Elements of Buddhist Iconography c4.37

c4.37

and after the weapon, Indra is styled vajrin, vajra-bāhu, etc. With the vajra he slays the dragon, Vṛtra, Śuṣṇa, or Ahi, and thus brings about the whole cosmic manifestation. In the Buddha legend, the Vedic defeat of Ahi-Vṛtra is represented (1) in the Māra-dharṣaṇa, and (2) in the Buddha’s defeat of the serpent on the occasion of the conversion of the Jaṭilas. It may be observed that in the Māra-dharṣaṇa, Māra makes use of the characteristic weapons of Vṛtra (cf. Ṛg Veda, I, 32, 13), and that the affrighted Angels desert the Bodhisattva, as they do Indra in the battle with Vṛtra (Ṛg Veda, IV, 8, 11; VIII, 93, 14–15; VIII, 96, 7; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa,