Manjushrikirti or ''Manjughoshikirti'' (Skt. ''Mañjuśrīkīrti''; ; ) in a name which refers to different figures in

Indian Buddhism Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha who was deemed a "Buddha" ("Awakened One"), although Buddhist doctri ...

Buddhist scholars

Mañjuśrīkīrti is the name of a student of

Candrakīrti Chandrakirti (; ; , meaning "glory of the moon" in Sanskrit) or "Chandra" was a Buddhist scholar of the madhyamaka school and a noted commentator on the works of Nagarjuna () and those of his main disciple, Aryadeva. He wrote two influential w ...

(c. 600 – c. 650).Luis O. Gomez and Jonathan A. Silk, ''Studies in the Literature of the Great Vehicle: Three Mahayana Buddhist Texts''. Ann Arbor 1989 pg 11 Mañjuśrīkīrti is also the name of an Indian Buddhist scholar who wrote a commentary to the '' Samādhirāja Sūtra'' (''King of Samādhis Sūtra'') called the ''Kīrtimala'' (Tibetan: ''grags pa'i phreng ba'') which survives in Tibetan translation.Regamey, Constantin (1938). ''Philosophy in the Samādhirājasūtra: Three Chapters From the Samādhirājasūtra,'' p. 3. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Four other works in the Tibetan canon are attributed to him, one text on Grammar and three works on tantra. His work shows strong influence of

Yogacara Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...

Buddhism.Tatz, Mark (1972). ''Revelation in Madhyamika Buddhism,'' p. 10. M.A.Thesis, University of Washington. Little else is known about this author. It is doubtful that these two are the same figure, since the author of the ''Kīrtimala'' is strongly influenced by Yogacara ''vijñanavada'', a view rejected by Candrakīrti.

King of Shambhala

Mañjuśrīkīrti is said to have been the eighth king of Shambhala and is considered to be the second incarnation in the lineage of the

Panchen Lamas The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he ...

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, ...

. As his name indicates, is considered to have been an incarnation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. Manjushrikirti was born in

Shambhala In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala ( sa, शम्भल ',''Śambhala'', also ''Sambhala'', is the name of a town between the Rathaprā and Ganges rivers, identified by some with Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. In the Puranas, it is named as ...

, the son of King Deva-Indra and his queen, Kauśikí. His rule is said to have extended over "hundreds of petty kings and a hundred thousand cities." He is said to have expelled 300,510 followers of heretical doctrine of the Mlechhas or "materialistic barbarians", some of whom worshipped the sun, but after reconsidering, he brought them back and they asked for his teachings. Next he united all the castes, or religious factions, of Shambala into one

Vajra The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shape ...

or 'Diamond' Caste. Consequentially, he was the first king of Shambhala to be given the title ''Kalki'' (Tib. ''Rigden''), meaning "Holder of the Castes" or "Wisdom Holder." He is said in Tibetan sources to have taken the throne 674 years after the death of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

. Following the Tibetan sources, which place the

parinirvana In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

in 833 BCE, he would have become king of Shambhala in 159 BCE. There is, however, no consensus on the date of the death of the Buddha. Modern scholars have proposed dates of 563, 483, 410 or 400 BCE. These would suggest dates for his accession of 111, 191, 264 or 274 CE respectively. He then put the Kalachakra teachings in a condensed and simplified form called the "Sri Kalachakra" or "Laghutantra". This work is also called the ''Condensed Kālachakra Tantra (bsdus rgyud, laghutantra)''. It is usual now simply called the ''Kālachakra Tantra'', the original longer version one is no longer extant.

Lineage of the Panchen Lamas

In the lineage of the Panchen Lamas of Tibet there were considered to be four "Indian" and three Tibetan incarnations of Amitabha Buddha before

Khedrup Gelek Pelzang Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama (1385–1438 CE) – better known as Khedrup Je – was one of the main disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, whose reforms to Atiśa's Kadam tradition are considered the beginnings of the Gelug ...

, who is recognised as the 1st

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, h ...

. The lineage starts with Subhuti, and Manjushrikirti is considered the second incarnation.Das, Sarat Chandra. ''Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet'' (1970), pp. 81-103. Manjushri Publishing House, New Delhi. First published in the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'', Vol. LI (1882).

Footnotes

External links

International Kalachakra Network
{{authority control Tibetan Buddhist mythology Panchen Lamas

Buddhist scholars

King of Shambhala

Lineage of the Panchen Lamas

Footnotes

See also

External links