Manjushri the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, normally holds a sword in one hand, to cut off all delusion, and a Prajnaparamita Wisdom text in the other.
Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) texts, are said to be the closest Buddhists ever got to putting truth (impossible task) into words.
Manjushri, as meditation experience, is a powerful image representing ever-present wisdom plus the sword of awareness to cut off all delusion.
Soko Morinaga Roshi once told the story of when his teacher (probably Goto Zuigan) ordered a new statue of Manjushri for his temple, and when the statue was delivered Zuigan asked the carver, ‘But where is the scabbard for the sword?’ This caused a bit of a panic because the carver’s family had been making Buddhist statues for over 300 years and they didn’t make mistakes. After a bit, Zuigan laughed and said, ‘Not to worry, Manjushri never puts away his sword anyway!’