The Buddha Speaks the Sanskrit Hymn of Mañjuśrī's One Hundred Eight Names (佛說文殊師利一百八名梵贊)

About 佛說文殊師利一百八名梵讚

Song · Source text translated by 法天

1,445 · about 5 min

The Sutra of the One Hundred and Eight Names of Mañjuśrī Spoken by the Buddha is a Buddhist scripture belonging to the esoteric tradition, translated during the Song Dynasty by the scripture translator Fa Tian. Fa Tian was a renowned translator of the Northern Song period, active from the late 10th to early 11th century, and counted among the three great translators alongside Tian Xi Zai and Shi Hu. This sutra enumerates the one hundred and eight names of the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī in the form of Sanskrit hymns, illuminating his essential nature of Wisdom and his sublime virtues in delivering sentient beings. Through the recitation and praise of Mañjuśrī's names, the text embodies the profound reverence of Mahayana Buddhism for the Bodhisattva foremost in Wisdom, holding significant value for practice and ritual repentance. In Buddhism, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva is regarded as the embodiment of the wisdom of all buddhas. This sutra serves as an important text for the study of esoteric Mañjuśrī devotion and has exerted a profound influence on the development of bodhisattva veneration within Chinese Buddhism.