The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c12.s5: 6. Nāmasaṅgīti Mañjuśrī
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c12.s5
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6. Nāmasaṅgīti Mañjuśrī
c12.s5.1
| Colour—Reddish white | Āsana—Vajraparyaṅka |
| Faces—Three | Arms—Four |
c12.s5.2
This form of Mañjuśrī with the effigy of the Dhyāni Buddha Akṣobhya on the crown is known as Nāmasaṅgīti Mañjuśrī, to whom only one Sādhana in the Sādhanamālā is assigned In this Sādhana he is described as three-faced and four-armed, and as bearing the image of Akṣobhya on the crown. The first or the principal face is red, the second blue and the third white. Of his four hands, the first pair holds the bow and the arrow and the second the book and the sword. He sits in the Vajraparyaṅka attitude on the lotus. The Dhyāna describes him in the following terms :
c12.s5.3
“…Raktagauram padmacandropari vajraparyaṅkaniṣaṇṇaḥ ; prathamamukhaṃ raktaṃ, dakṣiṇaṃ nīlaṃ, vāme śuklaṃ iti trimukhaṃ, hastacatuṣṭayena yathāyogaṃ Prajñākhaḍgadhanurbāṇayoginaṃ ratna-
c12.s5.4
kiriṭinaṃ dvātriṃśallakṣaṇanuvyañjanavirājitaṃ kumārābharaṇabhūṣitaṃ ātmānaṃ vibhāvya tadanu sarva-Tathāgatābhiṣekapūrvakaṃ Akṣobhyamaulinaṃ ātmānaṃ vicintya . . . Sādhanamālā p. 159-160
c12.s5.5
“The worshipper should meditate himself as Āryanāmasaṅgīti, who is reddish white in colour and sits in the Vajraparyaṅka attitude on the orb of the moon on a lotus. His principal face is red, the right blue and the left white and thus he is three-faced In his four hands he carries the Prajñā(pāramitā), the sword, the bow and the arrow according to custom. He wears a bejewelled crown and is endowed with the thirty-two major and eighty minor auspicious marks. He appears a prince with princely ornaments... .. Then the worshipper after offering Abhiṣeka to all the Tathāgatas, should further meditate himself as bearing the effigy of Akṣobhya on the crown.”
c12.s5.6
Rare are the images of this form of Mañjuśrī Fig. 79 illustrates a Nepalese drawing of the deity.
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Nāmasaṅgīti Mañjuśrī is known in China¹. Fig. 80 illustrates his statuette in China.
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¹ Clark : TLP, II, p. 263.
Cites (1)
- Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit