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The Bodhisattva Vajrapani
Not on view
A crowned Vajrapani, one of the dhyani bodhisattvas, holds a multipronged vajra (thunderbolt scepter). The origins of the vajra are ancient and obscure but likely linked to the trident (trisula), sharing its associations with lightning. In Buddhism it assumed an affiliation with diamonds and their indestructible nature, hence the term Vajrayana, or "diamond-path," Buddhism, as it is preserved in Nepal and Tibet. This image is among the earliest and finest metal representations of Vajrapani to survive from Nepal. In later Vajrayana Buddhism, Vajrapani was displaced from the first rank of bodhisattvas by Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri, who more typically form a triad with the Buddha.
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