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The Lotus Sutra
Chapter 1, Introduction, Page 12
At this time the Bodhisattva Maitreya had this thought:
What is the reason for these signs of spiritual transformation that the World Honored One has just presented ? And now the Buddha, the World Honored One, has just entered into Samadhi. An unimaginable event such as this is rare to encounter. Who should I ask about this? Who would be able to answer me?
And then he had this thought:
There is a Prince of the Dharma, Manjusri, who has already been intimately close and offered service to countless Buddhas from the past. Surely he should have seen these rare signs. I now must ask him.
At this time the monks, the nuns, the laymen and laywomen, the gods, the dragons, the demons and all the other spirits had this thought:
Who should we ask about this bright ray of light issuing forth from the Buddha and all these other spiritual signs?
The Bodhisattva Maitreya, desiring to resolve his own doubts, and also observing the minds of the monks, the nuns, the laymen and laywomen, the gods, the dragons, the demons, and all the other spiritual beings in the assembly, posed a question to Manjusri:
What is the reason for these omens, these spiritual signs, and the emanation of a great ray of light that illuminates 18,000 lands in the east, enabling us see all the adornments in the lands of the Buddhas?
C. & D. The Doubts & Question of Maitreya and the Audience - The Prose Portion
Maitreya is the Bodhisattva of kindness, caring and mercy. As such Maitreya knows the questions on the mind of the audience before they even ask and so speaks for them out of kindness and consideration (Sanskrit for kindness is Maitri, in Pali it is Metta). Maitreya may even already know the answer to the question before it is asked but asks it anyway for the benefit of the audience. Maitreya will also be the one that asks the questions for the audience in Chapters 15 through 18 on the eternal nature of the Buddha. In many Sutras (including the 28th Chapter of The Lotus Sutra) Maiteya is said to be in the Tusita Heaven waiting to enter into the Saha world as the next Buddha.
On the Origin of Maitreya:
Maitreya derives at least in part from the Vedic god
Mitra. In the Vedic pantheon, Mitra was (with Varuna) one of the two most important of
the Adityas or sovereign principles of the universe. He personified
friendship, the social contract, the sacred bond between people - all that is
important in the successful maintenance of order in the human world. He is
usually paired with the god Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order, whose
powers he complements as guardian of the human order. Whereas Mitra
personified the relationship between people, Varuna represented the relation
between people and the cosmic order - that is fate, the favor and disfavor of
the gods. Mitra was the god of contract and mutual obligation, and the
god of the oath. His name was invoked upon the making of treaties. In some Vedic
texts the god Mitra appears both as "friend" and as "contract." The word Mitra
may be translated in either way, because contracts and mutual obligation make
people friends. Mitra was frequently depicted as reluctantly
participating in the sacrifice of a bull. Contract and sacrifice were connected,
since in ancient times treaties were sanctioned by the sacrifice of an animal,
the sharing of a feast and the drinking of soma.
Asking Manjusri
Since the Buddha is in deep Samadhi and cannot answer the question, the question about the signs is asked of Manjusri. Manjusri personifies wisdom and spiritual insight and has served countless Buddhas from the ancient past. Therefore, Manjusri would be best qualified to answer the question.
Therefore, out of kindness and consideration for living bings (personified by Maitreya), the experience of spiritual wisdom (personified by Manjusri) is consulted for an answer about the portent of these spiritual signs that have never been seen.
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