The Thunderbolt-bearing Bodhisattva: Vajrapani Aakash Vajrapāṇi, Min Mahāyāna Buddhist mythology, one of the celestial bodhisattvas (“Buddhas-to-be”), the manifestation of the self-born Buddha Akṣobhya. Vajrapāṇi (Sanskrit: Like Indra he holds the Thunderbolt-Bearer) is thunderbolt and is coloured believed to be the protector of dark blue or white. His statues the nāgas (half-man, half- are often found in a triad with serpent deities) and sometimes the Buddha Amitāyus (or the assumes the shape of a bird in bodhisattva of wisdom, order to deceive their Mañjuśrī) and the lotus- traditional enemy, the bearing bodhisattva of hawklike Garuḍa. Because of compassion, Padmapāṇi. In his association with the rain- Tibet he assumes ferocious controlling nāgas and with the forms to combat demons and Hindu god of rain, Indra, he is to guard the mystical teaching invoked in times of drought. of Buddhism, and in Japan he guards the temple doorways. Vajrapani, the “holder of a thunderbolt” (vajra), shares his origins with the Vedic deity Indra, god of storms. Early in Buddhist iconography, the thunderbolt scepter assumed an independent meaning associated with clarity of pure thought leading to enlightenment. A TO Z INDIA ● MARCH 2023 ● PAGE 31