Manjusri,
the noble god, the youthful warrior in the service of the faith is worshipped
in India as the “singing Buddha”. His most common titles are Great Wisdom and
King of Teaching.
It
is Manjusri who changed his peaceful demeanor into the nine-headed terrible one
called Yamantaka and defeated Yama, the God of Death. Manjusri is usually seen
holding a sword and a sacred book of Buddhist scriptures which is balanced on
a blue lotus, and is often pictured riding on a golden haired lion, which represents
his power over the forces of life and death. This Tibetan bronze Manjusri is in
lotus postur gracefully presenting the vitarka mudra with his left hand, while
the right is raised up to hold the sword. His lithe body bends slightly to his
right, the gentle face with downcast eyes and full-lipped smile delineated with
fine hand-chasing. He is adorned with earrings and necklaces, with a mid-bloom
lotus emerging from his left, adding to the sense of movement in the linear rhythms
and arabesques that animate the work.
