The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature c6.s3.2

c6.s3.2

Mañjuçrī ("Gentle Glory," "Sweet Splendour"). He is named in the *Sad. Pu.* (chapter 11), and is regarded as a master of wisdom and knowledge. He has trained and disciplined many *bodhisattvas* (*Sad. Pu.*, p. 261). He has been aptly called "a male Athene, all intellect and chastity".67 The epithet "kumāra" or "kumāra-bhūta" is often applied to him. It has been interpreted as "ever young" or "prince royal, a consecrated heir of the Buddha". S. C. Das explains that he is so called, because he observes celibacy (J.B.T.S., vol. i, p. 39, 1893). But this title does not present any problem, as it is also conferred on other very ordinary *bodhisattvas* (*Pr. Pā. Çata.* 30—*Kar. Pu.* 106—*Sam. Rā*, fol. 95*a*, 4). The passage in the *Kar. Pu.* shows that it means "young", as a *bodhisattva* is said to become a *kumāra*, "twenty years old". E. W. Hopkins thinks that Mañjuçrī was a missionary in northern India 68; but we do not possess any historical data about him, and he is associated with the ocean in the *Sad. Pu.* The title “*kumāra*” is probably nothing more than a complimentary epithet for the *bodhisattvas*, who are regarded as “ever youthful”, and perhaps also as “princes of Buddha’s realm”.