Mañjuśrī as Ādibuddha: The Identity of an Eight-Armed Form of Mañjuśrī Found in Early Western Himalayan Buddhist Art in the Light of Three Nāmasaṃgīti-Related Texts

In this article I suggest that an eight-armed Mañjuśrī found in early Western Himalayan Art be identified not as the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī but as the Ādibuddha.¹ This figure is distinctive in that it holds four swords, one in each of its four righthands, and four book volumes, one in each of its four left hands. Previously identified as a form of Dharmadhātuvāgīśvara Mañjuśrī,² this image is found in three locations in the Western Himalayas. Two of these are in Ladakh: one at Alchi in the Sumtsek (Gsum-brtsegs, “Three-Storeyed”) Temple; the other at Mangyu, where there are two images, the first