Vajra in Hinduism
Indra, the deity of rain, storms, and lightning, as well as the king of all devas, wields the Vajra, or thunderbolt, which is a formidable weapon. The mighty deity initially used his weapon on an asura named Vritra, who represents the drought, in the Rig Veda. As a result, he is a natural opponent of Indra, the god of rain and the end of droughts. Indra slew the serpent Asura and freed the rivers that Asura had imprisoned in his fortress, according to the Vedas.
Vritra, on the other hand, was the son of Twashta, the god's carpenter, according to the Bhagavata Purana. Indra had slain Twashta's eldest son, Vishwarupa, the guru, in a fit of fury. Twashta conducted a yagna to beg for a son who would slay Indra in order to avenge his son's murder. However, he mispronounced a word in the mantra, and instead of killing Indra, he gave birth to a son who would be slain by him. This son, Vritra, was likewise endowed with the ability to survive any weapon made of stone, metal, or wood. The vanquished devas sought Lord Vishnu's assistance, and he instructed them to construct a weapon out of the bones of sage Dadhichi.
The devas approached the sage, whose bones were more powerful than any weapon due to his possession of the Narayana Kawach. The sage gave his life for the Vajra, which was constructed from the sage's spine by Vishwakarma, the heavenly builder. With his freshly acquired weapon, Indra battled the asura once more and vanquished him. Since then, Indra has been identified with his trademark weapon, rumored to be one of the most powerful weapons ever created.
And not only Vrita, even Lord Hanuman got taste of Vajra on his Jaws as a child. There is a story of young Hanuman headed for the Sun thinking it as a fruit. When God Indra heard of it, he threw Vajra at Hanuman as an attempt to stop him from devouring the Sun. This is how Hanuman is said to have gotten the name Hanuman which means broken jaw. His father, god of Wind Vayu was furious and he deprived earth from the air threatening the lives of creatures. Lord Indra had to apologize and even bless young Hanuman to be stronger than Vajra and himself to calm down Lord Vayu.
That my friend is the tale from Vedas.
Significance in Vajra in Buddhism
As for Buddhist, Vajra as different significance. The vajra is the emblem of Vajrayana Buddhism, one of the three major Buddhist schools. Vajrayana means "Thunderbolt Way" or "Diamond Way" in Tibetan, and can refer to the Buddhist enlightenment or bodhi experience. In the same way that diamonds are tougher than other jewels, it also suggests indestructibility.
A lama or any Vajrayana sadhana practitioner in Tantric Buddhism will use the vajra and tribu (bell) in different rituals (Vajrayana). The tantrika employs the vajra, a male polysemic sign, to represent a wide range of concepts. The vajra signifies upaya (skillful means), whereas its feminine counterpart, the bell, represents prajna (wisdom). Certain deities hold the vajra and bell in separate hands, symbolizing the union of the forces of compassion and wisdom, respectively.
Vajrasattva holds the vajra in his right hand and a bell in his left.
In Buddhist tantric traditions, the vajra is a symbol embodying the essence of reality, or sunyata, and represents unlimited creativity, power, and skillful activity. In tantric literature, the term is used frequently: vajracharya refers to a spiritual teacher, vajrasattva refers to one of the five dhyani buddhas, and so on. Vajras' practice of prefixing phrases, names, locations, and so on represents a deliberate attempt to identify the transcendental component of all occurrences; it was part of the process of "sacra mentalizing" the spiritual practitioner's actions and urged him to activate all of his psychological resources.
Vajrasattva holds the vajra in his right hand and a bell in his left.
In Buddhist tantric traditions, the vajra is a symbol embodying the essence of reality, or sunyata, and represents unlimited creativity, power, and skillful activity. In tantric literature, the term is used frequently: vajracharya refers to a spiritual teacher, vajrasattva refers to one of the five dhyani buddhas, and so on. Vajra's practice of prefixing phrases, names, locations, and so on represents a deliberate attempt to identify the transcendental component of all occurrences; it was part of the process of "sacra mentalizing" the spiritual practitioner's actions and urged him to activate all of his psychological abilities.
Symbolism of Vajra
The vajra is made up of several different parts. A sphere in the center represents Sunyata, the fundamental essence of the cosmos, the underlying oneness of all things. The sphere sprouts two eight-petaled lotus flowers. One represents the phenomenal world (or Samsara in Buddhist terms), while the other represents the noumenal universe (Nirvana). One of the major dichotomies seen by the unenlightened is this.
Two, four, or eight animals known as makara are arranged evenly around the mouth of the lotus. These legendary half-fish, half-crocodile creatures are made up of two or more animals, and they frequently symbolise the marriage of opposites (or a harmonisation of qualities that transcend our usual experience). The makara's lips produce tongues that come together in a point.
The most popular vajra is the five-pronged vajra (four makara plus a center prong). There is a complex structure of correspondences between the five constituents of the noumenal and phenomenal sides of the vajra. One significant parallel is between the five "poisons" and the five wisdoms.The five poisons are mental states that obscure a person's mind's original purity, whereas the five wisdoms are the five most important features of the enlightened mind. One of the five wisdoms is associated with each of the five Buddha figures.
Our Vajra printed t-shirts are best selling merchs. You can check them out on our shop page.