Bodhisattva Vajrapani

Bodhisattva Vajrapani

Ajanta Caves, Gupta Period, 5th Century CE

          While Bodhisattva Padmpani is the embodiment of compassion, Bodhisattva Vajrapani is of power and force. According to his name, he is the weilder of the thunderbolt  (Vajra). Thus, he is the symbol of brute force of Nature.  One who destroys evil by brute force. Surprisingly for a dynamic figure, the image is rather placid. In his hand, he holds an unclear object. Although in Ajanta he is depicted as a graceful, quiet, peaceful figure, in Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese Art he is a ferocious figure. 

            Both the Bodhisattvas depicted the twin aspect of Man: the rational and the irrational or as the Greeks called it the Apollonaire  ( named after God Apollo, their God of wisdom and poetry) and Dionysian  (named after God Dionysus,  their God of wine). Psychologists also deal with these two aspects of human nature, the constructive and the destructive.  

              History too is a witness to such impulses. While Dara  Shikho, the elder son of Shah Jahan, championed compassion and unity of the Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb advocated fundamentalism and terrorism. The fundamentalist forces won the royal battle near Dholpur: the Mughal Empire was shattered in few decades. The choice is ours whether to encourage the irrational and the destructive forces, or to strengthen the liberal and constructive forces.