ID: 901001393 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901001393	Record Type: Event/Narrative

	Vimalakirti and Manjushri (Buddhist narrative)

Note: The story is detailed in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa (Vimalakīrti’s Teachings), a seminal Mahayana scripture featuring the layman as its protagonist. In it, Śākyamuni seeks a disciple or bodhisattva to visit Vimalakīrti, who is ill. Each one the Buddha approaches hesitates, for fear of being outdone by the eloquent layman, until Mañjuśrī, a bodhisattva worshipped as the embodiment of wisdom, finally agrees to go. Mañjuśrī arrives, and Vimalakīrti attracts a vast audience of disciples, bodhisattvas, and other deities. After numerous displays of skill and insight, the layman responds to Mañjuśrī’s query on a fundamental Buddhist tenet, the emptiness (i.e., lack of self-nature) of all phenomena, in the form of the "lion’s roar" of silence, thus earning the bodhisattva’s profound admiration.

Names:

	Vimalakirti and Manjushri (Buddhist narrative) (preferred,b,English-P,D,P)
	Vimalakīrti's Forum with the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Buddhist narrative) (f,English,U,P)

Hierarchical Position:

		Legend, Religion, Mythology (P)
		....<Buddhist iconography> (P)
		........<Buddhist narratives> (P)
		............Vimalakirti and Manjushri (Buddhist narrative) (I)

Related Iconography:

	actor is .... Vīmalakirti
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Buddhist iconography, Buddhist characters, Vīmalakirti (Buddhist character)) [901001391]

	actor is .... Manjushri
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Buddhist iconography, Buddhist characters, Manjushri (Buddhist bodhisattva)) [901000407]

	source is .... Vīmalakirti Sutra
	..........(Literature and Performing Arts, Named written and performed works, Literary works: Philosophy, Religion, Named sutras, Vīmalakirti Sutra (Buddhist sutra)) [901001392]

Other Relationships:

	role/characteristic is .... narrative (literary works)
	.....(genres for literature, genres in literature and performing arts, concepts in the arts and humanities, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	culture/religion is .... Buddhism
	.....(religions (belief systems, cultures), religions and religious concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	topic is .... competition (event)
	.....(contests, cultural events, events (activities), Events (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

Sources:

	Vimalakirti and Manjushri (Buddhist narrative)
	................British Museum [online] (1999-)
	Vimalakīrti's Forum with the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Buddhist narrative)
	................Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)
	................ British Museum [online] (1999-)
	................ Buswell and Lopez, Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (2013)