Hinduism and Buddhism, Volume 2 | Page 9

Hsüan Chuang that there were
stupas dedicated to him at Muttra.[44] He is also said to have been incarnate in Atîsa, the
Tibetan reformer, and in Vairocana who introduced Buddhism to Khotan, but, great as is
his benevolence, he is not so much the helper of human beings, which is Avalokita's
special function, as the personification of thought, knowledge, and meditation. It is for
this that he has in his hands the sword of knowledge and a book. A beautiful figure from
Java bearing these emblems is in the Berlin Museum.[45] Miniatures represent him as of
a yellow colour with the hands (when they do not carry emblems) set in the position
known as teaching the law.[46] Other signs which distinguish his images are the blue
lotus and the lion on which he sits.
An interesting fact about Mañjusrî is his association with China,[47] not only in Chinese
but in late Indian legends. The mountain Wu-t'ai-shan in the province of Shan-si is sacred
to him and is covered with temples erected in his honour.[48] The name (mountain of
five terraces) is rendered in Sanskrit as Pancasîrsha, or Pancasikha, and occurs both in the
Svayambhû Purâna and in the text appended to miniatures representing Mañjusrî. The
principal temple is said to have been erected between 471 and 500 A.D. I have not seen
any statement that the locality was sacred in pre-Buddhist times, but it was probably
regarded as the haunt of deities, one of whom--perhaps some spirit of divination--was
identified with the wise Mañjusrî. It is possible that during the various inroads of
Græco-Bactrians, Yüeh-Chih, and other Central Asian tribes into India, Mañjusrî was
somehow imported into the pantheon of the Mahayana from China or Central Asia, and
he has, especially in the earlier descriptions, a certain pure and abstract quality which
recalls the Amesha-Spentas of Persia. But still his attributes are Indian, and there is little
positive evidence of a foreign origin. I-Ching is the first to tell us that the Hindus
believed he came from China.[49] Hsüan Chuang does not mention this belief, and
probably did not hear of it, for it is an interesting detail which no one writing for a
Chinese audience would have omitted. We may therefore suppose that the idea arose in
India about 650 A.D. By that date the temples of Wu-t'ai-Shan would have had time to
become celebrated, and the visits paid to India by distinguished Chinese Buddhists would
be likely to create the impression that China was a centre of the faith and frequented by
Bodhisattvas.[50] We hear that Vajrabodhi (about 700) and Prajña (782) both went to
China to adore Mañjusrî. In 824 a Tibetan envoy arrived at the Chinese Court to ask for
an image of Mañjusrî, and later the Grand Lamas officially recognized that he was
incarnate in the Emperor.[51] Another legend relates that Mañjusrî came from
Wu-t'ai-Shan to adore a miraculous lotus[52] that appeared on the lake which then filled
Nepal. With a blow of his sword he cleft the mountain barrier and thus drained the valley
and introduced civilization. There may be hidden in this some tradition of the

introduction of culture into Nepal but the Nepalese legends are late and in their collected
form do not go back beyond the sixteenth century.
After Avalokita and Mañjusrî the most important Bodhisattva is Maitreya,[53] also called
Ajita or unconquered, who is the only one recognized by the Pali Canon.[54] This is
because he does not stand on the same footing as the others. They are superhuman in
their origin as well as in their career, whereas Maitreya is simply a being who like
Gotama has lived innumerable lives and ultimately made himself worthy of Buddhahood
which he awaits in heaven. There is no reason to doubt that Gotama regarded himself as
one in a series of Buddhas: the Pali scriptures relate that he mentioned his predecessors
by name, and also spoke of unnumbered Buddhas to come.[55] Nevertheless Maitreya or
Metteyya is rarely mentioned in the Pali Canon.[56]
He is, however, frequently alluded to in the exegetical Pali literature, in the
Anâgata-vamsa and in the earlier Sanskrit works such as the Lalita-vistara, the
Divyâvadâna and Mahâvastu. In the Lotus he plays a prominent part, but still is
subordinate to Mañjusrî. Ultimately he was eclipsed by the two great Bodhisattvas but in
the early centuries of our era he received much respect. His images are frequent in all
parts of the Buddhist world: he was believed to watch over the propagation of the
Faith,[57] and to have made special revelations to Asanga.[58] In paintings he is usually
of a golden colour: his statues, which are often gigantic, show him standing or sitting in
the European fashion and not cross-legged. He appears to be represented in the earliest
Gandharan sculptures and