… and speaking of which, I found the following entry on the word “Vajra” on Wikipedia.

[quote]Vajra (Devanagari: वज्र) is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond and is ritual tool or spiritual implement which is symbolically important to both Buddhism and Hinduism, but is particularly important in Buddhism.[/quote]

Interesting enough, it’s an object and not a descriptive noun for a warrior figure of some sort.

[quote]… The vajra destroys all kinds of ignorance, and itself is indestructible. In tantric rituals the Vajra symbolizes the male principle which represents method in the right hand and the Bell symbolizes the female principle, which is held in the left. Their interaction leads to enlightenment. … Made to be worn as a pendant, it reminds the wearer, and the viewer, of the supreme indestructibility of knowledge.

In Buddhism the vajra is the symbol of Vajrayana, one of the three major branches of Buddhism. Vajrayana is translated as “Thunderbolt Way” or “Diamond Way” and can imply the thunderbolt experience of Buddhist enlightenment or bodhi and also implies indestructibility, just as diamonds are harder than other gemstones.

In the tantric traditions of both Buddhism and Hinduism, the vajra is a symbol for the nature of reality, or sunyata, indicating endless creativity, potency, and skillful activity. The term is employed extensively in tantric literature: the term for the spiritual teacher is the vajracarya; instead of bodhisattva, we have vajrasattva, and so on. The practice of prefixing terms, names, places, and so on by vajra represents the conscious attempt to recognize the transcendental aspect of all phenomena; it became part of the process of “sacramentalizing” the activities of the spiritual practitioner and encouraged him to engage all his psychophysical energies in the spiritual life…. In Hindu mythology vajra is a powerful weapon having the combined features of sword, mace, and spear. It was created out of hard bones of sage Dadhichi who gave up his life willingly for a noble cause so that his spine could be used to build the weapon to be used for a noble cause. … [/quote]

The rest is up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajra