Vajrap€Ši is of course closely related to Indra,

as the thunderbolt bearer, who is central to classic Vedic mythology and early Buddhist thought (as ®akra or ®akkha). Indeed, Buddhagho�a tells us in the Amba˜˜ha Sutta that Vajrap€Ši is the same as ®akkha.

"He is called Vajirap€Ši, because the Vajira is in his hand; as to 'yakkha' not an indefinite yakkha, he should be understood to be ®akka, the king of the gods."

There is however, considerable doubt as to whether or not these figures are collapsible. At first sight it may seem that they are the same figure, a conclusion that comes into high relief when we realize thatVajrap€Ši's only distinguishing feature in the early iconography is a Vajra, which Indra can equally wielded. However, it is clear that at a later period these two figures becomes distinct. ®akkha never becomes a Bodhisattva and is associated with the Buddha predominately through his role in the Buddha's birth. While the division is clear in the later period, at the point of Vajrap€Ši's emergence as an autonomous deity things are more complex. There appears to be no way to distinguish these two figures in a number of places; simultaneously there are reliefs in which both figures are simultaneously portrayed.