| VAJRA OF ADAM / THOR / INDRA 10. Vajra of Adam / Thor / Indra :
A vajra is a ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force).
The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shaped top, or they may be separate and end in sharp points with which to stab. The vajra is the weapon of the Indian Vedic rain and thunder-deity Indra, and is used symbolically by the dharma traditions of Aryans, often to represent firmness of spirit and spiritual power.
According to the Indian mythology, vajra is considered as one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. The use of the vajra as a symbolic and ritual tool spread from the Aryans (Arya) to other religions in India and other parts of Asia.
Early
descriptions :
On account of his skill in wielding the vajra, some epithets used for Indra in the Rigved were Vajrabhrit (bearing the vajra), Vajrivat or Vajrin (armed with the vajra), Vajradaksina (holding the vajra in his right hand), and Vajrabahu or Vajrahasta (holding the vajra in his hand). The association of the Vajra with Indra was continued with some modifications in the later Puranic literature, and in Buddhist works. Buddhaghosha, a major figure of Theravada Buddhism in the 5th century, identified the Bodhisattva Vajrapani with Indra.
Purans :
Many later purans describe the vajra, with the story modified from the Rigvedic original. One major addition involves the role of the Sage Dadhichi. According to one account, Indra, the king of the devtas was once driven out of devlok by an asura named Vritra. The asura was the recipient of a boon whereby he could not be killed by any weapon that was known till the date of his receiving the boon and additionally that no weapon made of wood or metal could harm him. [self-published source?] Indra, who had lost all hope of recovering his kingdom was said to have approached Shiv who could not help him. Indra along with Shiv and Brahma went to seek the aid of Vishnu. Vishnu revealed to Indra that only the weapon made from the bones of Dadhichi would defeat Vritra. Indra and the other deva therefore approached the sage, whom Indra had once beheaded, and asked him for his aid in defeating Vritra. Dadhichi acceded to the devta's request but said that he wished that he had time to go on a pilgrimage to all the holy rivers before he gave up his life for them. Indra then brought together all the waters of the holy rivers to Naimisha Forest, thereby allowing the sage to have his wish fulfilled without a further loss of time. Dadhichi is then said to have given up his life by the art of yoga after which the gods fashioned the vajrayudh from his spine. This weapon was then used to defeat the asur, allowing Indra to reclaim his place as the king of devlok.
Another version of the story exists where Dadhichi was asked to safeguard the weapons of the gods as they were unable to match the arcane arts being employed by the asura to obtain them. Dadhichi is said to have kept at the task for a very long time and finally tiring of the job, he is said to have dissolved the weapons in sacred water which he drank. The devtas returned a long time later and asked him to return their weapons so that they might defeat the asura, headed by Vritra, once and for all. Dadhichi however told them of what he had done and informed them that their weapons were now a part of his bones. However, Dadhichi, realising that his bones were the only way by which the devats could defeat the asur willingly gave his life in a pit of mystical flames he summoned with the power of his austerities. Brahma is then said to have fashioned a large number of weapons from Dadhichi's bones, including the vajrayudh, which was fashioned from his spine. The deva are then said to have defeated the asura using the weapons thus created.
There have also been instances where the war god Skand (Kartikeya) is described as holding a vajra. Skand is also the name of a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who wields a vajra.
Ramayan
:
Vitra :
Vritra is a Vedic serpent, dragon or demon in Hinduism, the personification of drought and adversary of Indra. Vritra is identified as an Asur. Vritra was also known in the Veds as Ahi (Sanskrit: ahi, lit. "snake"). He appears as a dragon blocking the course of the rivers and is heroically slain by Indra.
Vedic version :
According to the Rig Ved, Vritra kept the waters of the world captive until he was killed by Indra, who destroyed all the 99 fortresses of Vritra (although the fortresses are sometimes attributed to Sambar) before liberating the imprisoned rivers. The combat began soon after Indra was born, and he had drunk a large volume of Som at Tvashtri's house to empower him before facing Vritra. Tvashtri fashioned the thunderbolt (Vajrayudh) for Indra, and Vishnu, when asked to do so by Indra, made space for the battle by taking the three great strides for which Vishnu became famous.
Vritra broke Indra's two jaws during the battle, but was then thrown down by Indra and, in falling, crushed the fortresses that had already been shattered. For this feat, Indra became known as "Vrtrahan" (lit. "Slayer of Vritra" and also as "slayer of the first-born of dragons"). Vritra's mother, Danu, who was also the mother of the Danav race of Asurs, was then attacked and defeated by Indra with his thunderbolt. In one of the versions of the story, three Devtas – Varun, Som and Agni – were coaxed by Indra into aiding him in the fight against Vritra, whereas before they had been on the side of Vritra (whom they called "Father").
Puranic and later versions :
As told in the narration given to King Yudhishthir in the Mahabharat, Vritra was a demon created by artisan god Tvashta to avenge the killing of his son by Indra, known as Trisiras or Visvarup. Vritra won the battle and swallowed Indra, but the other gods forced him to vomit Indra out. The battle continued and Indra was eventually forced to flee. Vishnu and the rishis (sages) brokered a truce, with Indra swearing that he would not attack Vritra with anything made of metal, wood or stone, nor anything that was dry or wet, or during the day or the night. Indra used the foam (which Vishnu had entered to ensure victory) from the waves of the ocean to kill him at twilight.
Srimad Bhagavatam recognizes Vritra as a bhakta (devotee) of Vishnu who was slain only due to his failure to live piously and without aggression. This story runs thus :
(Srimad Bhagavatam = SB) :
SB 6.9.11 : After Visvarup was killed, his father, Tvashta, performed ritualistic ceremonies to kill Indra. He offered oblations in the sacrificial fire, saying, "O enemy of Indra, flourish to kill your enemy without delay."
SB 6.9.12 : Thereafter, from the southern side of the sacrificial fire known as Anvaharya came a fearful personality who looked like the destroyer of the entire creation at the end of the millennium.
SB 6.9.13 - 17 : Like arrows released in the four directions, the demon's body grew, day after day. Tall and blackish, he appeared like a burnt hill and was as lustrous as a bright array of clouds in the evening. The hair on the demon's body and his beard and moustache were the colour of melted copper, and his eyes were piercing like the midday sun. He appeared unconquerable as if holding the three worlds on the points of his blazing trident. Dancing and shouting with a loud voice, he made the entire surface of the earth tremble as if from an earthquake. As he yawned, again and again, he seemed to be trying to swallow the whole sky with his mouth, which was as deep as a cave. He seemed to be licking up all the stars in the sky with his tongue and eating the entire universe with his long, sharp teeth. Seeing this gigantic demon, everyone, in great fear, ran here and there in all directions.
SB 6.9.18 : That very fearful demon, who was actually the son of Tvashta, covered all the planetary systems by dint of austerity. Therefore, he was named Vritra, or one who covers everything.
Vritra became the head of the Asurs (portrayed as inherently demonic here, as opposed to the Vedic version in which they can be gods or demons). He renounced his dharma – duty – to do good unto others and turned to violence, battling with the Devtas. Eventually, he gained the upper hand and the Devtas were frightened of his evil might. Led by Indra, they approached Lord Vishnu for help. He told them that Vritra could not be destroyed by ordinary means, revealing that only a weapon made from the bones of a sage could slay him. When the deities revealed their doubts about the likelihood of any ascetic donating his body, Vishnu directed them to approach the rishi Dadhichi. When approached by the gods, Dadhichi gladly gave up his bones for the cause of the good, stating that it would be better for his bones to help them attain victory than to rot in the ground. The Devtas collected the bones and Indra crafted the Vajrayudha from them. When they engaged Vritra again, the battle lasted for 360 days before Vritra breathed his last.
As per the Puranic (Mahabharat) references, the terrible anthropomorphic personification of Brahmanahatya (Brahmanicide) chased Indra and forced him into hiding for his sin and Nahusha was invited to take his place.
Hymn 18 of Mandala IV provides the most elaborate account of the Vedic version. The verses describe the events and circumstances leading up to the battle between Indra and Vritra, the battle itself, and the outcome of the battle.
Note : Here we find Vedic version of Vitra to be more reliable than Puranic and SB version.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Austine Waddell :
From the Book The British Edda 1930 Part 3 :
SCENE
XXVIII
The Sumerian and Babylonian hymns and litanies are full of this
epoch-making event and gratitude for it. Thus a Sumerian hymn refers
to it :
Phoenician Version
The later Phcenicians represented Adam-George as mounted on horseback and spearing the Dragon (see Fig. 119); and it was they presumably who brought to their colony in Britain the mounted version of that legend.
Egyptian Version
In the Egyptian version the Great Serpent of Evil and arch-enemy
of Ra the Sun-god, and slain by the latter (i.e., Roa or Rab, title
of Thor in Edda, and the Ravas of the Vedas), is usually called
Apap, and supposed to be a male, though the eat's head sometimes
given it would rather imply feminine gender. Its titles, moreover,
of Hem-Hem, Serem-tau and Bed-eshu seem to equate with the Eddic
titles of El as Hymi, Hrym and Gram - the Sarama of the Vedas and
Bud of the above Eddic lays.
Indian Versions
The Vedas are full of references to Indra (i.e., In-Dara or Andara)
slaying the great Serpent demon therein styled Ahi, Ahi Budhnya
(the Bud of the Edda) or Vritra, "the Brute." It is represented
in the Vedas as a male whom Indra kills by striking with his bolt,
and he shatters its fortresses.
Hebrew Versions
The Serpent we are told in the Hebrew Genesis was already in the
Garden of Eden before "The Fall of Man," (and thus presumably
at home there), and could speak, and that it "was more subtil
than any beast of the field," and that it was told that "the
seed of the woman (Eve) shall bruise thy head." This latter
"prophecy" presumably referred to the later legend of
the Gentile Cain's hooking of the Serpent or Serpent-priestess El.
Adam-George of Cappadocia & Eden as the Historical Human Original of St George & the Dragon & the Patron Saint of England
This
victory over and slaying of the Dragon matriarch priestess of the
sanguinary bestial cult of Eden by Adam-George of Cappadocia is
now disclosed as the human historical origin of the legend of St
George and the Dragon. And it receives historical, inscriptional
and relatively contemporary proof by the votive record engraved
on the captured magic stone-bowl of Carchemish or Eden, by King
Udug, the great-grandson of Adam-Thor, to whose memory it was dedicated
at the foundation of the great central Sun-Temple at Nippur in Mesopotamia,
as we have seen under "The Holy Grail" episode. This dedication
attests the immense historical importance which King Adam's early
descendants placed upon his victory over Eden.
SCENE XXIX
In the Sumerian psalms are references to King Dar's or Adam-Thor's
enthronement "on the throne of the shrine supreme," which
is obviously in Eden after his victory there, as well as numerous
representations of the event on the sacred Sumerian seals picturing
his enthronement on the Lion Throne (see Figs. 134 f.).
It appears to be from this enthronement at the head-centre of the Lion-tribe at Eden that Adam Dar Dan came to be represented as seated on a Lion-throne with his foot upon a lion.
Hittite Version of his Enthronement at Eden
The Hittite version of King Adam-Thor's enthronement in Eden is well seen not only in the Hittite sacred seals, but also in the magnificent Hittite sculpture of him enthroned on the Lion-throne (see Plate XXVII), which was actually found at Carchemish or Eden.
Ancient British Version of Adam's Victory over Satan (Sutt) in Eden & his Enthronement there
Adam's victory over the historical human Satan in Eden and the "cherubims
with flaming swords" and his assumption of sovereignty there
as enthroned King of Eden, was clearly known to the British poet
Caedmon or Cadmon, and presumably so through the Eddas; as his metre
is in the ordinary Eddic measure and the most of his words are later
dialectic forms of the Eddic, and his name "Metod" for
God as the Creator, is suggestive of the Miot Od title of Adam-Thor,
who was latterly deified by the Aryans. In his poem on Genesis,
Caedmon, even on being Christianized, cannot divest himself of the
old true tradition of his Briton ancestors regarding Adam, and makes
Satan (i.e., Sut or Seth) on being dispossessed lament, saying :
ROM or "Rome" title for Eden and its Wolf-tribe votaries of the Mother-Son Cult
In Sumerian, the abode of the oracular priestess, from about 3100 B.C. onwards. is called Edin or Etin (WSAD. 69, WISD. 33 f.), the latter form being in series with the Eddic Iaetun name for "Eden." And significantly this Sumerian word-sign was also given the synonym word-form of Rum (Br. 4524 and 3; Prince S.L., 277), which is in agreement with the Rom title in this Eddic lay.
Rom of the Edda is thus seen to have been a synonym for Eden and
its Wolf-tribe priestess and Chaldee people.
SCENE XXX
There are frequent references in the Sumerian hymns to King Dar
or Adam's "scattering the seed" of his Higher Civilization
and exalting of man, and his clemency towards his quondam enemies.
Thus, for example, in the same hymn which celebrates his capture
of the Stone Bowl of Eden, Dar, now semi-deified, is acclaimed as
:
This annexation and transformation of Eden, Urdu or Ur into a real
paradise by Adam In-Dara and his son Cain (the Son-Duke, Mar-Duk),
now explains how Urdu or "Eridu" came in the later Sumerian
and Babylonian hymns to be called a "home" of these two
deified Gothic heroes; and in secular literature was "The Land
of the Amorites," a people whom I have shown in previous works
to have been a branch of the Hittites and of Gothic race.
"Innini
[The Second ?] to her women cried : |