Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. Smarta followers of
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of
the five primary forms of GodPanchayatana puja is the system of worship in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha...
.
The
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
declares Vishnu as
ParamatmanIn Hindu theology, Paramatman or Paramātmā is the Absolute Atman or Supreme Soul or Spirit in the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies of India....
(supreme soul) and
ParameshwaraParameshwara or Parameshwar, also transliterated from Sanskrit in other ways, is a Hindu concept literally meaning the Supreme God. The word "param" meaning the highest is added to Ishwara to intensify the title of God.-Conceptualization:...
(supreme
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
). It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called 'Preserver of the universe'.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, Vishnu is described as having the divine colour of water filled clouds, four-armed, holding a lotus, mace,
shankhaShankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....
(
conchA conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
) and
chakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
(wheel). Vishnu is also described in the
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
as having a 'Universal Form' (
Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human perception or imagination.
In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatara, most famous of whom are
RamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. The Puranabharti describes each of these
Dasavatara of VishnuDashavatara refers to the ten principal Avatars. In Vaishnava philosophy, an Avatar , most commonly refers to the 'descent' and refers to 'ten' in number. The ten most famous incarnations of Vishnu or sometimes Krishna are collectively known as the Dashavatara...
. Among the ten principal
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future, at the end of
Kali YugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
. In the commentary of creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
in Vishnu Sahasranamam, he refers to Vishnu as "Sahasrakoti Yuga Dharine", which means that these incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales, the avatars and their stories show that god is indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and unbelievable. The
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate
DharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and vanquish negative forces, the forces of evil that threaten Dharma, as also to display His divine nature in front of the conditioned/fallen souls.
The
TrimurtiThe Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
(‘three forms’;
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
:
) is a concept in
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
"in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
". Of the three members of the Trimurti, the Bhagavata Purana, which espouses the Vaishnavite viewpoint, explains that the greatest benefit can be had from Vishnu.
Name
The name
is
RigvedicThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, denoting a minor deity personifying light and the Sun, often invoked as a companion of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, in four instances (especially in RV 6.69) in a
dvandvaA dvandva or twin or Siamese compound refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound...
compound,
. The name has no certain etymology; it is unattested in Iranian (but Iranian
RašnuRashnu is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian yazata of justice. Together with Mithra and Sraosha, Rashnu is one of the three judges who pass judgment on the souls of people after death...
is perhaps an indication that the name existed in Indo-Iranian and was replaced in Iranian). The most common interpretation is as
from
"apart, across" and the zero grade of
"summit, ridge, mountain-top", as in "he who steps across / spreads out the mountains", c.f. RV 1.62.5c (of Indra):
- ("Thou Indra, hast spread out the earth's high ridges");
but connection to the verbal root
"to be active, work, perform" has also been suggested.
The traditional explanation of the name
involves the root
, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin
vicus, English
-wich "village"), or also (in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
) "to enter into, to pervade", glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One".
An early commentator on the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
,
Yaska' ) was a Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Pāṇini , assumed to have been active in the 5th or 6th century BC.He is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of words...
, in his
NiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
, defines Vishnu as
vishnu vishateh "one who enters everywhere", and
yad vishito bhavati taddjwojopwjepq, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu."
Lord Vishnu is also known as
Sri Srinivasa Govinda.
Vishnu itself is the second name in the
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
, the thousand names of Vishnu.
Adi Sankara in his commentary on the sahasranama states derivation from
, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything,
vevesti, he is called
Visnu",). Adi Sankara states (regarding
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root
means 'enter into.'" Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root Vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that that which pervades everything is Vishnu."
Characteristics
The number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu as the supreme God are countless, with the following six qualities being the most important:
- Jñāna (Omniscience), defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously
- Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
, which consists in unchallenged rule over all
- Shakti (Energy), or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible
- Bala (Strength), which is the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue
- Vīrya (Vigor), which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the supreme being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations
- Tejas (Splendor), which expresses His self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by His spiritual effulgence
In the Vedas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, who he helps in killing
VritraIn the early Vedic religion, Vritra , is an Asura and also a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi...
, and with whom he drinks
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light.
Two Rigvedic hymns in
Mandala 7The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda has 104 hymns. In the Rigveda Anukramani, all hymns in this book are attributed to Vasishta...
are dedicated to Vishnu.
In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth. This characteristic he shares with
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
.
Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Sukta' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:
- The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Visnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven. (trans. Griffith
Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith , scholar of indology, Son of B.A. of Queen's College was elected to the vacant Sanskrit Scholarship on Nov 24, 1849. He translated the Vedic scriptures into English. He also produced translations of other Sanskrit literature, including a verse version of the...
)
Griffith's "princes" are the
sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.
Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he traverses in his strides both vertically and horizontally.
In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13 , 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he said to have made dwelling for men possible, the three being a symbolic representation of its all-encompassing nature. This all-enveloping nature and benevolence to men were to remain the enduring attributes of Vishnu. As the triple-strider he is known as Tri-vikrama and as Uru-krama for the strides were wide.
The general view is that Vedas place
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in considerably superior position to Vishnu. As per the English translations of the Rigveda, Vishnu always extols and lauds the Majesty of Indra. He sings the praise of Indra. The eighth mandala of
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
as per some translations says that Vishnu derived his energy from
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. The three steps of Vishnu was possible only because he derived his energy from Indra.
- "When Viṣṇu, through thine(Indra's) energy, strode wide those three great steps of his,Then thy two beautiful Bay Steeds carried thee on.". (Rigveda 8:12:27)
- "Visnu, Varuna, Mitra sing thy (indra's) praise: In thee the Maruts' company have great delight".(Rigveda 8:15:9)
- "This majesty of his, Visnu extols and lauds, making the stalk that gives the meath flow forth with might" (Rigveda 10:113:2)
An alternate translation is provided by Wilson (page 269 of document) according to Sayana.
When thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)
Wilson also mentions the possible translation as given by Griffith as a footnote. However the following verse from Rig Veda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.
Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures.(Rigveda 1:154:4)
Wilson also offers alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2 (pages 318-319)
Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of wealth, with the associated gods having slain Vr.tra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)
This verse glorifies Viṣṇu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vrtra only in association with other gods.
However Viṣṇu praising other gods need not be taken as worship. Wilson translates as follows.
Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)
The following verses show categorically Viṣṇu as distinguished from other gods in Rig Veda.
He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)
No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)
Vishnu blesses Indra:
The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)
However,
Jan GondaJan Gonda, a celebrated Orientalist and Indologist, was born in Gouda in the Netherlands on 14 April 1905 and died in Utrecht on 28 July 1991. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht and from 1932 held positions at Utrecht and Leiden.Gonda is recognized as one of the twentieth...
, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.
Moreover, even when Vishnu is described as subordinate to Indra, such a description is found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheistic religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for the time being, is supreme in the mind of the devotee. But in the Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is subordinate to Indra is identified as being none other than the Sun god Suryanarayana or Surya, who has another name Vishnu, and he is different from the Supreme God Sreeman Narayana or Narayana who is referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is not a mere sacrificial deity; he is a God who lives in the highest celestial region, compared with those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions; Moreover, Vishnu is a god who is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as havis or
somaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
However, in the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is none other than the Sun God who also bore the name Suryanarayana, who in turn was also called Vishnu. So the 'Vishnu' referred to in the Rig Veda is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana or Surya and he in turn, is entirely different from the Vishnu who is Sreeman Narayana (the Lord/Consort of Sree or Lakshmi, who is also the central deity in 'Vishnu Puranam', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam', 'Purusha Sooktham' (wherein he is identified very clearly not as the Sun or Suryanarayana (the purveyor of the skies), but as Narayana or Vishnu and further identified as the Supreme Lord who has Sreedevi (Lakshmi) and Bhoodevi (Goddess Earth or Bhoomi) as his wives/consorts ("Hreeshcha-tey-Lakshmeeshcha-patnyauh"). The Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
by highlighting him as a personality or entity much different from other deities like
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
,
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the minor deity
SuryaSurya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
the Sun who also bears the name Vishnu.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
Indra frequently becomes proud and haughty. This act of his incurs the displeasure of his creators namely
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who along with
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer God start by giving boons to demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana, who are able to defeat Indra in wars between the
Devas' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
and Asuras. Indra in turn has no option but to take advice of the sages who say that no one can save him but the Protector God Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu the Supreme Lord. Indra goes and prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking
avatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a or birth or generating himself on Earth in various forms i.e. first as amphibean, water-born being namely the Matsya or fish, then as a creature capable of living on land as well as water, i.e. the Koorma avatara (Tortoise), then half-man, half-animal namely Varaha (the Pig-faced/human-bodied Lord) and Narasimha (Lord with Lion face and claws and human body). Later the same
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu appears as full-fledged human being in the form of Vamana (the short-heighted person), Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, Balarama or Buddha and finally as Kalki avataram for performing his task of protecting his devotees from the Asuras or anti-God, anti-religious entities.
The Vaishnava canon claims absolute clarity in identification of the Supreme Lord Vishnu (Sreeman Narayana or Narayana) from the Vishnu of the Rig Veda who they claim is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana, who incidentally is also bears a secondary name Vishnu. In the Vaishnava canon, it is none other than Lord Vishnu or Sreeman Narayana who is their Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatarams across various 'yugas (ages or periods) to save humanity from the clutches of evil beings, who became powerful after receiving boons from the two other Gods of the Trinity viz.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. They believe the acts of Sreeman
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Vishnu were certainly not performed by the minor deity Suryanarayana, or the Sun, also known as Vishnu of the Rig Vedas to be the Sun God Surya or Suryanarayana, who was also called and worshipped as Vishnu during the Rig Vedic period. This is borne out by the fact that neither are there are in number, very few temples dedicated to the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, nor indeed of the Vedic God
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, nor is there any pronounced importance followed by worship of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in the Hindu religion, which practice was discontinued after
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
's defeat at the hands of the demons and Asuras and his forced abdication of the throne.
Following the defeat of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, according to the Vaishnava canon, the Supreme Lord of the universe Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatarams on earth to save mankind, thus taking the place of the Supreme God with him not being worshipped and eulogized by Vaishnavites alone, but also getting recognized by Shaivites and the Smarthas. A direct consequence of this was the almost complete absence of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and to a lesser extent, of the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, a minor deity from
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temples from the deities being considered fit for worshipping as the chief or most important deity. A glaring example being quoted in support of non-worship of deities like
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
or non-prominence of other major Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, (who is in any case not having more than a temple or two on earth) by Vaishnavites is the fact of their Supreme Lord Vishnu or Narayana taking avatarams to defeat and kill either the demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyipu or Ravana who have vanquished
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
himself and/or demons who have empowered themselves by pleasing and getting boons from other powerful Gods like
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. These demons received boons making them virtually indestructible by any person. But
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu outwits them by appearing as half-human half-animal before demons like Hiranyakashyipu (who had taken a boon that he will not be killed at any specific time of the day or by any human or animal) or Ravana (who becomes invincible by taking a boon from God Shiva that he will not be killed by any Deva - a celestial being with godly powers) who is considered the greatest among devotees of
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
gets slayed by Vishnu, who appears before him as a mere human being i.e. Lord Rama, the son of Dasharatha.
The Vaishnava canon thus claims supremacy of Vishnu even among the Gods by quoting his victories over or killing of those very powerful entities who are themselves devotees of other Gods like the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. The Vaishnava canon finally distinguishes
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or the Supreme Lord Vishnu from other deities like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer or
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
the creator, first by pointing out the accepted iconography or sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as having the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
sprouting or emerging from Vishnu's navel i.e. showing
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself as having been created by Vishnu out of his own person. This is interpreted as the creator being created by his own creator i.e.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself being created by Vishnu and going on to create the Universe on the instructions of Vishnu. Secondly, there is the act of the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
go on to give boons to demons or Asuras and as a consequence of granting boons to evil beings, they divest themselves of their powers to eliminate them, which are now vested with the Supreme Lord among the Gods i.e. Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Sreeman Narayana, who takes various avatars or forms to come to earth to slay or defeat those demons. This is again interpreted as the triumph of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
because it would mean that
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
can only grant boons to good beings and since they cannot distinguish between the two types of beings, they have to entrust this responsibility to the God who protects all good beings. Thus, they have no option but to leave all devotees under the care of the Protector Lord, i.e. the Supreme Lord of the Vaishnava canon, i.e. Lord
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu. Third and lastly, the Vaishnava canon makes the final distinction in addition to the above two qualities of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
, so as to reinforce his pre-eminence and supremacy among all the Gods because Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu in his myriad forms never ever grants a wish to evil beings, as is done according to the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
by both the creator God
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. So they regard Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu as a protector God who makes a clear distinction between bad and good beings and never favours or grants boons or wishes to evil entities as would be done by both
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and is thus regarded by them as the only God worthy of worship as the preferred deity.
The above actions of Vishnu automatically led to the lowering of status of Indra among Hindu deities and leads directly to the ascendancy of Vishnu or Narayana, as per the Vaishnava canon.
In the Brahmanas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Shakala shakha:
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
Verse 1 : "Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā" declares that
AgniAgni 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...
is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the oldest God.
In the Brahmanas, the supremacy of Lord Vishnu is clearly announced. Here He is repeatedly addressed as "Yajnapati" or the one whom all the sacrifices are meant to please. Even if the sacrifices are offered to the demigods, Lord Vishnu is the one who accepts the sacrifice and allots the respective fruits to the performer. There is mention of one such incident where a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the rishis (Sanskrit name for sages who constantly meditate by chanting God's name) forcefully. The sacrifice was meant to bring about the destruction of Indra. But the rishis,who used to worship Indra as a demigod were intelligent enough to alter a single pronunciation of the ved-mantra. The purpose of the entire sacrifice was reversed. When the fruit of the sacrifice was given, when the demon was on the verge of dying, he clearly calls out to lord Vishnu,whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself". Aitareya Brahmana: 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different forms, his relationship with the 'asuras' or evil-beings including demons (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyipu were considered demons) has always been adversarial, with the asuras always causing harm or killing good beings including sages and devotees of Vishnu, with the sages and 'devas' (celestial beings including Indra - not considered a God in Vaishnava canon) doing penance and calling out to Lord Vishnu for protection. In response to the call of devotees and being described as the one and only saviour of the world, Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu, being the Protector God, always obliges by taking avatarams (incarnations as Narasimha, Rama etc.) to finally vanquish and eliminate the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Narayana or Lord Vishnu is clearly defined as one who has never given or granted any boons to the asuras (to clearly distinguish him from other Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who granted boons to demons or evil beings), but he is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the very evil beings who became powerful or even invincible after being granted boons by the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
.
Sayana' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
writes that
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
1-1-1 ("Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā") doesn't indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, where avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality. In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ |, i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth ; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place ; for he represents (in the Rigveda) the sun in its daily and yearly course. The words 'avama' and 'parama' is to be understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To prove this meaning to be the true one, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2),
agnir mukham prathamo devatanam samgathanam uttamo Vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last. In the Kausitaki-Brahmana (7, 1) Agni is called avarardhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardhya(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu, but mentions that sacrifices to Sreeman Narayana are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Narayana or Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach the Supreme God Vishnu and are accepted by him. Worship of Lord Vishnu through Yagnyas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not bear fruit or the desired result in case 'Agni' is not given any role in the process.
Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rv. i. 27. 13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the slave of others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."
However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rig Veda does recognize one or more gods being subject to other god(s).
Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship.(Rigveda 2.038.09)
I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)
The following verse suggests Rudra gaining his strength from worship of Viṣṇu.
With offerings I propitiate the branches of this swift-moving God, the bounteous Visnu. Hence Rudra gained his Rudra-strength: O Asvins, ye sought the house that hath celestial viands.(Rigveda 7.040.05)
In the Upanishads
The oldest of the Upanishads, that form the philosophical culmination of the Vedas, are dated to the 7th or 8th centuries BCE. The upanishads,right from Gopal tapani upanishad to the Brhadaranyaka upanishad state His Godhood.The Katha-upanishad, describes Vishnu in supremacy -
He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always impure, never reaches that place, but enters into the round of births. But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure, reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not born again. But he who has understanding for his charioteer (intellect), and who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu.
In the Bhagavad Gita
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, an avatar of Vishnu, considered to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition, depicts his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
on the battlefield of
KurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, teaches
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
the nature of the Supreme being and the different processes of
YogaYoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, ultimately culminating in devotional surrender, similar to that of the catursloki of the Bhagavata Purana.
- "I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed."
- "But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe."
- "If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form."
- "Abandon all varieties of dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not despair."
In the Viṣṇu Smṛti
The Viṣṇu Smṛti (700-1000CE) is one of the latest books of the
DharmaśāstraDharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
tradition of Hinduism and also the only one which does not deal directly with the means of knowing
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
, focusing instead on the
bhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
tradition and requiring daily puja to the god Viṣṇu. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of
satiFor other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
(the burning of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre). The text was not actually composed by the sage Viṣṇu himself, but rather by an individual or group writing much after his death. This group brought together a collection of all of the commonly known legal maxims which were attributed to the sage Viṣṇu into one book as the Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.
Theological attributes
Vishnu takes form as an all-inclusive deity, known as Purusha or , [Supreme Soul], [In-dweller], and he is the Sheshin [Totality] in whom all souls are contained.
Vishnu is the only
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
(which in Sanskrit means "possessing
Divine Glory"), as declared in the
BhagavataThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
1.2.11 in the verse: "vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate". The meaning of the verse is as follows: "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
BrahmanIn Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Paramātma, and
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
."
In the
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
(6.5.79) the personality named
Parashara Rishi' is a Rigvedic Maharishi and author of many ancient Indian texts. Parāśara was the grandson of Vashista, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker...
defines six bhagas as follows:
Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in his Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15.73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46.10:
- "The substantives of the word bhagavat are unlimited knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities ."
Vishnu possesses six such divine glories, namely,
Omniscient Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
; defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;
- Aishvarya Opulence, which persists in unchallenged rule over all;
- Shakti Energy
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
, or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible;
- Bala Strength, which is the capacity to support everything by his will and without any fatigue;
- Virya Vigour
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong man" or "manliness." In Vedic literature, the term is often associated with heroism and virility...
, or valour which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations; Resplendent, or Splendour, which expresses his self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by his spiritual effulgence; cited from Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, by Swami Tapasyananda.
However, the actual number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu is countless, with the above-mentioned six qualities being the most important. Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion).
Natya ShastraThe Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope...
lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the
SringaraSringara is one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love, or as attraction or beauty. Rasa means "flavour", and the theory of rasa is the primary concept behind classical Indian arts including theatre, music, dance, poetry, and even sculpture. Much of the content of...
rasa.
The
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar
VamanaVamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
called Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the
rootThe root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
kram; its
reduplicatedReduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
perfect is
chakram ( grade) or
chakra (zero-grade), and in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
he is called by
epithetAn epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
s such as
= "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word
chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a
chakraThe chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
.
Five forms
In Sri Vaishnavism, another school, Vishnu assumes five forms:
- In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta
Vaikuntha , Param Padam , or Paramapadam is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is believed, in the tradition of Vaishnavites, to be the place of eternal bliss, exclusive to the Lord, His eternal consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, and the three-folded Serpent Sesha Naga, upon whom the Lord, and His Shakti ,...
also called MokshaWithin Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhuma DeviBhūmi , also Bhūmī-Devī is the divine wife of Varaha, an Avatar of Vishnu. She is the representative goddess, Mother Earth. According to Hindu mythology, the divine saint Andal is a form of her. The demon Narakasura is her son. She is the mother of Sita,...
and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like AnantaAnanta is a Sanskrit word meaning "without end".It may refer to:*Ananta , one of the names of Vishnu.*Ananta , Actor and Producer for Bengali film.*Ananta, a serpent on which Vishnu lies, aka Shesha....
, GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).
- In the Vyuha form which itself divides into four, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.
- In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assume various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
as from time to time, in order to protect the virtuous, punish the evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.
- In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every atom of matter.
- In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, the Lord is easily approachable to the devotees since they cannot worship Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms directly, which can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be
- revealed by the Lord himself, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu
Swayambhu means Self-manifested or that which is created by its own accord.-Vaishnavism:Based on details in Bhagavata Purana and Matsya Purana, Narayana or Krishna is said to be the Self-manifested Swayambhu form of Brahman as the first cause of creation...
) icon (murtiIn Hinduism, a murti , or murthi, or vigraha or pratima typically refers to an image which expresses a Divine Spirit . Meaning literally "embodiment", a murti is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped...
), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
, The Tirumala Venkateswara TempleTirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
etc.; or
- installed by devas
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur TempleGuruvayur Sree Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam" which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth...
installed by VayuVāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...
; or
- installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama
Agama means, in the Hindu context, "a traditional doctrine, or system which commands faith".In Hinduism, the Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit scriptures which are revered and followed by millions of Hindus.-Significance:...
shastras or scriptures such as Lord JagannathJagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...
of Jagannath Temple (Puri)The Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat and Nath...
at PuriPuri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
.
See also
PañcaratraPāñcarātra are the Vaishnava Sanskrit texts dedicated to worship of Narayana and form part of the Agamas.Unlike Vaikhanasa tradition, the Pancaratric tradition of Agamas prescribe image worship in the place of rituals like Yajnas, mentioned in the Vedas...
Relation with Shiva
During the Vedic period, both Vishnu and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
(as identified with Rudra) played relatively minor roles, but by the time of the Brahmanas (c. 1000-700 BCE), both were gaining ascendance. By the Puranic period, both deities had major sects that competed with one another for devotees. Many stories developed showing different types of relationships between these two important deities.
Sectarian groups each presented their own preferred deity as supreme. Vishnu in his myths "becomes" Shiva. The
Vishnu Purana (4th c. CE) shows Vishnu awakening and becoming both to create the world and Shiva to destroy it. Shiva also is viewed as a manifestation of Vishnu in the
Bhagavata Purana. In Shaivite myths, on the other hand, Shiva comes to the fore and acts independently and alone to create, preserve, and destroy the world. In one Shaivite myth of the origin of the lingam, both Vishnu and are revealed as emanations from Shiva's manifestation as a towering pillar of flame. The
Śatarudrīya, a Shaivite hymn, says that Shiva is "of the form of Vishnu". Differences in viewpoints between the two sects are apparent in the story of
{{Other uses}}
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{{Hdeity infobox
| Image = Vishnu.jpg
| Caption =
| Name = Vishnu
| Devanagari = विष्णु
| Image_size = 200px
| Sanskrit_Transliteration = {{IAST|viṣṇu}}
| Tamil_script = மாயொன் (Old Tamil), விண்ணு
| Tamil_Transliteration = Mayon, Winnu
| Affiliation = Deva' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
(
TrimurtiThe Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
)
| God_of =
| Abode =
VaikuntaVaikuntha , Param Padam , or Paramapadam is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is believed, in the tradition of Vaishnavites, to be the place of eternal bliss, exclusive to the Lord, His eternal consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, and the three-folded Serpent Sesha Naga, upon whom the Lord, and His Shakti ,...
, Ksheera Sagara
| Weapon =
Sudarshana ChakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
and the Kaumodaki
| Consort =
LakshmiLakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
, Bhumidevi
| Mount =
GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
| Mantra = Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
| Planet =
}}
Vishnu (
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
{{lang|sa|विष्णु}}
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}}) is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. Smarta followers of
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of
the five primary forms of GodPanchayatana puja is the system of worship in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha...
.
The
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
declares Vishnu as
ParamatmanIn Hindu theology, Paramatman or Paramātmā is the Absolute Atman or Supreme Soul or Spirit in the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies of India....
(supreme soul) and
ParameshwaraParameshwara or Parameshwar, also transliterated from Sanskrit in other ways, is a Hindu concept literally meaning the Supreme God. The word "param" meaning the highest is added to Ishwara to intensify the title of God.-Conceptualization:...
(supreme
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
). It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called 'Preserver of the universe'.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, Vishnu is described as having the divine colour of water filled clouds, four-armed, holding a lotus, mace,
shankhaShankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....
(
conchA conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
) and
chakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
(wheel). Vishnu is also described in the
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
as having a 'Universal Form' (
Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human perception or imagination.
In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatara, most famous of whom are
RamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. The Puranabharti describes each of these
Dasavatara of VishnuDashavatara refers to the ten principal Avatars. In Vaishnava philosophy, an Avatar , most commonly refers to the 'descent' and refers to 'ten' in number. The ten most famous incarnations of Vishnu or sometimes Krishna are collectively known as the Dashavatara...
. Among the ten principal
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future, at the end of
Kali YugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
. In the commentary of creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
in Vishnu Sahasranamam, he refers to Vishnu as "Sahasrakoti Yuga Dharine", which means that these incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales, the avatars and their stories show that god is indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and unbelievable. The
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate
DharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and vanquish negative forces, the forces of evil that threaten Dharma, as also to display His divine nature in front of the conditioned/fallen souls.
The
TrimurtiThe Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
(‘three forms’;
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
:
{{IAST|trimūrti}}) is a concept in
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
"in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
". Of the three members of the Trimurti, the Bhagavata Purana, which espouses the Vaishnavite viewpoint, explains that the greatest benefit can be had from Vishnu.
{{Hinduism}}
Name
The name
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}} is
RigvedicThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, denoting a minor{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} deity personifying light and the Sun, often invoked as a companion of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, in four instances (especially in RV 6.69) in a
dvandvaA dvandva or twin or Siamese compound refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound...
compound,
{{IAST|Indraviṣṇu}}. The name has no certain etymology; it is unattested in Iranian (but Iranian
RašnuRashnu is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian yazata of justice. Together with Mithra and Sraosha, Rashnu is one of the three judges who pass judgment on the souls of people after death...
is perhaps an indication that the name existed in Indo-Iranian and was replaced in Iranian). The most common interpretation is as
{{IAST|vi-snu-}} from
{{IAST|vi-}} "apart, across" and the zero grade of
{{IAST|sānu}} "summit, ridge, mountain-top", as in "he who steps across / spreads out the mountains", c.f. RV 1.62.5c (of Indra):
- {{IAST|vi bhūmyā aprathaya indra sānu}} ("Thou Indra, hast spread out the earth's high ridges");
but connection to the verbal root
{{IAST|viṣ}} "to be active, work, perform" has also been suggested.
The traditional explanation of the name
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}} involves the root
{{IAST|viś}}, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin
vicus, English
-wich "village"), or also (in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
) "to enter into, to pervade", glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One".{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}
An early commentator on the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
,
Yaska' ) was a Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Pāṇini , assumed to have been active in the 5th or 6th century BC.He is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of words...
, in his
NiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
, defines Vishnu as
vishnu vishateh "one who enters everywhere", and
yad vishito bhavati taddjwojopwjepq, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu."{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}
Lord Vishnu is also known as
Sri Srinivasa Govinda.
Vishnu itself is the second name in the
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
, the thousand names of Vishnu.
Adi Sankara in his commentary on the sahasranama states derivation from
{{IAST|viś}}, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything,
vevesti, he is called
Visnu",). Adi Sankara states (regarding
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root
{{IAST|viś}} means 'enter into.'" Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root Vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that that which pervades everything is Vishnu."
Characteristics
The number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu as the supreme God are countless, with the following six qualities being the most important:
- Jñāna (Omniscience), defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously
- Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
, which consists in unchallenged rule over all
- Shakti (Energy), or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible
- Bala (Strength), which is the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue
- Vīrya (Vigor), which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the supreme being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations
- Tejas (Splendor), which expresses His self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by His spiritual effulgence
In the Vedas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, who he helps in killing
VritraIn the early Vedic religion, Vritra , is an Asura and also a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi...
, and with whom he drinks
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light.
Two Rigvedic hymns in
Mandala 7The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda has 104 hymns. In the Rigveda Anukramani, all hymns in this book are attributed to Vasishta...
are dedicated to Vishnu.
In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth. This characteristic he shares with
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
.
Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Sukta' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:
- The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Visnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven. (trans. Griffith
Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith , scholar of indology, Son of B.A. of Queen's College was elected to the vacant Sanskrit Scholarship on Nov 24, 1849. He translated the Vedic scriptures into English. He also produced translations of other Sanskrit literature, including a verse version of the...
)
Griffith's "princes" are the
sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.
Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he traverses in his strides both vertically and horizontally.
In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13 , 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he said to have made dwelling for men possible, the three being a symbolic representation of its all-encompassing nature. This all-enveloping nature and benevolence to men were to remain the enduring attributes of Vishnu. As the triple-strider he is known as Tri-vikrama and as Uru-krama for the strides were wide.
The general view is that Vedas place
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in considerably superior position to Vishnu. As per the English translations of the Rigveda, Vishnu always extols and lauds the Majesty of Indra. He sings the praise of Indra. The eighth mandala of
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
as per some translations says that Vishnu derived his energy from
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. The three steps of Vishnu was possible only because he derived his energy from Indra.
- "When Viṣṇu, through thine(Indra's) energy, strode wide those three great steps of his,Then thy two beautiful Bay Steeds carried thee on.". (Rigveda 8:12:27)
- "Visnu, Varuna, Mitra sing thy (indra's) praise: In thee the Maruts' company have great delight".(Rigveda 8:15:9)
- "This majesty of his, Visnu extols and lauds, making the stalk that gives the meath flow forth with might" (Rigveda 10:113:2)
An alternate translation is provided by Wilson (page 269 of document) according to Sayana.
When thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)
Wilson also mentions the possible translation as given by Griffith as a footnote. However the following verse from Rig Veda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.
Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures.(Rigveda 1:154:4)
Wilson also offers alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2 (pages 318-319)
Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of wealth, with the associated gods having slain Vr.tra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)
This verse glorifies Viṣṇu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vrtra only in association with other gods.
However Viṣṇu praising other gods need not be taken as worship. Wilson translates as follows.
Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)
The following verses show categorically Viṣṇu as distinguished from other gods in Rig Veda.
He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)
No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)
Vishnu blesses Indra:
The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)
However,
Jan GondaJan Gonda, a celebrated Orientalist and Indologist, was born in Gouda in the Netherlands on 14 April 1905 and died in Utrecht on 28 July 1991. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht and from 1932 held positions at Utrecht and Leiden.Gonda is recognized as one of the twentieth...
, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.
Moreover, even when Vishnu is described as subordinate to Indra, such a description is found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheistic religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for the time being, is supreme in the mind of the devotee. But in the Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is subordinate to Indra is identified as being none other than the Sun god Suryanarayana or Surya, who has another name Vishnu, and he is different from the Supreme God Sreeman Narayana or Narayana who is referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is not a mere sacrificial deity; he is a God who lives in the highest celestial region, compared with those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions; Moreover, Vishnu is a god who is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as havis or
somaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
However, in the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is none other than the Sun God who also bore the name Suryanarayana, who in turn was also called Vishnu. So the 'Vishnu' referred to in the Rig Veda is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana or Surya and he in turn, is entirely different from the Vishnu who is Sreeman Narayana (the Lord/Consort of Sree or Lakshmi, who is also the central deity in 'Vishnu Puranam', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam', 'Purusha Sooktham' (wherein he is identified very clearly not as the Sun or Suryanarayana (the purveyor of the skies), but as Narayana or Vishnu and further identified as the Supreme Lord who has Sreedevi (Lakshmi) and Bhoodevi (Goddess Earth or Bhoomi) as his wives/consorts ("Hreeshcha-tey-Lakshmeeshcha-patnyauh"). The Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
by highlighting him as a personality or entity much different from other deities like
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
,
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the minor deity
SuryaSurya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
the Sun who also bears the name Vishnu.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
Indra frequently becomes proud and haughty. This act of his incurs the displeasure of his creators namely
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who along with
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer God start by giving boons to demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana, who are able to defeat Indra in wars between the
Devas' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
and Asuras. Indra in turn has no option but to take advice of the sages who say that no one can save him but the Protector God Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu the Supreme Lord. Indra goes and prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking
avatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a or birth or generating himself on Earth in various forms i.e. first as amphibean, water-born being namely the Matsya or fish, then as a creature capable of living on land as well as water, i.e. the Koorma avatara (Tortoise), then half-man, half-animal namely Varaha (the Pig-faced/human-bodied Lord) and Narasimha (Lord with Lion face and claws and human body). Later the same
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu appears as full-fledged human being in the form of Vamana (the short-heighted person), Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, Balarama or Buddha and finally as Kalki avataram for performing his task of protecting his devotees from the Asuras or anti-God, anti-religious entities.
The Vaishnava canon claims absolute clarity in identification of the Supreme Lord Vishnu (Sreeman Narayana or Narayana) from the Vishnu of the Rig Veda who they claim is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana, who incidentally is also bears a secondary name Vishnu. In the Vaishnava canon, it is none other than Lord Vishnu or Sreeman Narayana who is their Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatarams across various 'yugas (ages or periods) to save humanity from the clutches of evil beings, who became powerful after receiving boons from the two other Gods of the Trinity viz.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. They believe the acts of Sreeman
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Vishnu were certainly not performed by the minor deity Suryanarayana, or the Sun, also known as Vishnu of the Rig Vedas to be the Sun God Surya or Suryanarayana, who was also called and worshipped as Vishnu during the Rig Vedic period. This is borne out by the fact that neither are there are in number, very few temples dedicated to the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, nor indeed of the Vedic God
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, nor is there any pronounced importance followed by worship of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in the Hindu religion, which practice was discontinued after
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
's defeat at the hands of the demons and Asuras and his forced abdication of the throne.
Following the defeat of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, according to the Vaishnava canon, the Supreme Lord of the universe Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatarams on earth to save mankind, thus taking the place of the Supreme God with him not being worshipped and eulogized by Vaishnavites alone, but also getting recognized by Shaivites and the Smarthas. A direct consequence of this was the almost complete absence of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and to a lesser extent, of the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, a minor deity from
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temples from the deities being considered fit for worshipping as the chief or most important deity. A glaring example being quoted in support of non-worship of deities like
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
or non-prominence of other major Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, (who is in any case not having more than a temple or two on earth) by Vaishnavites is the fact of their Supreme Lord Vishnu or Narayana taking avatarams to defeat and kill either the demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyipu or Ravana who have vanquished
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
himself and/or demons who have empowered themselves by pleasing and getting boons from other powerful Gods like
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. These demons received boons making them virtually indestructible by any person. But
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu outwits them by appearing as half-human half-animal before demons like Hiranyakashyipu (who had taken a boon that he will not be killed at any specific time of the day or by any human or animal) or Ravana (who becomes invincible by taking a boon from God Shiva that he will not be killed by any Deva - a celestial being with godly powers) who is considered the greatest among devotees of
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
gets slayed by Vishnu, who appears before him as a mere human being i.e. Lord Rama, the son of Dasharatha.
The Vaishnava canon thus claims supremacy of Vishnu even among the Gods by quoting his victories over or killing of those very powerful entities who are themselves devotees of other Gods like the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. The Vaishnava canon finally distinguishes
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or the Supreme Lord Vishnu from other deities like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer or
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
the creator, first by pointing out the accepted iconography or sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as having the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
sprouting or emerging from Vishnu's navel i.e. showing
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself as having been created by Vishnu out of his own person. This is interpreted as the creator being created by his own creator i.e.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself being created by Vishnu and going on to create the Universe on the instructions of Vishnu. Secondly, there is the act of the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
go on to give boons to demons or Asuras and as a consequence of granting boons to evil beings, they divest themselves of their powers to eliminate them, which are now vested with the Supreme Lord among the Gods i.e. Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Sreeman Narayana, who takes various avatars or forms to come to earth to slay or defeat those demons. This is again interpreted as the triumph of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
because it would mean that
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
can only grant boons to good beings and since they cannot distinguish between the two types of beings, they have to entrust this responsibility to the God who protects all good beings. Thus, they have no option but to leave all devotees under the care of the Protector Lord, i.e. the Supreme Lord of the Vaishnava canon, i.e. Lord
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu. Third and lastly, the Vaishnava canon makes the final distinction in addition to the above two qualities of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
, so as to reinforce his pre-eminence and supremacy among all the Gods because Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu in his myriad forms never ever grants a wish to evil beings, as is done according to the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
by both the creator God
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. So they regard Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu as a protector God who makes a clear distinction between bad and good beings and never favours or grants boons or wishes to evil entities as would be done by both
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and is thus regarded by them as the only God worthy of worship as the preferred deity.
The above actions of Vishnu automatically led to the lowering of status of Indra among Hindu deities and leads directly to the ascendancy of Vishnu or Narayana, as per the Vaishnava canon.
In the Brahmanas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Shakala shakha:
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
Verse 1 : "Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā" declares that
AgniAgni 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...
is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the oldest God.
In the Brahmanas, the supremacy of Lord Vishnu is clearly announced. Here He is repeatedly addressed as "Yajnapati" or the one whom all the sacrifices are meant to please. Even if the sacrifices are offered to the demigods, Lord Vishnu is the one who accepts the sacrifice and allots the respective fruits to the performer. There is mention of one such incident where a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the rishis (Sanskrit name for sages who constantly meditate by chanting God's name) forcefully. The sacrifice was meant to bring about the destruction of Indra. But the rishis,who used to worship Indra as a demigod were intelligent enough to alter a single pronunciation of the ved-mantra. The purpose of the entire sacrifice was reversed. When the fruit of the sacrifice was given, when the demon was on the verge of dying, he clearly calls out to lord Vishnu,whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself". Aitareya Brahmana: 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different forms, his relationship with the 'asuras' or evil-beings including demons (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyipu were considered demons) has always been adversarial, with the asuras always causing harm or killing good beings including sages and devotees of Vishnu, with the sages and 'devas' (celestial beings including Indra - not considered a God in Vaishnava canon) doing penance and calling out to Lord Vishnu for protection. In response to the call of devotees and being described as the one and only saviour of the world, Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu, being the Protector God, always obliges by taking avatarams (incarnations as Narasimha, Rama etc.) to finally vanquish and eliminate the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Narayana or Lord Vishnu is clearly defined as one who has never given or granted any boons to the asuras (to clearly distinguish him from other Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who granted boons to demons or evil beings), but he is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the very evil beings who became powerful or even invincible after being granted boons by the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
.
Sayana' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
writes that
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
1-1-1 ("Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā") doesn't indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, where avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality. In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ |, i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth ; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place ; for he represents (in the Rigveda) the sun in its daily and yearly course. The words 'avama' and 'parama' is to be understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To prove this meaning to be the true one, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2),
agnir mukham prathamo devatanam samgathanam uttamo Vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last. In the Kausitaki-Brahmana (7, 1) Agni is called avarardhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardhya(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu, but mentions that sacrifices to Sreeman Narayana are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Narayana or Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach the Supreme God Vishnu and are accepted by him. Worship of Lord Vishnu through Yagnyas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not bear fruit or the desired result in case 'Agni' is not given any role in the process.
Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rv. i. 27. 13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the slave of others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."
However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rig Veda does recognize one or more gods being subject to other god(s).
Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship.(Rigveda 2.038.09)
I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)
The following verse suggests Rudra gaining his strength from worship of Viṣṇu.
With offerings I propitiate the branches of this swift-moving God, the bounteous Visnu. Hence Rudra gained his Rudra-strength: O Asvins, ye sought the house that hath celestial viands.(Rigveda 7.040.05)
In the Upanishads
The oldest of the Upanishads, that form the philosophical culmination of the Vedas, are dated to the 7th or 8th centuries BCE. The upanishads,right from Gopal tapani upanishad to the Brhadaranyaka upanishad state His Godhood.The Katha-upanishad, describes Vishnu in supremacy -
He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always impure, never reaches that place, but enters into the round of births. But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure, reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not born again. But he who has understanding for his charioteer (intellect), and who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu.
In the Bhagavad Gita
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, an avatar of Vishnu, considered to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition, depicts his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
on the battlefield of
KurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, teaches
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
the nature of the Supreme being and the different processes of
YogaYoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, ultimately culminating in devotional surrender, similar to that of the catursloki of the Bhagavata Purana.
- "I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed."
- "But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe."
- "If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form."
- "Abandon all varieties of dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not despair."
In the Viṣṇu Smṛti
The Viṣṇu Smṛti (700-1000CE) is one of the latest books of the
DharmaśāstraDharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
tradition of Hinduism and also the only one which does not deal directly with the means of knowing
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
, focusing instead on the
bhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
tradition and requiring daily puja to the god Viṣṇu. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of
satiFor other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
(the burning of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre). The text was not actually composed by the sage Viṣṇu himself, but rather by an individual or group writing much after his death. This group brought together a collection of all of the commonly known legal maxims which were attributed to the sage Viṣṇu into one book as the Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.
Theological attributes
{{Main|Vaishnavism}}
Vishnu takes form as an all-inclusive deity, known as Purusha or {{IAST|Mahāpurusha}}, {{IAST|Paramātma}} [Supreme Soul], {{IAST|Antaryāmi}} [In-dweller], and he is the Sheshin [Totality] in whom all souls are contained.
Vishnu is the only
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
(which in Sanskrit means "possessing
{{IAST|bhāga}} Divine Glory"), as declared in the
BhagavataThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
1.2.11 in the verse: "vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate". The meaning of the verse is as follows: "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
BrahmanIn Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Paramātma, and
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
."
In the
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
(6.5.79) the personality named
Parashara Rishi' is a Rigvedic Maharishi and author of many ancient Indian texts. Parāśara was the grandson of Vashista, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker...
defines six bhagas as follows:
- {{IAST|aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ}}
- {{IAST|jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā}}
Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in his Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15.73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46.10:
- {{IAST|jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ}}
- {{IAST|bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ}}
- "The substantives of the word bhagavat ({{IAST|bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni}}) are unlimited ({{IAST|aśes.atah.}}) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities ({{IAST|guṇādibhiḥ}})."
Vishnu possesses six such divine glories, namely,
Omniscient Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
; defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;
- Aishvarya Opulence, which persists in unchallenged rule over all;
- Shakti Energy
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
, or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible;
- Bala Strength, which is the capacity to support everything by his will and without any fatigue;
- Virya Vigour
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong man" or "manliness." In Vedic literature, the term is often associated with heroism and virility...
, or valour which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations; Resplendent, or Splendour, which expresses his self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by his spiritual effulgence; cited from Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, by Swami Tapasyananda.
However, the actual number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu is countless, with the above-mentioned six qualities being the most important. Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion).
Natya ShastraThe Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope...
lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the
SringaraSringara is one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love, or as attraction or beauty. Rasa means "flavour", and the theory of rasa is the primary concept behind classical Indian arts including theatre, music, dance, poetry, and even sculpture. Much of the content of...
rasa.
The
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar
VamanaVamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
called Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the
rootThe root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
kram; its
reduplicatedReduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
perfect is
chakram ({{IAST|
guņa' means 'string' or 'a single thread or strand of a cord or twine'. In more abstract uses, it may mean 'a subdivision, species, kind, quality', or an operational principle or tendency....
}} grade) or
chakra (zero-grade), and in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
he is called by
epithetAn epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
s such as
{{IAST|vi-chakra-māņas}} = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word
chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a
chakraThe chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
.
Five forms
In Sri Vaishnavism, another school, Vishnu assumes five forms:
- In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta
Vaikuntha , Param Padam , or Paramapadam is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is believed, in the tradition of Vaishnavites, to be the place of eternal bliss, exclusive to the Lord, His eternal consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, and the three-folded Serpent Sesha Naga, upon whom the Lord, and His Shakti ,...
also called MokshaWithin Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhuma DeviBhūmi , also Bhūmī-Devī is the divine wife of Varaha, an Avatar of Vishnu. She is the representative goddess, Mother Earth. According to Hindu mythology, the divine saint Andal is a form of her. The demon Narakasura is her son. She is the mother of Sita,...
and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like AnantaAnanta is a Sanskrit word meaning "without end".It may refer to:*Ananta , one of the names of Vishnu.*Ananta , Actor and Producer for Bengali film.*Ananta, a serpent on which Vishnu lies, aka Shesha....
, GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).
- In the Vyuha form which itself divides into four, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.
- In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assume various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
as from time to time, in order to protect the virtuous, punish the evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.
- In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every atom of matter.
- In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, the Lord is easily approachable to the devotees since they cannot worship Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms directly, which can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be
- revealed by the Lord himself, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu
Swayambhu means Self-manifested or that which is created by its own accord.-Vaishnavism:Based on details in Bhagavata Purana and Matsya Purana, Narayana or Krishna is said to be the Self-manifested Swayambhu form of Brahman as the first cause of creation...
) icon (murtiIn Hinduism, a murti , or murthi, or vigraha or pratima typically refers to an image which expresses a Divine Spirit . Meaning literally "embodiment", a murti is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped...
), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
, The Tirumala Venkateswara TempleTirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
etc.; or
- installed by devas
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur TempleGuruvayur Sree Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam" which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth...
installed by VayuVāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...
; or
- installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama
Agama means, in the Hindu context, "a traditional doctrine, or system which commands faith".In Hinduism, the Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit scriptures which are revered and followed by millions of Hindus.-Significance:...
shastras or scriptures such as Lord JagannathJagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...
of Jagannath Temple (Puri)The Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat and Nath...
at PuriPuri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
.
See also
PañcaratraPāñcarātra are the Vaishnava Sanskrit texts dedicated to worship of Narayana and form part of the Agamas.Unlike Vaikhanasa tradition, the Pancaratric tradition of Agamas prescribe image worship in the place of rituals like Yajnas, mentioned in the Vedas...
Relation with Shiva
During the Vedic period, both Vishnu and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
(as identified with Rudra) played relatively minor roles, but by the time of the Brahmanas (c. 1000-700 BCE), both were gaining ascendance. By the Puranic period, both deities had major sects that competed with one another for devotees. Many stories developed showing different types of relationships between these two important deities.
Sectarian groups each presented their own preferred deity as supreme. Vishnu in his myths "becomes" Shiva. The
Vishnu Purana (4th c. CE) shows Vishnu awakening and becoming both {{IAST|Brahmā}} to create the world and Shiva to destroy it. Shiva also is viewed as a manifestation of Vishnu in the
Bhagavata Purana. In Shaivite myths, on the other hand, Shiva comes to the fore and acts independently and alone to create, preserve, and destroy the world. In one Shaivite myth of the origin of the lingam, both Vishnu and {{IAST|Brahmā}} are revealed as emanations from Shiva's manifestation as a towering pillar of flame. The
Śatarudrīya, a Shaivite hymn, says that Shiva is "of the form of Vishnu". Differences in viewpoints between the two sects are apparent in the story of
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Hdeity infobox
| Image = Vishnu.jpg
| Caption =
| Name = Vishnu
| Devanagari = विष्णु
| Image_size = 200px
| Sanskrit_Transliteration = {{IAST|viṣṇu}}
| Tamil_script = மாயொன் (Old Tamil), விண்ணு
| Tamil_Transliteration = Mayon, Winnu
| Affiliation = Deva' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
(
TrimurtiThe Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
)
| God_of =
| Abode =
VaikuntaVaikuntha , Param Padam , or Paramapadam is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is believed, in the tradition of Vaishnavites, to be the place of eternal bliss, exclusive to the Lord, His eternal consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, and the three-folded Serpent Sesha Naga, upon whom the Lord, and His Shakti ,...
, Ksheera Sagara
| Weapon =
Sudarshana ChakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
and the Kaumodaki
| Consort =
LakshmiLakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
, Bhumidevi
| Mount =
GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
| Mantra = Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
| Planet =
}}
Vishnu (
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
{{lang|sa|विष्णु}}
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}}) is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. Smarta followers of
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of
the five primary forms of GodPanchayatana puja is the system of worship in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha...
.
The
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
declares Vishnu as
ParamatmanIn Hindu theology, Paramatman or Paramātmā is the Absolute Atman or Supreme Soul or Spirit in the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies of India....
(supreme soul) and
ParameshwaraParameshwara or Parameshwar, also transliterated from Sanskrit in other ways, is a Hindu concept literally meaning the Supreme God. The word "param" meaning the highest is added to Ishwara to intensify the title of God.-Conceptualization:...
(supreme
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
). It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called 'Preserver of the universe'.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, Vishnu is described as having the divine colour of water filled clouds, four-armed, holding a lotus, mace,
shankhaShankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....
(
conchA conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
) and
chakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
(wheel). Vishnu is also described in the
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
as having a 'Universal Form' (
Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human perception or imagination.
In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatara, most famous of whom are
RamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. The Puranabharti describes each of these
Dasavatara of VishnuDashavatara refers to the ten principal Avatars. In Vaishnava philosophy, an Avatar , most commonly refers to the 'descent' and refers to 'ten' in number. The ten most famous incarnations of Vishnu or sometimes Krishna are collectively known as the Dashavatara...
. Among the ten principal
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future, at the end of
Kali YugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
. In the commentary of creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
in Vishnu Sahasranamam, he refers to Vishnu as "Sahasrakoti Yuga Dharine", which means that these incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales, the avatars and their stories show that god is indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and unbelievable. The
Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate
DharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and vanquish negative forces, the forces of evil that threaten Dharma, as also to display His divine nature in front of the conditioned/fallen souls.
The
TrimurtiThe Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
(‘three forms’;
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
:
{{IAST|trimūrti}}) is a concept in
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
"in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
". Of the three members of the Trimurti, the Bhagavata Purana, which espouses the Vaishnavite viewpoint, explains that the greatest benefit can be had from Vishnu.
{{Hinduism}}
Name
The name
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}} is
RigvedicThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, denoting a minor{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} deity personifying light and the Sun, often invoked as a companion of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, in four instances (especially in RV 6.69) in a
dvandvaA dvandva or twin or Siamese compound refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound...
compound,
{{IAST|Indraviṣṇu}}. The name has no certain etymology; it is unattested in Iranian (but Iranian
RašnuRashnu is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian yazata of justice. Together with Mithra and Sraosha, Rashnu is one of the three judges who pass judgment on the souls of people after death...
is perhaps an indication that the name existed in Indo-Iranian and was replaced in Iranian). The most common interpretation is as
{{IAST|vi-snu-}} from
{{IAST|vi-}} "apart, across" and the zero grade of
{{IAST|sānu}} "summit, ridge, mountain-top", as in "he who steps across / spreads out the mountains", c.f. RV 1.62.5c (of Indra):
- {{IAST|vi bhūmyā aprathaya indra sānu}} ("Thou Indra, hast spread out the earth's high ridges");
but connection to the verbal root
{{IAST|viṣ}} "to be active, work, perform" has also been suggested.
The traditional explanation of the name
{{IAST|Viṣṇu}} involves the root
{{IAST|viś}}, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin
vicus, English
-wich "village"), or also (in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
) "to enter into, to pervade", glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One".{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}
An early commentator on the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
,
Yaska' ) was a Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Pāṇini , assumed to have been active in the 5th or 6th century BC.He is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of words...
, in his
NiruktaNirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
, defines Vishnu as
vishnu vishateh "one who enters everywhere", and
yad vishito bhavati taddjwojopwjepq, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu."{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}
Lord Vishnu is also known as
Sri Srinivasa Govinda.
Vishnu itself is the second name in the
Vishnu SahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
, the thousand names of Vishnu.
Adi Sankara in his commentary on the sahasranama states derivation from
{{IAST|viś}}, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything,
vevesti, he is called
Visnu",). Adi Sankara states (regarding
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root
{{IAST|viś}} means 'enter into.'" Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root Vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that that which pervades everything is Vishnu."
Characteristics
The number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu as the supreme God are countless, with the following six qualities being the most important:
- Jñāna (Omniscience), defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously
- Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
, which consists in unchallenged rule over all
- Shakti (Energy), or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible
- Bala (Strength), which is the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue
- Vīrya (Vigor), which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the supreme being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations
- Tejas (Splendor), which expresses His self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by His spiritual effulgence
In the Vedas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, who he helps in killing
VritraIn the early Vedic religion, Vritra , is an Asura and also a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi...
, and with whom he drinks
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light.
Two Rigvedic hymns in
Mandala 7The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda has 104 hymns. In the Rigveda Anukramani, all hymns in this book are attributed to Vasishta...
are dedicated to Vishnu.
In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth. This characteristic he shares with
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
.
Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Sukta' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:
- The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Visnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven. (trans. Griffith
Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith , scholar of indology, Son of B.A. of Queen's College was elected to the vacant Sanskrit Scholarship on Nov 24, 1849. He translated the Vedic scriptures into English. He also produced translations of other Sanskrit literature, including a verse version of the...
)
Griffith's "princes" are the
sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.
Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he traverses in his strides both vertically and horizontally.
In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13 , 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he said to have made dwelling for men possible, the three being a symbolic representation of its all-encompassing nature. This all-enveloping nature and benevolence to men were to remain the enduring attributes of Vishnu. As the triple-strider he is known as Tri-vikrama and as Uru-krama for the strides were wide.
The general view is that Vedas place
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in considerably superior position to Vishnu. As per the English translations of the Rigveda, Vishnu always extols and lauds the Majesty of Indra. He sings the praise of Indra. The eighth mandala of
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
as per some translations says that Vishnu derived his energy from
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. The three steps of Vishnu was possible only because he derived his energy from Indra.
- "When Viṣṇu, through thine(Indra's) energy, strode wide those three great steps of his,Then thy two beautiful Bay Steeds carried thee on.". (Rigveda 8:12:27)
- "Visnu, Varuna, Mitra sing thy (indra's) praise: In thee the Maruts' company have great delight".(Rigveda 8:15:9)
- "This majesty of his, Visnu extols and lauds, making the stalk that gives the meath flow forth with might" (Rigveda 10:113:2)
An alternate translation is provided by Wilson (page 269 of document) according to Sayana.
When thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)
Wilson also mentions the possible translation as given by Griffith as a footnote. However the following verse from Rig Veda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.
Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures.(Rigveda 1:154:4)
Wilson also offers alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2 (pages 318-319)
Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of wealth, with the associated gods having slain Vr.tra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)
This verse glorifies Viṣṇu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vrtra only in association with other gods.
However Viṣṇu praising other gods need not be taken as worship. Wilson translates as follows.
Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)
The following verses show categorically Viṣṇu as distinguished from other gods in Rig Veda.
He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)
No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)
Vishnu blesses Indra:
The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)
However,
Jan GondaJan Gonda, a celebrated Orientalist and Indologist, was born in Gouda in the Netherlands on 14 April 1905 and died in Utrecht on 28 July 1991. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht and from 1932 held positions at Utrecht and Leiden.Gonda is recognized as one of the twentieth...
, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.
Moreover, even when Vishnu is described as subordinate to Indra, such a description is found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheistic religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for the time being, is supreme in the mind of the devotee. But in the Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is subordinate to Indra is identified as being none other than the Sun god Suryanarayana or Surya, who has another name Vishnu, and he is different from the Supreme God Sreeman Narayana or Narayana who is referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is not a mere sacrificial deity; he is a God who lives in the highest celestial region, compared with those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions; Moreover, Vishnu is a god who is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as havis or
somaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
.
However, in the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is none other than the Sun God who also bore the name Suryanarayana, who in turn was also called Vishnu. So the 'Vishnu' referred to in the Rig Veda is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana or Surya and he in turn, is entirely different from the Vishnu who is Sreeman Narayana (the Lord/Consort of Sree or Lakshmi, who is also the central deity in 'Vishnu Puranam', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam', 'Purusha Sooktham' (wherein he is identified very clearly not as the Sun or Suryanarayana (the purveyor of the skies), but as Narayana or Vishnu and further identified as the Supreme Lord who has Sreedevi (Lakshmi) and Bhoodevi (Goddess Earth or Bhoomi) as his wives/consorts ("Hreeshcha-tey-Lakshmeeshcha-patnyauh"). The Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
by highlighting him as a personality or entity much different from other deities like
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
,
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the minor deity
SuryaSurya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
the Sun who also bears the name Vishnu.
In the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
Indra frequently becomes proud and haughty. This act of his incurs the displeasure of his creators namely
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who along with
SivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer God start by giving boons to demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana, who are able to defeat Indra in wars between the
Devas' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
and Asuras. Indra in turn has no option but to take advice of the sages who say that no one can save him but the Protector God Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu the Supreme Lord. Indra goes and prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking
avatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
a or birth or generating himself on Earth in various forms i.e. first as amphibean, water-born being namely the Matsya or fish, then as a creature capable of living on land as well as water, i.e. the Koorma avatara (Tortoise), then half-man, half-animal namely Varaha (the Pig-faced/human-bodied Lord) and Narasimha (Lord with Lion face and claws and human body). Later the same
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu appears as full-fledged human being in the form of Vamana (the short-heighted person), Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, Balarama or Buddha and finally as Kalki avataram for performing his task of protecting his devotees from the Asuras or anti-God, anti-religious entities.
The Vaishnava canon claims absolute clarity in identification of the Supreme Lord Vishnu (Sreeman Narayana or Narayana) from the Vishnu of the Rig Veda who they claim is none other than the Sun God Suryanarayana, who incidentally is also bears a secondary name Vishnu. In the Vaishnava canon, it is none other than Lord Vishnu or Sreeman Narayana who is their Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatarams across various 'yugas (ages or periods) to save humanity from the clutches of evil beings, who became powerful after receiving boons from the two other Gods of the Trinity viz.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. They believe the acts of Sreeman
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Vishnu were certainly not performed by the minor deity Suryanarayana, or the Sun, also known as Vishnu of the Rig Vedas to be the Sun God Surya or Suryanarayana, who was also called and worshipped as Vishnu during the Rig Vedic period. This is borne out by the fact that neither are there are in number, very few temples dedicated to the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, nor indeed of the Vedic God
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, nor is there any pronounced importance followed by worship of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
in the Hindu religion, which practice was discontinued after
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
's defeat at the hands of the demons and Asuras and his forced abdication of the throne.
Following the defeat of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, according to the Vaishnava canon, the Supreme Lord of the universe Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatarams on earth to save mankind, thus taking the place of the Supreme God with him not being worshipped and eulogized by Vaishnavites alone, but also getting recognized by Shaivites and the Smarthas. A direct consequence of this was the almost complete absence of
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and to a lesser extent, of the
SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
or Suryanarayana, a minor deity from
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temples from the deities being considered fit for worshipping as the chief or most important deity. A glaring example being quoted in support of non-worship of deities like
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
or non-prominence of other major Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, (who is in any case not having more than a temple or two on earth) by Vaishnavites is the fact of their Supreme Lord Vishnu or Narayana taking avatarams to defeat and kill either the demons or Asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashyipu or Ravana who have vanquished
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
himself and/or demons who have empowered themselves by pleasing and getting boons from other powerful Gods like
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. These demons received boons making them virtually indestructible by any person. But
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu outwits them by appearing as half-human half-animal before demons like Hiranyakashyipu (who had taken a boon that he will not be killed at any specific time of the day or by any human or animal) or Ravana (who becomes invincible by taking a boon from God Shiva that he will not be killed by any Deva - a celestial being with godly powers) who is considered the greatest among devotees of
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
gets slayed by Vishnu, who appears before him as a mere human being i.e. Lord Rama, the son of Dasharatha.
The Vaishnava canon thus claims supremacy of Vishnu even among the Gods by quoting his victories over or killing of those very powerful entities who are themselves devotees of other Gods like the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. The Vaishnava canon finally distinguishes
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or the Supreme Lord Vishnu from other deities like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Destroyer or
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
the creator, first by pointing out the accepted iconography or sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as having the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
sprouting or emerging from Vishnu's navel i.e. showing
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself as having been created by Vishnu out of his own person. This is interpreted as the creator being created by his own creator i.e.
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
himself being created by Vishnu and going on to create the Universe on the instructions of Vishnu. Secondly, there is the act of the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
go on to give boons to demons or Asuras and as a consequence of granting boons to evil beings, they divest themselves of their powers to eliminate them, which are now vested with the Supreme Lord among the Gods i.e. Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
also called Sreeman Narayana, who takes various avatars or forms to come to earth to slay or defeat those demons. This is again interpreted as the triumph of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
because it would mean that
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
can only grant boons to good beings and since they cannot distinguish between the two types of beings, they have to entrust this responsibility to the God who protects all good beings. Thus, they have no option but to leave all devotees under the care of the Protector Lord, i.e. the Supreme Lord of the Vaishnava canon, i.e. Lord
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu. Third and lastly, the Vaishnava canon makes the final distinction in addition to the above two qualities of Lord Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
, so as to reinforce his pre-eminence and supremacy among all the Gods because Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu in his myriad forms never ever grants a wish to evil beings, as is done according to the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
by both the creator God
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or the destroyer God
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. So they regard Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu as a protector God who makes a clear distinction between bad and good beings and never favours or grants boons or wishes to evil entities as would be done by both
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and is thus regarded by them as the only God worthy of worship as the preferred deity.
The above actions of Vishnu automatically led to the lowering of status of Indra among Hindu deities and leads directly to the ascendancy of Vishnu or Narayana, as per the Vaishnava canon.
In the Brahmanas
In the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, Shakala shakha:
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
Verse 1 : "Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā" declares that
AgniAgni 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...
is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the oldest God.
In the Brahmanas, the supremacy of Lord Vishnu is clearly announced. Here He is repeatedly addressed as "Yajnapati" or the one whom all the sacrifices are meant to please. Even if the sacrifices are offered to the demigods, Lord Vishnu is the one who accepts the sacrifice and allots the respective fruits to the performer. There is mention of one such incident where a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the rishis (Sanskrit name for sages who constantly meditate by chanting God's name) forcefully. The sacrifice was meant to bring about the destruction of Indra. But the rishis,who used to worship Indra as a demigod were intelligent enough to alter a single pronunciation of the ved-mantra. The purpose of the entire sacrifice was reversed. When the fruit of the sacrifice was given, when the demon was on the verge of dying, he clearly calls out to lord Vishnu,whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself". Aitareya Brahmana: 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different forms, his relationship with the 'asuras' or evil-beings including demons (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyipu were considered demons) has always been adversarial, with the asuras always causing harm or killing good beings including sages and devotees of Vishnu, with the sages and 'devas' (celestial beings including Indra - not considered a God in Vaishnava canon) doing penance and calling out to Lord Vishnu for protection. In response to the call of devotees and being described as the one and only saviour of the world, Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu, being the Protector God, always obliges by taking avatarams (incarnations as Narasimha, Rama etc.) to finally vanquish and eliminate the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Narayana or Lord Vishnu is clearly defined as one who has never given or granted any boons to the asuras (to clearly distinguish him from other Gods like
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who granted boons to demons or evil beings), but he is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the very evil beings who became powerful or even invincible after being granted boons by the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
.
Sayana' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
writes that
Aitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
1-1-1 ("Agnir vai devānām avamo Viṣṇuḥ paramas,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā") doesn't indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, where avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality. In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ |, i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth ; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place ; for he represents (in the Rigveda) the sun in its daily and yearly course. The words 'avama' and 'parama' is to be understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To prove this meaning to be the true one, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2),
agnir mukham prathamo devatanam samgathanam uttamo Vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last. In the Kausitaki-Brahmana (7, 1) Agni is called avarardhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardhya(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu, but mentions that sacrifices to Sreeman Narayana are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Narayana or Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach the Supreme God Vishnu and are accepted by him. Worship of Lord Vishnu through Yagnyas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not bear fruit or the desired result in case 'Agni' is not given any role in the process.
Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rv. i. 27. 13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the slave of others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."
However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rig Veda does recognize one or more gods being subject to other god(s).
Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship.(Rigveda 2.038.09)
I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)
The following verse suggests Rudra gaining his strength from worship of Viṣṇu.
With offerings I propitiate the branches of this swift-moving God, the bounteous Visnu. Hence Rudra gained his Rudra-strength: O Asvins, ye sought the house that hath celestial viands.(Rigveda 7.040.05)
In the Upanishads
The oldest of the Upanishads, that form the philosophical culmination of the Vedas, are dated to the 7th or 8th centuries BCE. The upanishads,right from Gopal tapani upanishad to the Brhadaranyaka upanishad state His Godhood.The Katha-upanishad, describes Vishnu in supremacy -
He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always impure, never reaches that place, but enters into the round of births. But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure, reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not born again. But he who has understanding for his charioteer (intellect), and who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu.
In the Bhagavad Gita
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, an avatar of Vishnu, considered to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition, depicts his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
on the battlefield of
KurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, teaches
ArjunaArjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
the nature of the Supreme being and the different processes of
YogaYoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, ultimately culminating in devotional surrender, similar to that of the catursloki of the Bhagavata Purana.
- "I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed."
- "But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe."
- "If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form."
- "Abandon all varieties of dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not despair."
In the Viṣṇu Smṛti
The Viṣṇu Smṛti (700-1000CE) is one of the latest books of the
DharmaśāstraDharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
tradition of Hinduism and also the only one which does not deal directly with the means of knowing
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
, focusing instead on the
bhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
tradition and requiring daily puja to the god Viṣṇu. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of
satiFor other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
(the burning of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre). The text was not actually composed by the sage Viṣṇu himself, but rather by an individual or group writing much after his death. This group brought together a collection of all of the commonly known legal maxims which were attributed to the sage Viṣṇu into one book as the Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.
Theological attributes
{{Main|Vaishnavism}}
Vishnu takes form as an all-inclusive deity, known as Purusha or {{IAST|Mahāpurusha}}, {{IAST|Paramātma}} [Supreme Soul], {{IAST|Antaryāmi}} [In-dweller], and he is the Sheshin [Totality] in whom all souls are contained.
Vishnu is the only
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
(which in Sanskrit means "possessing
{{IAST|bhāga}} Divine Glory"), as declared in the
BhagavataThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
1.2.11 in the verse: "vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate". The meaning of the verse is as follows: "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
BrahmanIn Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, Paramātma, and
BhagavanBhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
."
In the
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
(6.5.79) the personality named
Parashara Rishi' is a Rigvedic Maharishi and author of many ancient Indian texts. Parāśara was the grandson of Vashista, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker...
defines six bhagas as follows:
- {{IAST|aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ}}
- {{IAST|jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā}}
Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in his Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15.73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46.10:
- {{IAST|jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ}}
- {{IAST|bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ}}
- "The substantives of the word bhagavat ({{IAST|bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni}}) are unlimited ({{IAST|aśes.atah.}}) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities ({{IAST|guṇādibhiḥ}})."
Vishnu possesses six such divine glories, namely,
Omniscient Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
; defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;
- Aishvarya Opulence, which persists in unchallenged rule over all;
- Shakti Energy
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
, or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible;
- Bala Strength, which is the capacity to support everything by his will and without any fatigue;
- Virya Vigour
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong man" or "manliness." In Vedic literature, the term is often associated with heroism and virility...
, or valour which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations; Resplendent, or Splendour, which expresses his self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by his spiritual effulgence; cited from Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, by Swami Tapasyananda.
However, the actual number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu is countless, with the above-mentioned six qualities being the most important. Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion).
Natya ShastraThe Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope...
lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the
SringaraSringara is one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love, or as attraction or beauty. Rasa means "flavour", and the theory of rasa is the primary concept behind classical Indian arts including theatre, music, dance, poetry, and even sculpture. Much of the content of...
rasa.
The
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar
VamanaVamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
called Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the
rootThe root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
kram; its
reduplicatedReduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
perfect is
chakram ({{IAST|
guņa' means 'string' or 'a single thread or strand of a cord or twine'. In more abstract uses, it may mean 'a subdivision, species, kind, quality', or an operational principle or tendency....
}} grade) or
chakra (zero-grade), and in the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
he is called by
epithetAn epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
s such as
{{IAST|vi-chakra-māņas}} = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word
chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a
chakraThe chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
.
Five forms
In Sri Vaishnavism, another school, Vishnu assumes five forms:
- In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta
Vaikuntha , Param Padam , or Paramapadam is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is believed, in the tradition of Vaishnavites, to be the place of eternal bliss, exclusive to the Lord, His eternal consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, and the three-folded Serpent Sesha Naga, upon whom the Lord, and His Shakti ,...
also called MokshaWithin Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhuma DeviBhūmi , also Bhūmī-Devī is the divine wife of Varaha, an Avatar of Vishnu. She is the representative goddess, Mother Earth. According to Hindu mythology, the divine saint Andal is a form of her. The demon Narakasura is her son. She is the mother of Sita,...
and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like AnantaAnanta is a Sanskrit word meaning "without end".It may refer to:*Ananta , one of the names of Vishnu.*Ananta , Actor and Producer for Bengali film.*Ananta, a serpent on which Vishnu lies, aka Shesha....
, GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).
- In the Vyuha form which itself divides into four, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.
- In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assume various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
as from time to time, in order to protect the virtuous, punish the evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.
- In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every atom of matter.
- In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, the Lord is easily approachable to the devotees since they cannot worship Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms directly, which can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be
- revealed by the Lord himself, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu
Swayambhu means Self-manifested or that which is created by its own accord.-Vaishnavism:Based on details in Bhagavata Purana and Matsya Purana, Narayana or Krishna is said to be the Self-manifested Swayambhu form of Brahman as the first cause of creation...
) icon (murtiIn Hinduism, a murti , or murthi, or vigraha or pratima typically refers to an image which expresses a Divine Spirit . Meaning literally "embodiment", a murti is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped...
), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
, The Tirumala Venkateswara TempleTirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
etc.; or
- installed by devas
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur TempleGuruvayur Sree Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam" which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth...
installed by VayuVāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...
; or
- installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama
Agama means, in the Hindu context, "a traditional doctrine, or system which commands faith".In Hinduism, the Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit scriptures which are revered and followed by millions of Hindus.-Significance:...
shastras or scriptures such as Lord JagannathJagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...
of Jagannath Temple (Puri)The Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat and Nath...
at PuriPuri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
.
See also
PañcaratraPāñcarātra are the Vaishnava Sanskrit texts dedicated to worship of Narayana and form part of the Agamas.Unlike Vaikhanasa tradition, the Pancaratric tradition of Agamas prescribe image worship in the place of rituals like Yajnas, mentioned in the Vedas...
Relation with Shiva
During the Vedic period, both Vishnu and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
(as identified with Rudra) played relatively minor roles, but by the time of the Brahmanas (c. 1000-700 BCE), both were gaining ascendance. By the Puranic period, both deities had major sects that competed with one another for devotees. Many stories developed showing different types of relationships between these two important deities.
Sectarian groups each presented their own preferred deity as supreme. Vishnu in his myths "becomes" Shiva. The
Vishnu Purana (4th c. CE) shows Vishnu awakening and becoming both {{IAST|Brahmā}} to create the world and Shiva to destroy it. Shiva also is viewed as a manifestation of Vishnu in the
Bhagavata Purana. In Shaivite myths, on the other hand, Shiva comes to the fore and acts independently and alone to create, preserve, and destroy the world. In one Shaivite myth of the origin of the lingam, both Vishnu and {{IAST|Brahmā}} are revealed as emanations from Shiva's manifestation as a towering pillar of flame. The
Śatarudrīya, a Shaivite hymn, says that Shiva is "of the form of Vishnu". Differences in viewpoints between the two sects are apparent in the story of
{{IASTSharabha is a part-lion and part-bird beast in Hindu mythology. According to Sanskrit literature, Sharabha is an eight-legged beast, mightier than a lion and elephant and which can kill the lion. Sharabha, can clear a valley in one jump...
(also spelled "Sharabha"), the name of Shiva's incarnation in the composite form of man, bird, and beast. Shiva assumed that unusual form to chastise Vishnu in his hybrid form as
NarasimhaNarasimha or Nrusimha , also spelt as Narasingh and Narasingha, whose name literally translates from Sanskrit as "Man-lion", is an avatar of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism...
, the man-lion, who killed
HiranyakashipuHiranyakashipu [golden-haired] is an Asura from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism. The Puranas describe Hiranyakashipu as an Asura. His younger brother, Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha, one of the Avatars of Vishnu and angered by this, Hiranyakashipu decided to gain magical powers by performing...
, an ardent devotee of Shiva. However, Vaishnava followers including
DvaitaDvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
scholars, such as Vijayindra Tirtha (1539–95) dispute this view of Narasimha based on their reading of
Sattvika PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
and
Śruti' , often spelled shruti or shruthi, is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma and therefore is also influential within Hindu Law...
texts. On the other hand, the Vaishnava canon and texts also make a pointed reference not only to Lord Vishnu's entity as being separate from the other Vishnu namely the Sun God
SuryanarayanaSuryanarayan, Suryanarayana or Surya Narayana is the name of Hindu Sun God Surya.----Suryanarayana is also one of the popular Indian names.* Bayya Suryanarayana Murthy, Parliamentarian and leader of the Dalit movement....
, they also give pride of place among
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
s or deities considered fit for worshipping, namely
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
the creator and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer. These canons specifically point out to Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
's prominence by making him the only deity taking incarnations to come to earth and free or save his devotees and other good beings suffering at the hands of the asuras or evil-beings who have gotten ill-gotten strength, power and invincibility merely by worshipping
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
or
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and getting boons from them in the process. As per the Vaishnava canons, while regarding both the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and the destroyer
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
as powerful, their granting boons to evil beings renders them powerless to punish because it is their boons or
varams that made evil beings like
HiranyakashipuHiranyakashipu [golden-haired] is an Asura from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism. The Puranas describe Hiranyakashipu as an Asura. His younger brother, Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha, one of the Avatars of Vishnu and angered by this, Hiranyakashipu decided to gain magical powers by performing...
,
HiranyakshaIn Hinduism, Hiranyaksha [golden-eyed] was an Asura of pre-ancient India and the son of Diti and Kashyapa. He was slain by the god Vishnu after he took the Earth to the bottom of what has been described as the "Cosmic Ocean". His name in Sanskrit literally means "Goldeneye"...
,
Ravana' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
very powerful, enabling them to win wars against the
Devas' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
or celestial beings led by
Indra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and causing sufferings to good beings like the sages and other God-fearing humans on earth. So all beings whether the Devas or ordinary humans have no option but to pray and plead before Lord Vishnu or Sreeman Narayana to save them from the asuras. As per the Vaishnava canons, even
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
the creator and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer, join the devas in exhorting and persuading Sreeman
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Lord Vishnu to take incarnations, go to earth for confronting and killing the very asuras or demons or evil-beings, to whom they themselves have granted boons. Not just this, but both the creator
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer also play supportive roles by keeping company of Lord Vishnu in his incarnated forms.
HanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
half human and half-animal and completely dedicated to
RamRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, who gives him company and obeys his command while playing an important part in
RamRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
's life is regarded in Vaishnava canon as being none other than
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the destroyer only, because it is through the blessings of
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
that
HanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
is born to his mother Anjani for he also bears the name Anjaniputra. Thus,
HanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
the constant consort of Vishnu, with his idol being present in not just temples of
RamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, but also in temples of
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
,
NarasimhaNarasimha or Nrusimha , also spelt as Narasingh and Narasingha, whose name literally translates from Sanskrit as "Man-lion", is an avatar of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism...
i.e. all the avatarams of Vishnu is considered by Vaishnavas as being none other than Lord
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
.
Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms.
HariharaHarihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu and Shiva from the Hindu tradition. Also known as Shankaranarayana , Harihara is thus worshipped by both Vaishnavites and Shaivities as a form of the Supreme God, as well as being a figure of worship for other Hindu traditions in general...
is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (
HariHari is an Avatar, another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "hari" sometimes refers to a colour, green, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki. It is the colour of the Sun and of Soma...
) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
The complimentary relationship between
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
or Vishnu is emphasized both in the Vaishnava canon as well as in Shaivite texts through the story behind the Lord Ranganatha temple in Srirangam. Vibhishana, the brother of
Ravana' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
is made the king of
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
by Lord Ram after which Lord Ram goes to
Ayodhya where he becomes King after a coronation ceremony. This ceremony is attended among others by Vibhishana, who is sad at having parted company with Lord Ram. Valuing
VibhishanaVibhishana or Bibhishan is a character in the epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the demon Ravana. Though a half-demon himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Rama in an orderly fashion...
's friendship, Lord Ram gives him the idol of his family deity of Lord Ranganatha for being taken to
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
and being worshipped by Vibhishana in remembrance of Lord Ram. Lord Ram (in a manner reminiscent of the condition on Ravana for not putting on ground the Shiva Linga) puts a condition before Vibhishana that he must not put the idol of Lord Ranganatha on the ground more than thrice during his journey to
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
. Vibhishana is very steadfast and reaches
SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
and he has kept the idol of Lord Ranganatha thrice and is confident of reaching his kingdom
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
without keeping the idol on the ground.
SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
is in Tiruchirappalli, where the temple of Lord Ganesha or Vinayaka, son of Lord
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
is located.
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
is worried about Lord Ranganatha, who is none other than Sreeman Narayana or Vishnu, leaving the shores of Bharata or India. He asks his son Vinayaka or Lord Ganesha to do something that will prevent Lord Ranganatha from going to
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
.
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
approaches
VibhishanaVibhishana or Bibhishan is a character in the epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the demon Ravana. Though a half-demon himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Rama in an orderly fashion...
who is on the banks of river Kaveri and wishes to bath and perform his worship. But he cannot do so with the idol of Lord Ranganatha being in his hands. Seeing
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
in the disguise of a small boy near him, Vibhishana asks the boy to hold the idol of Lord Ranganatha in his hands and also instructs him firmly not to keep the idol on the ground (which he cannot lift again in case it is kept on the ground).
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
is looking exactly for this opportunity and the moment Vibhishana steps into the river and starts his worship,
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
promptly keeps the idol of Lord Ranganatha on the ground which gets planted firmly (around which the temple of Lord Ranganatha got constructed).
VibhishanaVibhishana or Bibhishan is a character in the epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the demon Ravana. Though a half-demon himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Rama in an orderly fashion...
after finishing his bathing and worship comes out of the river to find the idol of Lord Ranganatha planted on the ground and is unable to lift it. He finds
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
in the guise of a small boy, still gleefully standing near the idol. Vibhishana is very upset and he chases
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
who runs to the top of a very old mountain and hides in a small cave. Vibhishana chases him, only to find and realize, that it is none other than Lord Vinayaka at Malaikottai or the
Rockfort Ucchi Pillayar TempleRockfort or Ucchi Pillayar koil, is a combination of two famous 7th century Hindu temples, one dedicated to Lord Ganesh and the other dedicated to Lord Shiva, located a top of a huge rock in Trichy, India...
in Tiruchirappalli, who took human form to prevent Vibhishana from carrying the idol of Lord Ranganatha with him to
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
This episode is prominently quoted in the Vaishnava canon to emphasize the non-adversarial relationship between Vishnu or
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
and
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
.
An example of a collaboration story is one given to explain Shiva's epithet {{IAST|Mahābaleśvara}}, "lord of great strength" (
Maha = "great",
Bala = "strength",
{{IAST|Īśvara}} = "lord"). This name refers to a story in which
{{IAST' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
was given a
linga as a boon by Shiva on the condition that he carry it always. During his travels, he stopped near the present
DeogharDeoghar is the headquarters city of Deoghar District in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage centre, having in Baidyanath Temple one of the twelve Shiva Jyothirlingams in India and also one of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India.-Origin of...
in
JharkhandJharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
to purify himself and asked
NaradaNarada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...
, a devotee of Vishnu in the guise of a
BrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
, to hold the
linga for him, but after some time, Narada put it down on the ground and vanished. When Ravana returned, he could not move the
linga, and it is said to remain there ever since. The story of Gokarna in Karnataka is also similar in that Ravana, on the way to Lanka from Kailasa, gave the lingam to Ganesha to keep until he bathes, but Ganesha fits it in the earth, so the lingam is called Mahabaleshwara.
As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini [Vishnu's female avatar], and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Ayyappa or Shasta identified with
AyyanarAyyanar is a Hindu village god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Tamil villages in Sri Lanka. He is primarily worshipped as a guardian deity who protects the rural villages...
is born.
Relations with other deities
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2009}}
Vishnu's consort is
LakshmiLakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
, the goddess of wealth. Maya is the samvit (the primary intelligence) of Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and is called Shree or Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya, or Mahamaya, and She is said to manifest Herself in, 1) kriyāshakti, (Creative Activity) and 2) bhütishakti (Creation) of Universe. Hence this world cannot part with his creativity i.e., ahamta, which is a feminine form which in its feminine form is called Shree or Lakshmi or Maya. He therefore needs consort Goddess Lakshmi to be with Him always, untouched by any. Thus goddess Lakshmi has to accompany Vishnu in all His incarnations.
Vishnu's vehicle is
GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
, the eagle, and he is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders. Another name of him is "Veda-Atma" or The Soul of the Vedas and Vedic truth.
Iconography
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2009}}
According to various Purana, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality, is shapeless and
omnipresentOmnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present everywhere. According to eastern theism, God is present everywhere. Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in western theism it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence,...
. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:
- He is to be depicted as a four-armed male-form: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. The physical existence of Vishnu is represented by the two arms in the front while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad
The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main or old Upanishads...
titled Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms of Vishnu.
- The color of his skin has to be new-cloud-like-blue: The blue color indicates his all-pervasive nature, blue being the color of the infinite space as well as the infinite ocean on which he resides.
- He has the mark of sage Bhrigu's feet on his chest. {{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}
- Also on his chest is the srivatsa mark, symbolising his consort Lakshmi. It is on the chest of Vishnu, where Lakshmi resides.
- Around his neck, he wears the auspicious "Kaustubha
Kaustubh is a divine jewel - the most valuable stone "Mani" is in the possession of lord Vishnu who lives in the Ksheer Sagar - "the ocean of milk".-In History :...
" jewel, and a garland of flowers (vanamaalaa). It is in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest that Lakshmi dwells.
- A crown
A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
should adorn his head: The crownA crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown is sometimes depicted having a peacock feather, borrowing the iconography from image of his Krishna avataar.
- He is to shown wearing two earrings: The earring
Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix . The simple term "ear piercing" usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as "cartilage piercings"...
s represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.
- He rests on Ananta
Ananta is a Sanskrit word meaning "without end".It may refer to:*Ananta , one of the names of Vishnu.*Ananta , Actor and Producer for Bengali film.*Ananta, a serpent on which Vishnu lies, aka Shesha....
: the immortal and infinite snake
Vishnu is always to be depicted holding the four attributes associated with him, being:
- A conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
shell or Shankha, named "Panchajanya", held by the upper left hand, which represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. The Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota - water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and universal maintenance. it also represented as OmOm is a sacred syllable of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.OM and similar may also refer to:-Music:* Om , a stoner metal band* Om , a 1965 album* OM , a 2006 album* Om...
. In the Bhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.
- The chakra, a sharp-spinning discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", held by the upper right hand, which symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words - Su, which means good, superior, and Darshan, which means vision or Sight; together, it is "Superior Vision". The chakra
The chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
represents destruction of one's ego in the awakening and realization of the souls original nature and god, burning away of spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing the higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.
- A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", held by the lower left hand, symbolizes Vishnu's divine power is the source all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demoniac tendencies called anarthas; within the person's consciousness that hinders them from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.
- A lotus flower or Padma, held by the lower right hand, represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus in Vishnu's hand symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya
Satya is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates into English as "truth" or "correct". It is a term of power due to its purity and meaning and has become the emblem of many peaceful social movements, particularly those centered on social justice, environmentalism and vegetarianism.Sathya is also...
, the originator of the rules of conduct or DharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
, and Divine VedicVedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...
knowledge or jnana Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity. Also that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.
To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland and Vishnu's bow, the Shaarnga, and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;
"vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//"; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch , sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.
In general, Vishnu is depicted in one of the following three ways:
- Standing upright on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal;
- Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha
In Hindu tradition, Shesha or Sheshanaag is the king of all nagas, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana, an Avatar of the Supreme God known as Sankarshan. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly...
Naga, with his consort Lakshmi, seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of MilkIn Hindu cosmology, the Ocean of Milk is the fifth from the center of the seven oceans that surround loka or directional space and separate it from aloka or non-directional space. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha. The gods and demons worked together for a millennium to churn the sea...
). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.
- Riding on the back of his eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
mount, known as GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.
Avatars
{{Main|Avatar#Avatars of Vishnu|l1=Avatars of Vishnu}}
{{See also|Dashavatara}}
There are ten avatars (
dashavatara) of Vishnu commonly considered as the most prominent:
- Matsya
Matsya was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. The great flood finds mention in Hindu mythology texts like the Satapatha Brahmana, where in the Matsya Avatar takes place to save the pious and the first man, Manu and advices him to build a giant boat.-The Legend:According to the Matsya...
, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and saves mankind.
- Kurma
In Hinduism, Kurma was the second Avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatar also belongs to the Satya yuga.-Samudra manthan :...
, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.
- Varaha
Varaha is the third Avatar of the Hindu Godhead Vishnu, in the form of a Boar. He appeared in order to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to...
, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.
- Narasimha
Narasimha or Nrusimha , also spelt as Narasingh and Narasingha, whose name literally translates from Sanskrit as "Man-lion", is an avatar of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism...
, the one (half-Lion half- human) who defeats the demon Hiranyakashapu (Nara = man, simha = lion).
- Vamana
Vamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
. the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.
- Parashurama
Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...
, A Sage, Rama with the axe, who appeared in the Treta YugaTreta Yuga is the second out of four yugas, or ages of mankind, in the religion of Hinduism, and follows the Satya Yuga of perfect morality and precedes the Dvapara Yuga. The most famous events in this yuga were Lord Vishnu's fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations as Vamana, Parashurama and...
.
- Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya and killed Demon King Raavana.
- Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
(meaning 'dark coloured' or 'all attractive' or the Existence of Bliss,), appeared in the Dwapara Yuga along with his brother BalaramaBalarama , also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism. Within Vaishnavism Hindu traditions Balarama is worshipped as an Avatar of Vishnu, and he is also listed as such in the Bhagavata Purana...
. Balarama is avatar of aadi sesha, the serpent on which supreme lord vishnu sleeps, svayam bhagavanSvayam Bhagavan , "The Lord" or Lord Himself, is a Sanskrit theological term. The term refers to the concept of absolute representation of the monotheistic God as Bhagavan within Hinduism....
(this viewpoint is specific to BhagavataBhagavata signifies in the context of Hinduism. In this context bhakti has the primary meaning of 'adoration', while Bhagavat means 'the Adorable One', and Bhagavata is a worshiper of the Adorable One...
, Gaudiya, Vallabhacarya and Nimbarka sampradayas) .
- Buddha
- Kalki
In Hinduism, Kalki is the tenth and final Maha Avatar of Vishnu who will come to end the present age of darkness and destruction known as Kali Yuga. The name Kalki is often a metaphor for eternity or time...
("Eternity", or "timeless", destroyer of time or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali YugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
, the time period in which we currently exist.
Some versions of the above list include
HayagrivaHayagriva is a horse-headed deity that appears in both Hinduism and Buddhism.-Hinduism:...
amongst the Dasavataras. Apart from the above mentioned ten principal avatars, another 22 avatars are also given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana. Following this list the Bhagavatam states that as well as these avatars "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".
Thousand names of Vishnu
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2009}}
{{Main|Vishnu sahasranama}}
Vishnu has a very large number of names and followers that are collected in the
Vishnu sahasranamaThe Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
("Vishnu's thousand names") from within the larger work
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. The character
BhishmaBhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of
KurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
by followers of
VaishnavismVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.
The names are generally derived from the
anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes). Some names are:
- Achintya (Incomprehensible, beyond understanding, also interpreted as remover of all worries from devotees)
- Achyutha (infallible)
- Amar
Amar may refer to:* Amar , a 1954 Hindi-language Indian film* Ludu Daw Amar , Burmese writer* "Amar" , a song by 2B, which represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005* Amar, India, a village in Gujarat...
(immortal, deathless, son of Aum)
- Ananta
Ananta is a Sanskrit word meaning "without end".It may refer to:*Ananta , one of the names of Vishnu.*Ananta , Actor and Producer for Bengali film.*Ananta, a serpent on which Vishnu lies, aka Shesha....
(endless, eternal, infinite)
- Anirudha (the one that cannot be stopped)
- Balaji (another name of Vishnu)
- Damodara
Damodar is the 367th name of Vishnu from the Vishnu sahasranama. The various meanings of the name are given as follows:...
(having a rope (dama) around his belly (udara): a name of Krishna)
- Govinda
' and ' are names of Krishna, referring to his youthful occupation as a cowherd. He is regarded as the Supreme Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition and also by much of the pan-Hindu tradition...
(protector of the cows & Brahmins; master of the senses: a name of Krishna)
- Hari
Hari is an Avatar, another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "hari" sometimes refers to a colour, green, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki. It is the colour of the Sun and of Soma...
(one who takes away)
- Hayagriva
Hayagriva is a horse-headed deity that appears in both Hinduism and Buddhism.-Hinduism:...
(Horse-necked)
- Jagannatha (Owner/Ruler of the world/universe)
- Janardana
Janardana is another name of Vishnu or God and appears as the 126th name in the Vishnu sahasranama. It is also a common name of Krishna being address as such by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita....
(One who is worshiped by people for Wealth)
- Keshava
Keshava is a name of Krishna from within Hindu tradition.The name appears as the 23rd and 648th names in the Vishnu sahasranama.Lord Keshava is venerated by those persons wanting to avert bad luck, or ill omens...
(slayer of KeshiIn Hindu mythology, Keshi is the horse-demon, killed by Krishna, an Avatar of god Vishnu...
, having long or much or handsome hair, from AtharvavedaThe Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....
viii , 6 , 23)
- Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
(born during the third epoch or yugaYuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is...
, his deeds range from cow protection (go rakshya) to absolving the earth of load of sins)
- Madhava
Madhava is another name for Vishnu or Krishna and appears as the 72nd, 167th and 735th names in the Vishnu sahasranama.From the Bhagavad Gita it is understood to refer to Vishnu being the husband of the goddess of fortune...
(relating to the season of spring)
- Madhusudana (he who destroyed the demon called Madhu-Kaitabh)
- Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
(said to mean "he who is the abode of nār (= ether)", i.e., the whole universe's shelter. Also means "The supreme Man who is the foundation of all men". Another meaning is "He who lays in the water".
- Padmanabha
Padmanabha may refer to:* Padmanabha , one of the aspects of Vishnu or God with a lotus issuing from his navel on which Brahma sits...
(lotus-naveled one, from whose navelThe navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
sprang the lotusNelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...
which contained Brahma, who created the universe)
- Parthasarathy (Charioteer of Arjuna/Partha)
- Perumal Name he is known in Tamil
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
- Purushottama
Purushottama means "Supreme Purusha", "Supreme Being". Purushottama is also one of the names of the Vishnu. According to the Bhagavad Geeta, Purushottam is explained as above and beyond kshar and akshar purushas or as an omni-potent cosmic being...
- The Supreme Eternal Being
- Ram
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
(born during the second epoch or YugaYuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is...
, his deeds primarily established the ideal living principles for a man)
- Hrishikesh (Lord of the senses or Lord within the heart; "hri" root meaning the heart)
- Satyanarayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
(a combination of satyaSatya is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates into English as "truth" or "correct". It is a term of power due to its purity and meaning and has become the emblem of many peaceful social movements, particularly those centered on social justice, environmentalism and vegetarianism.Sathya is also...
and Narayana meaning 'protector of truth')
- Shikhandee: He who wears a peacock feather.
- Suryanarayan (the one who destroys the evil/sins and who comforts us) described in Vishnu kautuvam.
- Sridhar
Sridhara was one of lord Vishnu's thousand names when consort to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.----Sridhar may also refer to:*B.U. Sridhar, Senior Specialist at HCL...
a (consort of Sri = Laxmi or Ultimate wealth)
- Siddhartha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
(one who attains perfection, birth name of BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
avatar in the last epoch of Kali Yuga)
- Sriman
Sriman means one who has Sri, i.e., the virtues or presence of beauty , or whom Goddess Laxmi has not deserted.* Sriman is another name of Vishnu or God and appears as 22nd, 178th and the 220th names in the Vishnu sahasranama....
(the pride of Shri or Lakshmi); Often Sriman is combined with the name, Narayana , to form a compound word, Sriman NarayanaSriman Narayana is a combination of two names of Vishnu, a form of God in Hinduism- Sriman and Narayana.Combining two names to form one name is a common Hindu practice. Similar examples include Ramakrishna, Harihara, and Shankaranarayana....
.
- Srinivasa (the abode of Shri) (also specifically referring to his form in the temple at Tirupati
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
). Also the form of Vishnu at Tirupati is well-known as Venkateswara.
- Trivikrama (Conqueror of the three worlds, as in Vamana avatara).
- Vishal (Immense, The Unstoppable One).
- Vamana
Vamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
(dwarfish, small or short in stature, a dwarf brahmana)
- Vāsudeva
In Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....
( "All-Pervading god", with the long vowel A; it also means "the son of VasudevaIn Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....
", i.e. Krishna)
- Shree-esh (One who has Shree or Lakshmi as his consort / Husband of Goddess Lakshmi).
- Guruvayurappan Lord of Guruvayur (Temple made by Guru (Brihaspati) & Vayu deva)
- Jagannath
Jagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...
is the south eastern name of Vishnu. The word juggernaut has its origin from this name of Vishnu (The Jagannatha temple is in Puri, Orissa where every year there is a festival in which huge chariots are drawn through the city. These chariots are the vahana (vehicle) for the 3 main gods of this temple - Jagannatha, Balarama (Jagannath's brother) and Subhadra (Jagannatha's sister). Hundreds of men are needed to pull each of these chariots. When they start moving, they keep moving and are difficult to stop. That is the idea behind the word juggernaut which means something huge that cannot be stopped.)
- Sohama means the most intelligent, it is strongest form of Vishnu with a thousand brains and hands
According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are
- Vasudeva
In Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....
- Sankarshana
- Pradyumna
Pradyumna is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is one in 24 Keshava Namas , praised in all pujas. It is also the only name in Sanskrit with all the 3 letters joint...
- Anirudha
- Kesava
- Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
|
MadhavaMādhava may be*a Sanskrit patronymic, "descendant of Madhu ".** especially of Krishna or Parashurama as incarnations of Vishnu, see Madhava *** an icon of Krishna...
Govinda' and ' are names of Krishna, referring to his youthful occupation as a cowherd. He is regarded as the Supreme Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition and also by much of the pan-Hindu tradition...
Vishnu
Madhusudana
Trivikrama
VamanaVamana is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatar of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or the Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as...
|
- Sridhara
Sridhara was an Indian mathematician. He was born in Hooghly district. His father's name was Baladevacharya and mother's name was Acchoka.-Works:...
- Hrishikesha
- Padmanabha
Padmanabha may refer to:* Padmanabha , one of the aspects of Vishnu or God with a lotus issuing from his navel on which Brahma sits...
- Damodara
Vatasseri Damodara Nambudiri was an astronomer-mathematician of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics who flourished during the fifteenth century CE. He was a son of Vatasseri Paramesvara who developed the drigganita system of astronomical computations...
- Purushottama
Purushottama means "Supreme Purusha", "Supreme Being". Purushottama is also one of the names of the Vishnu. According to the Bhagavad Geeta, Purushottam is explained as above and beyond kshar and akshar purushas or as an omni-potent cosmic being...
- Achyutha
|
See also
- Bhagavan
Bhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
- Garbhodaksayi Vishnu
Garbhodakśāyī Viṣṇu is second in the hierarchy of Viṣṇu Avatāras in the mahā Tattva . In Gauḍīya Vaishnavism, a school of Vaiṣṇavism, the Sātvata-tantra describes three different forms, or aspects, of Vishnu as Mahā Vishnu, Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu , with each form having a...
- Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
- Great Architect of the Universe
The Great Architect of the Universe is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to neutrally represent whatever Supreme Being to which each member individually holds in adherence...
- Ksirodakasayi Vishnu
Kṣīrodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu is one of the puruṣa Āvatāra of Nārāyaṇa. According to the Vedas, Kṣīrodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu resides in the heart of every living creature as a four hand expansion similar to that of Mahā-Viṣṇu. He is also referred to as Paramātmā or super soul. His abode is the...
- List of names of Vishnu
- Mahavishnu
Image:Hinducosm Map1.svg|thumb|Click an area to go there. This is one of many material universes which expand from Mahavishnu when He breathes.|300px|alt=One Brahmanda, with Garbhodakashayi-Vishnurect 216 61 277 80 Brahma...
- Narasimha
Narasimha or Nrusimha , also spelt as Narasingh and Narasingha, whose name literally translates from Sanskrit as "Man-lion", is an avatar of Vishnu described in the Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient religious texts of Hinduism...
- Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
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