Vajrapani

In Tibet, Vajrapani is represented in many fierce forms. Some of the notable ones are: Vajrapani-Acharya (Dharmapala) in a human form with only one head with a third eye with hair raised and crowned by a skull with fiery expression. His neck is adorned with a necklace of snakes, and with waist band made of tiger skin covered with skulls. Stepping to the right, his lifted hand holds a vajra. When painted in blue colour the image is encircled by flames with images of small Garudas;^[1] Nilambara-Vajrapani with one head, with a third eye, a crown made of skull with four or six arms and in some cases with untidy hair bedecked with vajra and snake. Two hands are crossed to the breast in mystic posture (mudra), the second right hand is lifted up and carries a vajra. Stepping to the right, regally crowned and lying over a bed of snakes;^[1] in Achala-Vajrapani form he is shown with four heads, four arms and four legs adorned with symbols of vajra, sword, lasso and skull cup (kapala) and trampling over demons;^[1] Mahachakra-Vajrapani is a form with three heads and a third eye, and with six arms and two legs. The icon is adorned with symbols of vajra, snake with yum held in its main hands, and as shakti it to his left is shown holding a skull-cup (kapala) and grigug (chopper or hooked knife). The icon is shown stepping over Brahma on the right and on Shiva to the left;^[1] in the Thunderbolt-Wielder form known as "snake charm form" to protect from snake bites, he is depicted sitting on a lotus throne carried by peacocks. The right hand posture holds one end of rope noose to capture snake demons while the left hand held over the hips carries the other end of the noose. He is followed by two bodhisattvas—"Sarvanivarana-Vishkambhin, Effacer of Stains, and Samantabhadra, the Entirely Virtuous One". His adornments consist of a tall crown and snakes coiling his arms and ankles. In a painted form, usually in white colour "crossed-vajra" is held to the left raised above the accompanying Bodhisattvas but when painted in blue colour the left hand holds a double vajra;^[2] his Garuda form is with wings and claws or with human head with a beak or head with wings fully spread (his painted form is in blue colour). he may be trampling over a demon or dead naga (snake). In some images he is shown carrying a sword, a bottle in the shape of a gourd, a chopper or hands held in a prayer mode.^[2]

In Vietnamese Buddhism, Vajrapani is considered the Dharma and is said to have eight Vajrapani, called Bát bộ kim cương. Sùng Thiện Diên Linh stele (built 1122) in Long Đọi Temple from the Lý dynasty mentioned eight.^[3] These eight Dharma protectors are often arranged in Vietnamese Buddhist temples as to protect the Dharma, followers and Buddhist worship facilities. The eight Dharma protectors have their own names:

• Thanh Trừ Tai
• Tích Độc Thần
• Hoàng Tùy Cầu
• Bạch Tịnh Thủy
• Xích Thanh Hỏa
• Định Trừ Tai
• Tử Hiền Thần
• Đại Thần Lực

Although they are eight, all eight are gathered into a unified group, divided into two rows, four in each row, not separated to worship.

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  Statue of Vajrapāṇi, Long Đọi Temple, Hà Nam Province (1118–1121, Trần dynasty)
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  Vajrapāni figurine, Bát Tràng kiln, Hanoi, Revival Lê dynasty, 17th century AD
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  Two out of eight Bát bộ kim cang statues at Phật Cô Đơn temple
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  Two out of eight Bát bộ kim cang statues at Phật Cô Đơn temple

Vajrapani holds a prominent position in the Buddhist canon and is identified as a yaksha leader who has become a full-scale bodhisattva. This, reflected through the Mahayana sutras has become an "emblem of esoteric knowledge and the revealer of Buddhist Tantra". As a yaksha, he maintains a special relationship with mountains and caves. According to Buddhist scholar E. Lamotte, Vajrapani was the chief of the Guhayakas (genies des cavernes), who played an important role in Esoteric Buddhist and Brahmanical literature of India. Lamotte based his assessment on many textual passages which explained Vajrapani's use of his magic vajra to shake mountains.

The Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya includes a narrative about how Vajrapani used his strength to destroy the boulder Devadatta used in his attempt to murder the Buddha. In the Sarvastivada vinaya vibhasha, Vajrapani protects the pradakshina path with his magic weapon. This association correlates with the presence of large images of Vajrapani in Cave 6 at Aurangabad, located at both the entrance and exit of the circumambulation passage.^[4]

The Pāli Canon's Ambattha Sutta, which challenges the rigid nature of caste system, tells of one instance of him appearing as a sign of the Buddha's power. At the behest of his teacher, a young Brahmin named Ambatha visited the Buddha. Knowing the Buddha's family to be the Shakya clan, who are Kshatriya caste, Ambattha failed to show him the respect he would a fellow Brahmin. When the Buddha questioned his lack of respect, Ambatha replied it was because the Buddha belongs to a "menial" caste. The Buddha then asked the Brahmin if his family was descended from a “Shakya slave girl”. Knowing this to be true, Ambatha refused to answer the question. Upon refusing to answer the question for a second time, the Buddha warned him that his head would be smashed to bits if he failed to do so a third time. Ambatha was frightened when he saw Vajrapāni manifest above the Buddha's head ready to split the Brahmin's head in 7 pieces with his thunderbolt. He quickly confirmed the truth and a lesson on caste ensues.^[5]

A popular story tells how Vajrapāni kills Maheśvara, a manifestation of Shiva depicted as an evil being.^[6][7] The story occurs in several scriptures, most notably the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṅgraha and the Vajrāpanyābhiṣeka Mahātantra.^[8] The story begins with the transformation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra into Vajrapāni by Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, receiving a vajra and the name "Vajrāpani".^[9] Vairocana then requests Vajrapāni to generate his adamantine family in order to establish a mandala. Vajrapāni refuses because Maheśvara "is deluding beings with his deceitful religious doctrines and engaging in all kinds of violent criminal conduct".^[10] Maheśvara and his entourage are dragged to Mount Meru, and all but Maheśvara submit. Vajrapāni and Maheśvara engage in a magical combat, which is won by Vajrapāni. Maheśvara's retinue become part of Vairocana's mandala, except for Maheśvara, who is killed, and his life transferred to another realm where he becomes a Buddha named Bhasmeśvaranirghoṣa, the "Soundless Lord of Ashes".^[11]

According to Kalupahana, the story "echoes" the story of the conversion of Ambattha.^[7] It is to be understood in the context of the historical competition between Buddhist institutions and Shaivism.^[12]in south Asia and southeast Asia.

In his book The Shaolin Monastery (2008), Prof. Meir Shahar notes Vajrapāni is the patron saint of the Shaolin Monastery. A short story appearing in Zhang Zhuo's (660–741) Tang anthology shows how the deity had been venerated in the Monastery from at least the eighth century. It is an anecdotal story of how the Shaolin monk Sengchou (480-560) gained supernatural strength and fighting ability by praying to the Vajrapāni and being force-fed raw meat.^[13] Shaolin abbot Zuduan (1115–1167) erected a stele in his honor during the Song dynasty.^[14] It reads:

According to the scripture [Lotus Sutra], this deity (Narayana) is a manifestation of Avalokitesvara (Guanyin).^[15][16] If a person who compassionately nourishes all living beings employs this [deity's] charm, it will increase his body's strength (zengzhang shen li). It fulfills all vows, being most efficacious. ... Therefore those who study Narayana's hand-symbolism (mudra), those who seek his spell (mantra), and those who search for his image are numerous. Thus we have erected this stele to spread this transmission.^[17]

— Stele re-erected (chong shang) by Shaolin's abbot Zuduan

Instead of being considered a stand-alone deity, Shaolin believes Vajrapāni to be an emanation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin. The Chinese scholar A'De noted this was because the Lotus Sutra says Guanyin takes on the visage of whatever being that would best help pervade the dharma. The exact Lotus Sutra passage reads: "To those who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of the spirit who grasps the vajra (Vajrapāni) he preaches Dharma by displaying the body of the spirit who grasps the vajra."^[18]

He was historically worshiped as the progenitor of their famous staff method by the monks themselves. A stele erected by Shaolin abbot Wenzai in 1517 shows the deity's vajra-club had by then been changed to a gun staff,^[19] which originally "served as the emblem of the monk".^[20] Vajrapāni's yaksha-like Narayana form was eventually equated with one of the four staff-wielding "Kinnara Kings" from the Lotus Sutra in 1575. His name was thus changed from Narayana to "Kinnara King".^[21] One of the many versions of a certain tale regarding his creation of the staff method takes place during the Yuan-era Red Turban Rebellion. Bandits lay siege to the monastery, but it is saved by a lowly kitchen worker wielding a long fire poker as a makeshift staff. He leaps into the oven and emerges as a monstrous giant big enough to stand astride both Mount Song and the imperial fort atop Mount Shaoshi (which are five miles apart). The bandits flee when they behold this staff-wielding titan. The Shaolin monks later realize that the kitchen worker was none other than the Kinnara King in disguise.^[22] Shahar notes the part of the kitchen worker might have been based on the actual life of the monk Huineng (638–713).^[22] In addition, he suggests the mythical elements of the tale were based on the fictional adventures of Sun Wukong from the Chinese epic Journey to the West. He compares the worker's transformation in the stove with Sun's time in Laozi's crucible, their use of the staff, and the fact that Sun and his weapon can both grow to gigantic proportions.^[23]

Statues and paintings of kinnaras were commissioned in various halls throughout Shaolin in honor of his defeat of the Red Turban army. A wicker statue woven by the monks and featured in the center of the "Kinnara Hall" was mentioned in Cheng Zongyou's seventeenth century training manual Shaolin Staff Method. However, a century later, it was claimed that the Kinnara King had himself woven the statue. It was destroyed when the monastery was set aflame by the KMT General Shi Yousan in 1928. A "rejuvenated religious cult" arose around kinnaras in the late twentieth century. Shaolin re-erected the shrine to him in 1984 and improved it in 2004.^[24]

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  Vajrapāni with Heraklean club
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  Vajrapāni with a group of Buddhist monks, Gandhara
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  Hercules and the Nemean lion. Gandhara, 1st century
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  Relief panel, Ratnagiri, Odisha, India, 8th or 9th century
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  Boddhisattva Vajrapani. Mendut near Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia. Sailendran art c. 8th century.
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  1517 stele dedicated to Narayana's defeat of the Red Turban rebels

• Lamotte, Étienne (2003). "Vajrapāṇi in India (I)", Buddhist Studies Reviews 20(1), 1–30
• Lamotte, Étienne (2003). "Vajrapāṇi in India (II)", Buddhist Studies Reviews 20(2), 119-144

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