with a quality of emptiness - a = anutpana, ra = rajas, pa = paramartha etc. The mantra includes the first five of these 44 letters. The alphabet in the LPWS is clearly intended as a series of meditative reflections on emptiness.
There are earlier versions - especially from the Bajaur collection of texts dug up in Swat in 1999 dating from the 1st century CE, but also in the Lalitavistara Sutra (where two versions exist, one using the Sanskrit alphabet, and one using the more familiar Gandhari). Going forward in time the alphabet does occur in the Gandhavyuha (a chapter of the Avatamsaka) but the letters are not linked to a concept starting with that letter anymore. The main line of development seems to be into the Mahavairocana Tantra where it features a number of times. In the Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha Tantra it is reduced to the letter a - probably the Sutra in one letter derives from this. Versions appear in the Hevajra Tantra as well although the focus is very different. The first line of the verse from the Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra has been encapsulated in seed syllables and become a mantra in its own right.
Om does leave the intellect hanging, but dhii.h is the nominative form of the dhii which means wise, visionary, intelligent etc.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: December 14, 2007, 7:52 pm
Welcome, Jayarava! For those who don’t know, Jayarava is an expert on mantras who runs an amazing site called Visible Mantra. I’ve been planning for ages to link each of the articles here to his site.
Anyway I meant by “no conceptual meaning” was just that you can’t read the mantra as a sentence. Sohcahtoa, for example, doesn’t have a conceptual meaning in itself, but it does help to encode the main trigonometric functions. A Ra Pa Ca Na, from what you say, seems to work in a similar, acrostic-like manner, which is very interesting. I didn’t know about that, and I’m grateful for your injection of expertise. I’ve amended the article a little to take account of your comments.
Svaha, dude!
Comment from Arpad Joo
Time: December 15, 2007, 11:15 am
On Dhih….
This seed sound is supremely important in traditional Indian(Vedic/Tantric) astrology, or Jyotish as well as in Vajrayana. The very first appearance of Dhih is in the Rg Veda, in the well know Gayatri Mantra…
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhi- mahi
DHI you yo nah Prachodayat!
Dhi here is intelligence, intellect,vision,drishti etc.
In Vedic Astrology there are 4 DHI-s:
BuDHI (the first house)-Intelligence
Shud-DHI (4th house)- Purification of the mind
Vrid-DHI (7th house)- Increase
Sid-DHI (10th house)- Accomplishment, Siddhi. These 4 houses are collatively known as “Vishnu shtana”, the seat of Vishnu (That which preserves, sustains)
DHI therefore is very important since early vedic times. However, in Tibetan Vajrayana it receives an added emphasis. Many Tibetan yogis meditate and even recite this seed Sound for months at a time.It is said to confer good memory, wisdom, intelligence, power of study and concentration and intellectual brilliance.The exact method (complete with breathing excercises) must be learned from a competent Guru.
Comment from Alistair (Jamyang Gyaltsen)
Time: February 25, 2008, 5:08 am
Thank you for this. I am a practising tibetan Buddhist with the Dechen School and I was given the spiritual name of ‘Banner of Manjushri’ on my taking refuge.
I really needed to know exactly how the Manushri mantra sounded as I need to build a spiritual bridge to draw me out of negative mental effluvia.
Regards, Alistair: http://www.alistairiwcampbell.com
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