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Page from a Vajrayana Buddhist Manuscript Depicting a Grahamatrka who Presides over Saturday

c. 1400-1500
Artist/maker unknown, Nepalese

Buddhists revere manuscripts like this one as embodiments of Vajrayana Buddhist wisdom. The deity in the center is the three-headed form of the Bodhisattva Manjushri, holding a sword, lotus, bow, and arrow. Manjushri is the patron Bodhisattva of wisdom in Nepal. The text includes mantras (sacred incantations) written in Sanskrit.

Bodhisattvas are "enlightened beings" who have vowed to help all beings attain salvation before entering Nirvana themselves.

Object Details

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