Etymology

In Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, Vaishvanara , meaning "of or related to Visvanara" is an abstract concept related to the soul atman

Ātman (Hinduism)

Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...

. Etymologically, Vaishvanara is the genitive case

Genitive case

In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...

 of the conjoined word Vishvanara i.e. Vishva (Universe) + Narah (Man) i.e. the 'Universal or Cosmic Man'. In the Rig Veda, Vaishvanara is an epithet of deity Agni

Agni

Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...

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Forms of Vaishvanara

As per the Mandukya Upanishad

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of the Upanishads – the scriptures of Hindu Vedanta. It is in prose, consisting of twelve verses expounding the mystic syllable Aum, the three psychological states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, and the transcendent fourth state of illumination.This...

, the Self has four aspects or states of consciousness. The first is the Vaishvanara manifestation, under the jagrat or the waking state which is outwardly cognitive. The Self in Vaishvanara form has seven limbs, nineteen mouths and has the capability to experience material objects.

The seven limbs of Vaishvanara pertain to the ‘cosmic body’ of ‘Vaishvanara’. These are enumerated in verse 18.2 of the Chandogya Upanishad

Chandogya Upanishad

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" Upanishads. Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedic Brahmana period....

,

[T]he heavens are his head, the sun his eyes, the air his breath, the fire his heart, the water his stomach, the earth his feet, and space his body.

The seven limbs of Vaishvanara have also referred to in the first verse of the Mandukya Upanishad

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of the Upanishads – the scriptures of Hindu Vedanta. It is in prose, consisting of twelve verses expounding the mystic syllable Aum, the three psychological states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, and the transcendent fourth state of illumination.This...

, which have been described to encompass the entire manifest universe. The nineteen “mouths” comprise of:

(i) The five sense organs,

(ii) The five organs of action (walking, talking, expelling, procreating, and handling) and

(iii) The five pranas, the mind, the intellect, the ego sense, and thought (çitta).

Further, Agni Vaishvanara is regarded as Author of the Hymns of the Rig-veda (x. 79, 80).

Agning prajvalitang vande Jata-vedang Hutashanang:

Suvarna-varnam amalang samiddhang sarvvatomukham.

The Mahanirvana Tantra also refers to certain Vaishvanara:

[O]m Vaishvanara Jataveda ihavaha ihavaha;

lohitaksha, sarvva-karmani sadhaya: svaha.

As per the Tantras, Vaishvanara meaning “Ruling or benefiting all men,” is also a name of the tantric

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 goddess Savitri

Savitri

Savitri or Savithri may refer to:*Savitri, with all vowels short, a Roman-phonetic spelling of the Vedic Hindu sun god Savitr*Sāvitrī, a name of the Gayatri Mantra dedicated to Savitr...

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