Vajrapani
is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power.
Vajrapāni is also called Chana Dorji and Chador and extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. Each of them symbolizes one of the Buddha's virtues: Manjushri manifests all the Buddhas' wisdom, Avalokiteśvara manifests all the Buddhas' immense compassion, and Vajrapāni protects Buddha and manifests all the Buddhas' power as well as the power of all five tathāgatas.
Vajrapāni is one of the earliest Dharmapalas of Mahayana Buddhism and also appears as a deity in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school. He is worshiped in the Shaolin Monastery, in Tibetan Buddhism and in Pure Land Buddhism. Manifestations of Vajrapāni can also be found in many Buddhist temples in China, Taiwan and Japan as Dharma protectors guarding monastery and temple gates. Vajrapāni is also associated with Acala, where he is serenaded as the holder of the vajra.
Etymology
Vajrapāni, "holder of the thunderbolt", is a compound word in Sanskrit in which 'Vajra' means "Diamond or Thunderbolt", and 'pāni' literally means "in hand".Forms
In human form Vajrapāni is depicted holding the vajra in his right hand. He is sometimes referred to as a Dhyani-Bodhisattva, equivalent to Akshobhya, the second Dhyani Buddha. Acharya-Vajrapani is Vajrapani's manifestation as Dharmapala, often seen sporting a third eye, ghanta and pāśa. He is sometimes represented as a yidam with one head and four hands in a form known as Nilambara-Vajrapani, carrying a vajra, and treading on personage lying on snakes. Mahacakra-Vajrapani, also a yidam, is depicted with three heads and six arms, carrying a vajra and snakes whilst treading on Brahmā and Maheśvara. He is often in union with his consort in yab-yum. Acala-Vajrapani is depicted with four heads, four arms and four legs carrying a sword, a lasso and vajra, treading on demons. Another depiction is in the form with the head, wings, and claws of Garuda.Vajrapāni's expression is wrathful, and is often symbolised as a yaksha, to generate "fear in the individual to loosen up his dogmatism." His outstretched right hand brandishes a vajra, "symbolising analytical knowledge that disintegrates the grasping of consciousness. Although he sometimes wears a skull crown, in most depictions he wears a five-pointed bodhisattva crown to depict the power of the five Dhyani Buddhas.
Mantras
The mantra ' is associated with Vajrapāni. His Seed Syllable is '.- Tibetan: ༄༅།། ཨོཾ་བཛྲ་པཱ་ཎི་ཧཱུྃ་ཕཊ།།
Legends
According to Xuanzang, the Chinese monk and traveler, Vajrapāni vanquished a large serpent at Udyana. In another version it is stated that while the Nāgas came to worship the Buddha and hear his sermons, Vajrapāni assumed the form of a bird to deceive them so that they were not attacked by their deadly enemies, the Garudas.
At the parinirvana of the Buddha, Vajrapāni dropped his vajra in despair and rolled himself in the dust.
Meaning
Vajrapāni is seen as a manifestation of Vajradhara and the "spiritual reflex", the Dhyani Bodhisattva of Akshobhya. On the popular level, Vajrapāni is the bodhisattva who represents the power of all the buddhas just as Avalokiteśvara represents their great compassion, and Mañjuśrī their wisdom. He is called the Master of Unfathomable Mysteries who upholds truth even in adversities of darkness and ignorance.According to the Pañcaviṃsatisāhasrikā- and Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitās, any bodhisattva on the path to buddhahood is eligible for Vajrapāni's protection, making them invincible to any attacks "by either men or ghosts".
Features and identifications
Identification with Heracles
As Buddhism expanded in Central Asia and fused with Hellenistic influences into Greco-Buddhism, the Greek hero Heracles was adopted to represent Vajrapāni. In that era, he was typically depicted as a hairy, muscular athlete, wielding a short "diamond" club. Buddhaghosa associated Vajrapāni with the deva king Indra. Some authors believe that the deity depicted is actually Zeus, whose Classical attribute is the thunderbolt. The image of Vajrapani as a wrestler-like figure would eventually influence the statues of guardian deities in East Asia.In India
During the Kushan Empire, Gandhara art depicted Vajrapani's images in which he is shown primarily as a protector of Sakyamuni and not in the role of a bodhisattva. In the Indrasalaguha scenes, mountains form a part of his environment where his presence during the conversion of the naga Apalala is shown. In these depictions, he is shown wearing exclusive Western attire and always in the presence of other deities. The reliefs in this art form depict Vajrapani always present in the scenes where Buddha is converting people; his presence is shown when the Buddha confronts the opponents of the dharma like Mara before his enlightenment. Scenes of Sakyamuni competing with the heretics are also part of this art tradition. Scenes of Buddha using the vajra of Vajrapani as the "magic weapon" to perform miracles and propagate "superiority of his doctrine" are also common.In the western group of caves of the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Vajrapani is depicted as a bodhisattva with his vajra in a tableau, a votive panel of sculptural composition in which he in a standing posture over a lotus to the left of a Buddha in a dhyanasana. In this panel he is adorned with a tall crown, two necklaces, a snake armlet and holds the vajra in his left hand, and resting on a scarf tied across his hips. This close iconographic composition is at the entrance to the porch of cave 2 and in the incomplete porch of cave 1. Such votive carved panels with Vajrapani are also seen in the interior of the parikrama passage of cave 2, in which he is paired with other bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara. In this panel he has a crown in the form of a stupa with a scarf fastened over his left thigh.
In the eastern group of caves, at the entry to cave 6, Vajrapani is carved as a commanding persona in the form of a huge dvarapala, along with Avalokiteśvara. Here, he is flanked by a small attendant. He carries the *vajra*, a luminous weapon in his left hand, which rests on a scarf tied across his hip. His right arm is bent forward, and possibly once held a lotus, similar to Avalokiteśvara. Both figures at the entrance of cave 6 are depicted wearing crowns.
In China
In China, Vajrapāni, known as the "vajra-holding god", is widely venerated in his dual manifestation as the "vajra warriors" or "Benevolent Kings", two muscular guardian deities that usually stand at each side of the shanmen in Buddhist temples and monasteries. The statue on the right side is traditionally named "Guhyapāda", while the one on the left is traditionally named "Nārāyaṇa", both of whom are dharmapalas in the Chinese Buddhist canon. In Chinese folk religion, they are also known as "Generals Heng and Ha", so named because the right statue usually has its mouth open to pronounce the sound "a", while the other usually has it closed to utter the sound "heng". The two sounds are the start and end sounds in Sanskrit, symbolizing the basis of sounds and bearing the profound theory of Dharma. Guhyapāda, in particular, is also considered one of the Twenty Devas or Twenty-Four Devas in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon. In the Shaolin tradition, Vajrapāni is venerated as an avatar of Guanyin who manifested to protect the monastery during the Yuan dynasty.In Japan
In Japan, Vajrapāni is called 2=執金剛神, the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name. As in China, his image was the inspiration for the Nio, the wrath-filled and muscular guardian of the Buddha, found at the entrance of many Buddhist temples.Vajrapāni is also associated with Acala; the mantra for Fudō-myōō references him as the powerful wielder of the vajra. Though he is not a very popular form of statue worship in Japan, he is frequently depicted in diagrams. The sixth formation of the Womb Realm Mandala is called the "Vajrapani enclosure", in which he is depicted in 20 different forms, with Vajrasattva as the presiding deity. In Japanese iconography he is depicted in red colour at the death of Buddha.