Cintāmaṇi (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
;
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...
: चिंतामणि;
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: 如意寶珠;
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: ''Rúyì bǎozhū''; Japanese
Romaji
The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as .
Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Ch ...
: ''Nyoihōju;
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
:சிந்தாமணி''), also spelled as Chintamani (or the ''Chintamani Stone''), is a
wish
A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.
In fiction
In fictio ...
-fulfilling jewel within both
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
traditions, said by some to be the equivalent of the
philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
in Western alchemy. It is one of several
Mani Jewel A Mani Jewel () refers to any of various jewels mentioned in Buddhist literature as either metaphors for several concepts in Buddhist philosophy or as mythical relics. The word ''mani'' is simply Sanskrit and Pali for "jewel", so the phrase "Mani J ...
images found in
Buddhist scripture
Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
.
Within Hinduism, it is connected with the gods
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
and
Ganesha
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu d ...
. In Hindu tradition, it is often depicted as a fabulous jewel in the possession of Vishnu as the
Kaustubha
Kaustubha () is a divine ruby or ''ratnam'' (gem) in Hindu mythology. This gem is in the possession of Vishnu, granting him the epithet of ''Kaustubhadhari''. It is believed in Hindu scriptures to be the most magnificent ''ratnam'' in all of cr ...
Mani or as on the forehead of the
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:
Mythology
* Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
* Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata''
* Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
king called as Naga Mani, or on the forehead of the
Makara
''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn.
Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...
. The ''
Yoga Vasistha'', originally written in the 10th century CE, contains a story about the cintamani.
The Hindu Vishnu Purana speaks of the "
Syamanta jewel, bestowing prosperity upon its owner, encapsulates the Yadu clan system". The Vishnu Purana is attributed to the mid-first millennium CE.
In
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, it is held by the
Bodhisattvas
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
(divine beings with great compassion, wisdom and power)
Avalokiteshvara and
Ksitigarbha. It is also seen carried upon the back of the
Lung Ta
The wind horse is a symbol of the human soul in the shamanism, shamanistic tradition of East Asia and Central Asia. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was included as the pivotal element in the center of the four animals symbolizing the cardinal directions ...
(wind horse) which is depicted on Tibetan
prayer flags
A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated withi ...
. By reciting the
Dharani
Dharanis ( IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the B ...
(small hymn) of Cintamani, Buddhist tradition maintains that one attains the Wisdom of Buddha, able to understand the truth of the Buddha, and turn afflictions into
Bodhi
The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect ...
. It is said to allow one to see the Holy
Retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers.
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...
of
Amitabha and assembly upon one's deathbed. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition the Chintamani is sometimes depicted as a luminous pearl and is in the possession of several of different forms of the Buddha.
In Japan, where the
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
goddess, ''
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
'' is known as ''
Kisshōten
Kisshōten (, lit. "Auspicious Heavens"), also known as Kichijōten, Kisshoutennyo (吉祥天女), Kudokuten (功徳天) is a Japanese female deity, adapted via Buddhism from the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Kisshoutennyo is sometimes named as one o ...
'' in
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
, she is commonly depicted with a Cintāmaṇi in her hand.
Etymology
Cintāmaṇi (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चिन्तामणि): 'Wish-Fulfilling Gem' () The ''mani'' (jewel) is translated in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
''ruyi'' or ''ruyizhu'' 如意珠 "as-one-wishes jewel" or ''ruyibaozhu'' 如意寶珠 "as-one-wishes precious jewel". ''Ruyibaozhu'' is pronounced in
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
''nyoi-hōju'' or ''nyoi-hōshu'' 如意宝珠. ''Ruyizhu'' is pronounced in
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
''yeouiju'' 여의주.
Hinduism
The
Brihad Bhagavatamrita
''Brihad-bhagavatamrita'' is a sacred text for followers of the Hindu tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Along with ''Hari-bhakti-vilasa'', it is one of the most important works of Vaishnava theologian Sanatana Goswami. While ''Hari-bhakti-vilas ...
compares this gem with devotion towards Vishnu:
The
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
remarks that the cintamani may give worldly pleasures and affluence in
Svarga
Svarga (), also known as Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is regarded to b ...
, but spiritual advancement allows one to attain
Vaikuntha
Vaikuntha ( sa, वैकुण्ठ, lit=without anxiety, translit=Vaikuṇṭha), also called Vishnuloka (), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism,Gavin Flood, An ...
, the realm of Vishnu that is difficult to achieve, even for ''yogins''.
Buddhism
In Buddhism the Chintamani is said to be one of four
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s that came in a chest that fell from the sky (many
terma fell from the sky in caskets) during the reign of king Lha
Thothori Nyantsen Lha Thothori gNyan bTsan (, ) was the 28th King of Tibet according to the Tibetan legendary tradition. ''Lha'' "divine, pertaining to the gods of the sky" is an honorary title and not a part of his proper name.
He belonged to the Yarlung dynasty co ...
of Tibet. Though the king did not understand the purpose of the objects, he kept them in a position of reverence. Several years later, two mysterious strangers appeared at the court of the king, explaining the four relics, which included the Buddha's bowl (possibly a
Singing Bowl
A standing bell or resting bell is an inverted bell, supported from below with the rim uppermost. Such bells are normally bowl-shaped, and exist in a wide range of sizes, from a few centimetres to a metre in diameter. They are often played by st ...
) and a
mani stone
Mani stones are stone plates, rocks or pebbles inscribed with the six-syllabled mantra of Avalokiteshvara ('' Om mani padme hum'', hence the name ''mani stone''), as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. The term mani stone may also be used to ...
with the
Om Mani Padme Hum
' ( sa, ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana ''Kāraṇ ...
mantra
A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
inscribed on it. These few objects were the bringers of the
Dharma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
to
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
.
The
Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
The project of the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (usually referred to by the acronym DDB) was initiated by Charles Muller, a specialist in East Asian Buddhism, during his first year of graduate school when he realized the dearth of lexicographica ...
's ''ruyizhu'' entry says:
A '-jewel; magical jewel, which manifests whatever one wishes for (Skt. ', ', '). According to one's desires, treasures, clothing and food can be manifested, while sickness and suffering can be removed, water can be purified, etc. It is a metaphor for the teachings and virtues of the Buddha. ... Said to be obtained from the dragon-king of the sea, or the head of the great fish, Makara
''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn.
Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...
, or the relics of a Buddha."ruyizhu", in Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
/ref>
The
Kintamani mountainous region in
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
was named after the Cintamani.
See also
*
List of mythological objects
Mythological objects encompass a variety of items (e.g. weapons, armor, clothing) found in mythology, legend, folklore, tall tale, fable, religion, spirituality, superstition, paranormal, and pseudoscience from across the world. This list will b ...
*
Śarīra
Śarīra is a generic term referring to Buddhist relics, although in common usage it usually refers to pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. Relics of the Bu ...
*
Mani stone
Mani stones are stone plates, rocks or pebbles inscribed with the six-syllabled mantra of Avalokiteshvara ('' Om mani padme hum'', hence the name ''mani stone''), as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. The term mani stone may also be used to ...
*
Ashtamangala
The Ashtamangala is a sacred suite of ''Eight Auspicious Signs'' endemic to a number of religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or "symbolic attributes" () are yidam and teaching tools. Not only do these attributes (or e ...
*
''Yasakani no Magatama''
*
Kaustubha Gem
*
Kisshoutennyo (吉祥天女)
*
Kagome crest
The Kagome crest or is a star-shaped emblem related to the kagome lattice design ( Hexagonal and Octagonal lattices). The Kagome mon can be depicted as, either, a six-pointed star (a hexagram) and as an eight-pointed star (an octagram):
# ...
- A 6-pointed star and a 8-pointed star; a symbol also associated with the goddess ''
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
''/''Kisshōtennyo''.
*
Luminous gemstones
Folktales about luminous gemstones are an almost worldwide motif in mythology and history among Asian, European, African, and American cultures. Some stories about light-emitting gems may have been based on luminescent and phosphorescent mineral ...
*
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
*
Cornucopia
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
*
Sampo
In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith Ilmarinen and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopi ...
*
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
*
Holy Chalice
The Holy Chalice, also known as the Holy Grail, is in Christian tradition the vessel that Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve wine. The Synoptic Gospels refer to Jesus sharing a cup of wine with the Apostles in the New Testament, Apostles, sa ...
*
Sendai Daikannon statue
*
Syamantaka Gem
*
Eight Treasures
The Eight Treasures (), also known as the ''Eight Precious Things'', are popular symbols often depicted in Chinese art and on Chinese numismatic charms.
While technically they may be any subset of the much longer list of the Hundred Treasures, t ...
*
Tide jewels
In Japanese mythology, the two tide jewels, named and , were magical gems that the water deity, Sea God used to control the tides.
The earliest pseudo-historical texts record an ancient myth that the presented the tide jewels to his son-in-law ...
Notes
Bibliography
* Beer, Robert (1999). ''The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs'' (Hardcover). Shambhala. ,
* {{cite book, editor1-last=Buswell, editor1-first=Robert Jr, editor2-last=Lopez, editor2-first=Donald S. Jr., editor1-link=Robert Buswell Jr., editor2-link=Donald S. Lopez, Jr., title="Cintamani", in Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism., date=2013, publisher=Princeton University Press, location=Princeton, NJ, isbn=9780691157863
Objects in Hindu mythology
Buddhist mythology
Tibetan Buddhist mythology
Mythological substances
Sanskrit words and phrases
Fictional gemstones and jewelry
Magic items