Vajrapani — “the Holder of the Vajra” — is the great bodhisattva of spiritual power and the fierce protector of the Buddha and the dharma: the wielder of the thunderbolt-diamond, the embodiment of the energy and might of all the Buddhas. With [manjushri] (wisdom) and [avalokiteshvara] (compassion), he completes the triad of the three great bodhisattvas, representing power.
The Wielder of the Thunderbolt
Vajrapani’s name and nature are bound to the vajra — the thunderbolt-diamond, the indestructible weapon and the symbol of the irresistible, adamantine power of enlightenment. He bears the vajra as a sign that he holds the spiritual force and might of all the Buddhas, the power to overcome every obstacle on the path. In the earliest tradition he was the constant companion and protector of the historical Buddha, walking beside him to guard him from danger and to clear his way.
The Fierce Protector
Vajrapani is most often depicted in a wrathful, fearsome form — muscular, blazing with energy, surrounded by flames, his face fierce, wielding the vajra aloft — for his is the protective wrath that destroys the enemies of the dharma and the inner demons of delusion and ignorance. This fierceness is not anger but the dynamic, compassionate power that protects the teaching and the practitioner, subduing evil and clearing the path to enlightenment. He is the tamer of demons, the conqueror of the forces that obstruct the dharma.
The Power of the Buddhas
As one of the three great bodhisattvas, Vajrapani embodies power — the energy and might of enlightenment — complementing the wisdom of Manjushri and the compassion of Avalokiteshvara; together the three represent the full nature of Buddhahood. He is especially important in Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle,” named for his vajra) and in the protective and esoteric traditions across Asia, where his wrathful forms guard temple gates and subdue malign forces. In Vajrapani, Buddhism gave form to the protective power of enlightenment — the fierce, vajra-wielding bodhisattva who guarded the Buddha, who destroys the obstacles to the dharma, and who embodies the irresistible, adamantine might of all the Buddhas turned to the protection of the teaching and the liberation of beings.