Vajrapani Attends the Buddha at His First Sermon

Vajrapani Attends the Buddha at His First Sermon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vajrapani stands to the Buddha’s right, holding a bar-shaped vajra (thunderbolt). In this early period, artists depicted Vajrapani as a muscular hero, drawing on Heracles imagery that came to Gandhara through trade. Significantly, Vajrapani does not appear in the written narrative describing the first sermon; instead, the vajra-holding figure was added in order to protect the Buddha and bring auspiciousness to the narrative scene. The Buddha sets the wheel of law (dharma) in motion, revealing the teachings to the surrounding five monks, who in turn spread this doctrine and establish the monastic order.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.