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07. Mañjushri, Mañjuśrī, Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, Manjuvajra, Pañcaśikha, Yamantaka or Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta. One of the Four Outer Offering Bodhisattvas.  | Documents and Pictures

Mañjushri embodies prajñā, wisdom and insight and is from the Padma family where Akshobhya is the head, he is the purity of mental consciousness or tongue/taste, a commander of flawless wisdom. He holds a sword, and sometimes a bell, sometimes a manuscript (the prajñāpāramitāsūtra) atop a lotus, and is orange red, golden or yellowish skinned in colour and sits in the midst of a blazing mass of flames. Supreme wisdom, pervading everywhere, is perfectly represented by/as Mañjushri and he is therefore the dispeller of ignorance and the disseminator of knowledge. Bodhisattva Manjusri and Maitreya are the often depicted with the Gautama Buddha with Manjusri on the left and Maitreya on his right, representing wisdom and teaching receptively and is often seen also to the left of Amitabha. He helps us to confront and deal with the negative emotions such as anger, depression, fear and denial that arise when we are challenged by serious health problems or when we are confronted with problems in our daily life. Mañjushri is associated with east for example, the Lotus Sutra assigns him a pure land called Vimala, which according to the Avatamsaka Sutra is located in the East Mañjushri has a wrathful deity of Yamantaka the terminator of death, and a consort Saraswati, there is also Manjuvajra, an esoteric form of Manjushri, described in the Nishpanna Yogavali (Garland of Perfection Yoga) as providing a path to wisdom and intelligence, usually with three faces and six arms with two folded or holding his consort Sparsavajra (also known as Adhiprajna). Vajradhatvishvari (Tib. rDo-rje dbyings-phyug-ma) as the Mistress of the vajra realm may also also become the golden consort of Manjuvajra. The black Mañjushri (sometimes called Yamantaka) is depicted normally black or deep blue in colour, with black hair tied up in knot on the skulls crown, single face and two arms with three eyes, right hand holding a sword blazing with flames symbolic suppresses obstructing all demons, left hand holding up the paramita text. He is associated with the “Wisdom mantra”: Om Ah Ra Pa Cha Na Dhi.