Vajra, Tibetan rdo-rje, five-pronged ritual object extensively employed in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. It is the symbol of the Vajrayāna school of Buddhism.
Vajra, in Sanskrit, has both the meanings of “thunderbolt” and “diamond.” Like the thunderbolt, the vajra cleaves through ignorance. The thunderbolt was originally the symbol of the Hindu rain god Indra (who became the Buddhist Śakra) and was employed by the 8th-century Tantric (esoteric) master Padmasambhava to conquer the non-Buddhist deities of Tibet. Like the diamond, the vajra destroys but is itself indestructible and is thus likened to śūnya (the all-inclusive void).
