Nāmasaṅgīti

The Nāmasaṅgīti (NS) is an invocation of the names of Mañjuśri such as Ādibuddha, Mañjuśrijñānasattva, Vajratīkṣṇa, Arapacana, Vāgīśvara, Yamānataka, etc and according to scholarly belief, is considered to be extracted from the Māyājālā-Mahāyogatantra, hence falls within the Yogatantra class of tantras. Lokesh Chandra mentions that unlike popular scholarly belief, the NS is not a recitation of the names of Mañjuśrī, but is a recitation of the hymn of the “advaya paramārtha”, that is, the nondual ultimate truth. Understood as a deity of wisdom and knowledge, Mañjuśri has close ties with the mythical lore of the Kathmandu Valley, and hence the Nāmasaṅgīti has a popular place in the Nepalese Buddhist community as a frequently chanted scripture. Chanting this scripture is said to bring freedom from fears, good health, long life and purification of unpleasant destinies. In the modern day, Nepal celebrates the full moon day of Caitra month (caitra pūrṇīmā) as the festival of Nāmasaṅgīti Folio 1b has a painted image of the ten armed Mañjuśrī holding an alms bowl. Interesting to note its iconographic divergence from the usual depiction of the eight armed Nāmasaṅgīti Mañjuśrī (Bhattacarya, 22) and the conventionally depicted two armed Mañjuśrī holding a book in an utpala lotus in one hand and a sword in another.