ANCIENT STUN GUN - THE VAJRA

VAJRA

In ancient India, the Vajra, as a thunderbolt, was the chief weapon of the king of the demigods, Indra. It controlled the forces of thunder and lightning, breaking open the monsoon storm clouds, bringing the welcome rains to the parched plains of an Indian summer. According to legend, Indra's thunderbolt was fashioned from the bones of the great Rishi Dadhichi, who was decapitated by Indra in sacrifice. Dadhichi's 'indestructible bones gave Indra the most powerful of weapons. By its energy he slew innumerable of his enemy demons.

Though, there is another opinion regarding the creation of Vajra weapon.  Namuchi and Vritra, the two demons, removed light and moisture from the Earth and the Earth became barren and living beings began to die.  Indra tried but failed to subdue the demons as the demons had got the boon that they can only be killed by a weapon which is neither solid nor liquid.  Indra then approached Vishnu for a solution.  Vishnu then collected foam from the milky ocean and made from it the Vajra – a weapon that sends out thunderbolts.  Indra used Vajra to slay Namuchi and Vritra to save Earth.

"With his thunderbolt, King Indra, who was also extremely powerful, pierced through Vrtrasura's abdomen and came out. Indra, the killer of the demon Bala, then immediately cut off Vrtrasura's head, which was as high as the peak of a mountain."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6:12:32

Parallels are postulated with the hammer of the sky-god Thor, the thunderbolt and scepter of the Greek sky-god Zeus, and the three thunderbolts of the Roman god Jupiter.

Zeus released the Cyclopes from the dungeon in Tartarus.  As a token of his appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.  Zeus is also depicted as the king of the gods and the god of thunder in ancient Greece, like Indra.

All in all, we can say that Vajra was an incredible ancient weapon that had the power of thunderbolt or electricity.  It is something that was way behind the invention of electricity or electric current in the modern world.

According to a controversial theory, the Parthians (the early centuries AD) may have had knowledge of electroplating, based on the 1936 discovery of the Baghdad Battery, which resembles a galvanic cell, though it is uncertain whether the artifact was electrical in nature.

ELECTROSHOCK WEAPON

In the Modern Times, we use an electroshock weapon which is an incapacitant weapon used for subduing a person by administering electric shock, which works by disrupting superficial muscle functions. One type is a conductive energy device (CED), an electroshock gun popularly known by the brand name "Taser," which fires projectiles that administer the shock through a thin, flexible wire. Other electroshock weapons such as stun guns, stun batons, and electroshock belts administer an electric shock by direct contact.  This incapacitates a threat.  Even you can see the electric discharges in the stun gun when fired, which looks like the lightning or thunderbolt to a common man.

The Taser fires two small dart-like electrodes, which stay connected to the main unit by conductive wire as they are propelled by small compressed nitrogen charges similar to some air gun.  The air cartridge contains a pair of electrodes and propellant for a single shot. The range of the cartridges varies, the maximum at 35 feet.  Tasers primarily function by creating neuromuscular incapacitation, which means that it interrupts the ability of the brain to control the muscles in the body. This creates an immediate and unavoidable incapacitation that is not based on pain and cannot be overcome. Once the electricity stops flowing the subject immediately regains control of his body. Most subjects after being Tasered once will comply so as to avoid being Tasered a second time.  That leads to complete submission and victory over the subjects.

There is an uncanny similarity between the Vajra and the Taser/stun gun.  Both are electroshock weapons, both can incapacitate the enemy, both are neither solid nor liquid, both can be held in hand of the user safely without harm or getting shocked and thunderbolt can be send out to the enemy, and both can be fired in succession.

Now, it is up to you to decide whether Vajra was the ancient stun gun of the gods or not….