Avalokitesvara is a Sanskrit word. ‘Avalokita’ means ‘looking on’ and ‘esvara’ means ‘lord’. All throughout the Buddhist world, Avalokitesvara is considered the most beloved, one with infinite mercy and compassion. In the Buddhist legends, he is the most popular figure. He is most well liked in the Vajrayana – Tantric (Esoteric branch of Buddhism), Theravada (a branch of Buddhism) and in the Mahayana Buddhism. The bodhisattvas’s resolve to postpone his own Buddhahood till he has assisted every conscious being on the earth to attain ‘release’ or ‘moksha’ from ‘dukkha’ or ‘suffering’ and also from the procedure of death and samsara (rebirth).
The self-born Amitabha – the eternal Buddha’s earthly manifestation is Lord Avalokitesvara. His headdress constitutes his figure. Avalokitesvara protects the world during the interval between the historical Buddha’s departure and the coming back of Maitreya, the future Buddha. He safeguards against assassins, wild animals, shipwreck, thieves and fire. The actual universe – which is the fourth world, has been created by Avalokitesvara. Legends mention that once when he saw that he had to save a huge number of wicked beings in the world, he was very grief-stricken and his head split. He made each of the pieces into a complete head and placed them in 3 tiers of three on his son then the 10th piece and topped all pieces with his own image. Avalokitesvara is represented with thousands of arms which spread around him like a peacock’s tail.
Avalokitesvara’s name has been expounded differently across the world as ‘the Lord of the World’, or ‘the lord of what we see’, or ‘the lord who looks in every direction’, or ‘he who looks with his eyes’, or ‘the Lord with a pitying look’ etc.
