Sarvanivarana-Vishkambhin

Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin (Chinese: Chú Gàizhàng pPsà 除蓋障菩薩; or Jìngzhū Yèzhàng Púsà 凈諸業障菩薩; Tibetan: Dripa Namsal) is a bodhisattva revered in Mahāyāna Buddhism. He is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas with Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Âkāśagarbha (Akasagarbha), Kṣitigarbha and Maitreya.

Role

He is invoked to remove or eliminate all the obstacles to insure a successful meditation.

Nivāraṇa

Although the eight Mahāsattvas belong to the current Mahāyāna, the term nivāraṇa is most commonly used in the Theravada texts where it refers to the five mental obstacles: desire (kamacchanda), hostility (vyapada), laziness (thinamiddha), distraction and worry (uddhachcha-kukuchcha), doubts (vichikicha) towards the Three Jewels. Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhi is best known to meditators and is not an important subject to individual worship like the other seven mahāsattvas.

In Vajrayāna

In Tantric Buddhism, he is usually placed in the lineage of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, one of the five Dhyani Buddhas, more rarely of Akshobhya Buddha. He is sometimes considered a form of Vajrapāṇi, this is most likely a confusion with the mahāsattva Mahāsthāmāprāpta which Vajrapāṇi is one of its incarnations.

Iconography

In iconography, he has often a flower in one hand, sometimes with a jewel (Cintamaṇi).

Sutras concerned

He is mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, in which he will pay homage to Avalokiteśvara in Varanasi, and in the Mahavairocana Tantra.

Mantra

The mantra of this great bodhisattva to remove all obstacles and disturbances mentioned in the Vairocanasūtra, is as follows: Namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ! Aḥ! Sattva Hitābhyudgata，Traṃ! Traṃ! Raṃ! Raṃ! Svāhā！

Bibliography

Radha Banerjee: Ashtamahābodhisattva, the Eight Great Bodhisattvas in Art and Literature, Abha Prakashan, (ISBN 81-85704-22-8)