| Product Tags | Tibetan Conch Shell, Manjushree Hand Carved, Ritual Object, Religious Object, Natural Sea conch shell, Hinduism shankha, Shankha, Buddhisim shankha |
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Tibetan Conch Shell with Manjushree Hand Carved
Weight: 1.14 kg
Size: 20 cm
Material: Conch shell
About the Product
Brief Introduction
Commentary
According to legend Manjushree founded the Nepalese civilisation. In ancient times way before Buddha Shakyamuni the Kathmandu Valley was a vast lake. The Buddha Vipashyin came to Nepal to meditate upon the hill above the lake. Wishing to give the rough mountain people an object of worship Vipashyin threw a lotus seed into the lake. When this lotus bloomed a blue flame of wisdom light shone from the centre of its thousand petals. This light was called the Swayambhunath Dharmadhatu the Self-Sprung Infinite Field of Light and the flame of the enlightened mind of the primal Buddha Vajradhara burned at its center. The light of Vajradhara also emanated in the colours of the rainbow and in each of the five colours appeared one of the Five Buddhas - Vairochana Akshobhya Ratnasambhava Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. Then Manjushri went to Nagarkot Peak on the edge of the lake and after having pondered in Samadhi how best the lake may be drained with his keen edged sword of wisdom he cut three Gorges. After the lake had been drained and the Valley bottom made suitable for cultivation Manjushree founded the city of Patan which was originally called Manjupattan. He taught the people many things. Manjushree manifests himself in the form of Yamantaka known also as Vajrabhairava in order to overcome the lord of Death Yama.
The Book (Pustaka) represents Transcendent Wisdom which came to beembodied by the Dyani {Pancha} Buddha Families. The book symbolically contains Buddhist teaching that had been lost to mankind & which was revealed to Manjushree. The book is commonly mistaken for the Prajna Paramita which was written by many hands between 100 & 200 CE realising the Boddhisattva Principle. The book of Manjushree alludes to Wisdom and the emanation of the Five Transcendent Buddha Families. These are Vairochana Akshobhya Ratnasambhava Amitabha & Amoghasiddhi. Wisdom Energy is a power which can extinguish the Five Negative afflictions. Each family heads wisdom energy to overcome these Five hindrances to enlightenment which are greed hatred delusion jealousy & pride.
Mantra of Manjushree
Sankha: Brief Introduction
An offering vessel; a symbol of Vishnu. In Hindu tradition the conch shell seems to have been extensively used in wars by ancient Indian. The white conch shell whose humming sound proclaims the glory of the saints. It is especially given as a symbol to the gods as the sound vibrated through a shell penetrates far and wide.CONCH SHELL: IconographicThe conch shell this has been used as the original from the past ancient times in ancient history of Nepal and India these horns are used to commence is any rituals or worn. Popularly known as Shanka is a musical instrument blow by the lord Krishna to declare the start of the war of Mahabharata. in all the epic stories of Hinduism shankha has been described being carried by all the heroes of the past.
In Vajrayana Buddhism.This has been recognised as the symbol of fearlessness and proclaimed the truth of dharma. This is the one of the eight symbols of good fortune this stands for the popularity and fame of Buddhist teaching which spread in all direction like the sound of the Conch Trumpet.
In addition to Buddha's throat the conch also appears as an auspicious mark on the soles palms limbs breast or forehead of a divinely endowed being.
The fourfold caste division is also applied as follows:
The smooth white conch represents the Brahmin caste (priests)
The red conch the kshatriyas (warriors)
The yellow conch the vaishyas (merchants)
The grey conch the shudras (labourers)
Additionally there is a fundamental classification of conch shells occurring in nature: those that turn to the left and those which turn to the right. Shells which spiral to the right in a clockwise direction are a rarity and are considered especially sacred. The right-spiralling movement of such a conch is believed to echo the celestial motion of the sun moon planets and stars across the heavens. The hair whorls on Buddha's head spiral to the right as do his fine body hairs the long curl between his eyebrows (urna) and also the conch-like swirl of his navel.
The Left Turning Conch The Right Turning ConchIt is one of the main emblems of Vishnu and his conch bears the name of Panchajanya meaning 'having control over the five classes of beings.'
Arjuna's (hero of the Mahabharata) mighty conch was known as Devadatta whose triumphant blast brought terror to the enemy. As a proclaiming battle horn the conch is akin to the bugle. It is an emblem of power authority and sovereignty whose blast is believed to banish evil spirits avert natural disasters and scare away poisonous creatures.
Today in its greatly tamed avatar the conch is used in Tibetan Buddhism to call together religious assemblies. During the actual practise of rituals it is used both as a musical instrument and as a container for holy water.
Ancient Indian belief classifies the conch into male and female varieties. The thicker-shelled bulbous one is thought to be the male (purusha) and the thin-shelled slender conch to be the female (shankhini).
Buddhist monk blowing conch shell at Mindrolling Monastery
