vajran.
Hinduism and Buddhism. A thunderbolt or mythical weapon, esp. one wielded by the god Indra.
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vajra1789
1789 Asiatick Researches 1 241 His weapon, Vajra, or the thunderbolt.
1854 A. Cunningham Ladák xiii. 371 I should suppose that they pay especial reverence to the holy Dorje (Vajra, or thunderbolt) which descended through the air, and fell at Sera in Tibet.
1897 H. K. Beauchamp tr. Dubois Hindu Manners II. iii. v. 638 Indra's vehicle is an elephant, and his weapon the vajra, a kind of sharp knife.
1980 Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 134 Painted with a triple band of Tibetan characters on the underside.., and with a cruciform double vajra tied with curling ribbons knotted under a central roundel on the interior.
1980 Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 134 For the fifteenth century origin of the double vajra design compare the Chenghua dish in the British Museum.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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