Vajrap€Ši emerges as an autonomous deity in the early Gandh€ran period in Central Asia. As he bursts onto the scene he is the perpetual acolyte of the Buddha who appears in a form similar to that of Indra. He wields the thunderbolt and is represented as an awesome force next to the Buddha. Not only does he inherit the weapon of the great Vedic warrior god, he also inherits the warrior functionality of the larger Indo-European triadic cultural striation.

The basic thesis of this line of the performance is that Vajrap€Ši is, from the beginning, a warrior god.

This will become clear as I develop Vajrap€Ši's connection to Indra and these larger Indo-European themes, his appearance in Gandh€ran art, and finally in his role as the convertor of Apal€l€.