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Massive golden buddha on the sumit of Eimei Shan.jpg
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 普賢菩薩
Simplified Chinese 普贤菩萨
Tibetan name
Tibetan ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet Phổ Hiền Bồ Tát
Thai name
Thai พระสมันตภัทรโพธิสัตว์
Korean name
Hangul 보현보살
Hanja 普賢菩薩
Mongolian name
Mongolian Гүндэсамбуу, Самандaбадраа, Хамгаар Сайн
Japanese name
Kanji 普賢菩薩
Tamil name
Tamil சமந்தபத்திரர்
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit Samantabhadra
Sinhalese name
Sinhalese ශ්‍රී සමන්තභද්‍ර

Samantabhadra (Sanskrit: Universal Worthy), is a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with Buddhist practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and fellow bodhisattva Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Buddhism. He is the patron of the Lotus Sutra and, according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, made the ten great vows which are the basis of a bodhisattva. In China, Samantabhadra is associated with action, whereas the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī is associated with wisdom. In Japan, this bodhisattva is often venerated by the Tendai and in Shingon Buddhism, and as the protector of the Lotus Sutra by Nichiren Buddhism. In the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Samantabhadra is also the name of the primordial Buddha - in indivisible yab-yum union with his consort, Samantabhadri.



Samantabhadra is also a key figure in the Āvataṃsaka-sūtra, particularly the last chapter, the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra. In the climax of the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra, the student Sudhana meets Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who teaches him that wisdom only exists for the sake of putting it into practice; that it is only good insofar as it benefits all living beings.

In the Āvataṃsaka-sūtra, the Buddha states that Samantabhadra Bodhisattva made ten great vows in his path to full Buddhahood:

  1. To pay homage and respect to all Buddhas.
  2. To praise the Thus Come One-Tathagata.[2]
  4. To repent misdeeds and evil karmas.
  5. To rejoice in others' merits and virtues.
  6. To request the Buddhas to continue teaching.
  7. To request the Buddhas to remain in the world.
  9. To accommodate and benefit all living beings.



In Mahayana Buddhism[edit]

Unlike his more popular counterpart Manjusri, Samantabhadra is only rarely depicted alone and is usually found in a trinity on the right side of Shakyamuni, mounted on a white elephant. In those traditions that accept the Avatamsaka Sutra as its root instruction, Samantabhadra and Manjusri flank Vairocana Buddha, the central Buddha of this particular sutra.

Known as Pǔxián in Chinese, he is sometimes shown in Chinese art with feminine characteristics, riding an elephant with six pairs of tusks while carrying a lotus leaf 'parasol' (Sanskrit: chhatra), bearing similar dress and features to some feminine depictions of Kuan Yin. It is in this guise that Samantabhadra is revered as the patron bodhisattva of the monasteries associated with Mount Emei in western China. Some believe that the white elephant mount of Samantabhadra was the same elephant that appeared to Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, to herald his birth.

Mahayana esoteric traditions treat Samantabhada as one of the 'Primordial' (Sanskrit: Dharmakaya) Buddhas, but the main primordial buddha is considered to be Vairocana.

In Esoteric Buddhism[edit]

Samantabhadra, pictured in Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue who Prolongs Life, 12th century painting on silk, late Heian period.

It is very common that the bodhisattva of the Mahayana tradition with the name of Samantabhadra is conflated with a Buddha with the same name that appears as the primordial buddha, in some of the Tibetan traditions. This is a very common error and should be avoided. This comes from the fact that both figures have the same name but their meaning within their respective traditions is quite different. It is not the case that the bodhisattva of the Mahayan has evolved or transformed when assimilated into the Tibetan tradition because in that tradition the Bodhisattva samantabhadra is present and the Dharmakaya Samantabhadra as well as two separate and distinct entities.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, particularly the Nyingma school, Dharmakaya Samantabhadra (not the bodhisattva of the mahayana) is considered the most primordial Buddha, akin in status to Vajradhara for the Sarma traditions. Samantabhadra appears in the Vajrayana tantric text the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, as the Primordial Buddha, the 'embodiment' (Sanskrit: kaya) or 'field' (Sanskrit: kṣetra) of 'timeless awareness, gnosis' (Sanskrit: jñāna) awakened since before the very beginning. Therefore in Tibetan Buddhism the Nyingma, or 'Old Translation' school, the Sakya and the Bön schools view Samantabhadra as the Primordial Buddha. In the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana, Samantabhadra is considered a primordial Buddha in indivisible yab-yum union with his consort Samantabhadri. However, the Kagyu and Gelug schools use Vajradhara to represent the Primordial Buddha.


Samantabhadra is not subject to limits of time, place, or physical conditions. Samantabhadra is not a colored being with two eyes, etc. Samantabhadra is the unity of awareness and emptiness, the unity of appearances and emptiness, the nature of mind, natural clarity with unceasing compassion - that is Samantabhadra from the very beginning.[3]

'The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra' (Tibetan: ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོངWylie: kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long) is one of the Seventeen Tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.[4]

In Sri Lanka[edit]

Main article: Saman (deity)
Fugen Enmei (普賢延命菩薩?), the life Preserver.

Sri Lankan people venerates Samantabhadra Bodhisatva as Saman (also called Sumana, Samantha, Sumana Saman, Sinhalese: සුමන සමන් ‍දෙවි). The name Saman means "the rising morning sun". God Saman is considered one of the guardian deities of the island and Buddhism. His main shrine is located in Ratnapura, where there is an annual festival held in his honor.[5]


  1. ^ Katō Bunno, Tamura Yoshirō, Miyasaka Kōjirō, tr. (1975), The Threefold Lotus Sutra : The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings; The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law; The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. New York & Tōkyō: Weatherhill & Kōsei Publishing.
  3. ^ Khyentse, Dzongsar (1990). "Introduction: The Significance of This Biography" in: Palmo, Ani Jima (Eugenie de Jong; translator); Nyingpo, Yudra (compilor, et al.) (2004). The Great Image: the Life Story of Vairochana the translator. Shambala Publications, Inc.: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. ISBN 1-59030-069-6 (pbk.: alk. paper). p.xxi
  4. ^ Rigpa Shedra (October, 2009). Seventeen Tantras. Source: [1] (accessed: Monday April 5, 2010)
  5. ^ "The Gods & Deity Worship in Sri Lanka". Retrieved 2010-06-28. 

References and Further Reading[edit]

  • Yeshe De Project (1986). Ancient Tibet: Research materials from the Yeshe De Project. California: Dharma Publishing. ISBN 0-89800-146-3. 
  • Dudjom Rinpoche; Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (1991). Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein, ed. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: its Fundamentals and History. Two Volumes. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-087-8. 

External links[edit]