Vajrapani: Meaning and Iconography of the Thunderbolt-Bearer

Vajrapani - the name means "holder of the thunderbolt", literally "vajra in [his] hand" in Sanskrit - is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, Wikipedia records. He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and came to symbolize the Buddha's power. Wikipedia gives his Tibetan name as Chak na Dorje. The Durbar Square range includes a hand-painted thangka of him.

One of the three protective bodhisattvas

Wikipedia describes Vajrapani as extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha, each embodying one of his virtues: Manjushri manifests all the Buddhas' wisdom, Avalokiteshvara their compassion, and Vajrapani their power. His reach is broad: Wikipedia notes that he also appears as a deity in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school, is worshipped at the Shaolin Monastery, figures in Pure Land Buddhism as Mahasthamaprapta, and stands as a Dharma protector at monastery and temple gates across China, Taiwan and Japan.

The wrathful form and what it means

In human form Vajrapani is depicted holding the vajra in his right hand, Wikipedia notes, and his expression is wrathful - often symbolized as a yaksha, to generate, in Wikipedia's words, "fear in the individual to loosen up his dogmatism". His outstretched right hand brandishes the vajra, which Wikipedia glosses as symbolizing the analytical knowledge that disintegrates the grasping of consciousness. Though he sometimes wears a skull crown, Wikipedia adds that most depictions give him a five-pointed bodhisattva crown for the power of the five Dhyani Buddhas. Wikipedia gives his mantra as Om Vajrapani Hum Phat, and his seed syllable as hum.

Companion of the Buddha in legend

In early Buddhist legends, Wikipedia recounts, Vajrapani is a minor deity who accompanied Gautama Buddha during his career as a wandering mendicant, and it is he who helped Gautama escape from the palace at the time of his renunciation. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang relates that Vajrapani vanquished a large serpent at Udyana. And at the Buddha's parinirvana, the same source records, Vajrapani dropped his vajra in despair and rolled in the dust.

The Vajrapani at Durbar Square

The Vajrapani Thangka ($2,188) is handpainted, per its listing. The painting presents a three-figure composition: the wrathful Vajrapani stands dark blue amid flames at the lower right, a vajra brandished in his raised right hand, while a standing golden bodhisattva with a tall staff and a blue lotus appears at the left and a four-armed seated figure above - a grouping that reads as the three protective bodhisattvas Wikipedia describes. The listing adds that he represents the power of all the Buddhas.

Hand-painted Vajrapani thangka: wrathful dark-blue figure brandishing a vajra amid flames, with a standing golden bodhisattva at left and a four-armed seated deity above

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Vajrapani (name and etymology, the three protective bodhisattvas, forms and their meaning, mantra, legends)
  • Durbar Square product listing (technique and price)
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