The vajra as divine thunderbolt and ritual scepter passes from Vedic Hinduism through Buddhist adoption into Tibetan Vajrayana, where it remains the central ritual implement symbolizing indestructible awakened mind.
Indra wields the vajra as his thunderbolt, the weapon with which he slew the serpent Vritra and split open the waters — an act of cosmic liberation that Buddhism later reinterpreted as the diamond scepter of indestructible truth.
Vajrapani brandishes the vajra as his defining attribute, the diamond thunderbolt with which the wrathful bodhisattva subdues the enemies of the dharma and protects the Buddha's teachings.
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