Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin
1. Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin
Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin is a Bodhisattva revered in Mahāyāna Buddhism.
He is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas with Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Ākāśagarbha, Kṣitigarbha and Maitreya.
He is invoked to remove or eliminate all the obstacles to insure a successful meditation.
2. Nivāraṇa
Although the 8 Mahāsattvas belong to the current Mahāyāna, the term Nivāraṇa is most commonly used in the Theravāda texts where it refers to the 5 mental obstacles:
1) Desire (kāmacchanda),
2) Hostility (vyapada),
3) Laziness (thinamiddha),
4) Distraction and Worry (uddhachcha-kukuchcha),
5) Doubts (vichikicha) towards the Three Jewels.
Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin is best known to meditators and is not an important subject to individual worship like the other 7 Mahāsattvas.
3. In Vajrayāna
In Tantric Buddhism, he is usually placed in the lineage of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, one of the 5 Dhyāna Buddhas, more rarely of Akṣobhya Buddha.
He is sometimes considered a form of Vajrapāṇi, though this is most likely confusion with the Mahāsattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta which Vajrapāṇi is one of its incarnations.
4. Iconography
Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin | Bodhisattva
In iconography, he has often a flower in one hand, sometimes with a Jewel (Cintāmaṇi).
5. Sūtras
He is mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra, in which he pays homage to Avalokiteśvara, and in the Mahāvairocana Tantra.
He is also the main interlocutor in Rātnamegha and Tathāgata-guṇa-jñānācintya-viṣayāvatāra-nirdeśa sūtras.
6. Mantra
The mantra of this great Bodhisattva to remove all obstacles and disturbances mentioned in the Vairocana-sūtra is as follows:
Namaḥ Samantabuddhānāṁ/ Āḥ/ Sattva Hitābhyudgata/ Traṁ/ Traṁ/ Raṁ/ Raṁ/ Svāhā