The Infant Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī Riding a Lion

This painting depicts Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of wisdom, shown as a small boy since he is believed to be perennially young. The head of the bodhisattva, an enlightened being who delayed his own Buddhahood in order to help others achieve the same goal, is surrounded by a halo and he wears ornaments on his neck and arms. He holds the sword of divine knowledge in his right hand (symbolizing his cleaving asunder of the clouds of ignorance) and a scroll of the Prajñaparamita-sutra or Diamond Sutra in his left hand. Mañjuśrī is seated on a pedestal in the form of a fully opened pink lotus blossom, set upon his standard vehicle, a lion, whose body is blue and whose feet are held up by lotus blossoms.