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Vishnu

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Vishnu
God of Preservation [1]
Member of Trimurti[6]
Depiction of Vishnu bearing his attributes.
Other names
  • Narayana
  • Hari
  • Madhava (Vishnu)
  • Madhava
  • Keshava
  • Achyuta
  • Janardana
  • Govinda
  • and various others listed in the Vishnu Sahasranama
Affiliation
Abode
Mantra
  • Om Namo Narayanaya
  • Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
  • Hari Om
Weapon
Symbols
  • Padma (Lotus)
  • Shaligram
  • Panchajanya (Shankha)
DayThursday
Mount
Festivals
Personal information
ConsortLakshmi and her forms
Children
SiblingsParvati as Durga as Yogamaya (ceremonial sister)[11][12]

Vishnu, who is also known as Narayana and Hari, is the supreme god in Hinduism. He is the absolute truth (Parabrahman), supreme self (Paramatma), ultimate reality in Vaishnavism, the largest denomination of Hinduism. He is considered as one of the principal gods, generally a representation of the Trimurti, the supreme trinity of Hinduism.[13]

He is venerated as the Supreme Being in Vaishnavism and as Purushottama or Supreme Purusha in many ancient sacred texts like the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata (including Bhagavad Gita), etc. The Vishnu Sahasranama declares Vishnu as Paramatma (supreme soul) and Parameshvara (supreme god). It describes Vishnu as the all-pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present, future, the creator, preserver, destroyer of all existences, one who supports, preserves, sustains, governs, rules the universe and originates and develops all elements within.

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, the supreme god who is the giver of mukti (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees, the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, he is the "Teacher of the Universe". The Bhagavata Purana declares that Narayana as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who engages in the creation of 14 worlds within the universe as Brahma, who is the god of rajas-guna, who engages in the preservation of 14 worlds within the universe as Vishnu, who is the god of sattvas-guna, who engages in the destruction of 14 worlds within the universe as Shiva, who is the god of tamas-guna.

This Narayana is Vishnu himself, who incarnates in various avataras. In the Bhagavata Purana, Purusha Sukta, Narayana Sukta, Narayana Upanishad, Mahanarayana Upanishad, he is the absolute truth.[14][15]

Vishnu is the god of preservation. This means that he protects the universe from being destroyed. It is believed that Vishnu holds the Earth and all living organisms. According to Hindu religion, he has set foot and arrived on the Earth in nine forms called avataras, so far with one incarnation yet to come that is Kalki at the last to be Kali Yuga, to destroy evil. His most famous incarnations are Rama, Krishna, Parashurama, Narasimha.

Vishnu holds a lotus (Padma), the indestructible mace of Vishnu (Kaumodaki), a conch (Shankha), the unstoppable disc of Vishnu (Sudarshana Chakra) in each of his four hands. He is known to take many disguises such as having an eight-armed form in Angkor Wat or having a thousand forms, eyes, faces, mouths, arms as Sahasrshirsha. A universal form known to be Vishvarupa is the supreme form of Vishnu, where the whole universe is described as contained within him. but the three main forms of Vishnu are Karanodakshayi Vishnu (Mahavishnu), Garbhodaksayi Vishnu, Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, the other two are the expansions of Karanodakshayi Vishnu.

Avataras

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There are 10 avataras of Vishnu (in the order they appeared):

A list may be given in one place but additional avataras may be mentioned the 24 avataras of Vishnu in the Bhagavata Purana in Canto 1, but mentions others elsewhere :

  • Adi Purusha
  • Sanaka Kumaras
  • Varaha
  • Narada
  • Nara and Narayana
  • Kapila
  • Dattatreya
  • Yajna
  • Rishabha
  • Prithu
  • Hamsa
  • Hayagriva
  • Matsya
  • Kurma
  • Dhanvantari
  • Mohini
  • Narasimha
  • Vamana
  • Parashurama
  • Vyasa
  • Rama
  • Balarama and Krishna
  • Sugata Buddha
  • Kalki.[16]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vishnu.

Iconography

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Vishnu holds four items in his four hands. He holds a conch in the upper left hand, which represents victory. He holds the Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand, which represents spiritual energy. In his lower left hand, a lotus (flower) represents peacefulness, and in his lower right hand, the Kaumodaki represents powers.

Vishnu as Krishna reveals his true form to Arjuna
Vishnu as Krishna reveals his true form to Arjuna

Temples of Vishnu

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Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu located in Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (630,000 m2) with a perimeter of 4,116 m (13,504 ft) making it the largest Hindu temple in in the Indian subcontinent and one of the largest Hindu temples in the world.[17]


The front-view of Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple that is dedicated to Vishnu.[18]
The Vishnu temple at Prambanan temple complex, Java, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  1. 108 Divya Desams in the Indian subcontinent
  2. 108 Abhimana Kshethrams in the Indian subcontinent
  3. Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram
  4. Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli
  5. Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala
  6. Jagannath Temple, Puri
  7. Badrinath Temple
  8. Swaminarayan temples throughout the World
  9. Candi Wisnu, Prambanan, Java, Indonesia
  10. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
  11. Birla Mandir, Dehli
  12. Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh
  13. Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple, Thiruvellarai
  14. Kallazhagar temple, Madurai
  15. Guruvayur Temple, Thrissur
  16. Ananthapura Lake Temple, Kasaragod
Kodlamane Shree Vishnumurthy Temple, Karnataka.

The Kodlamane Shree Vishnumurthy Temple, Karnataka[19] is dedicated to Vishnu and is the ancient Tirta Kshetra. There is no other place like this anywhere in this Universe.

Powers and abilities

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Vishnu has omniverse manipulation, absolute manipulation, meta manipulation, preservation. As the preserver, Vishnu can control anything and everything. The power to protect everything from anything is the reason he is also called the supreme protector of his devotees.[20]

Absolute destruction: In the Vishnu Purana, Vishnu is also described as the creator, destroyer, preserver. As the destroyer, he can even destroy infinity or the omniverse.[20]

Absolute creation: As the creator in the Vishnu Purana, Vishnu has the power to create everything, even infinity and beyond.[20] The power to have limitless power upon seeing the supreme form of Vishnu. Arjuna describes him as having infinite prowess or power.[14]

Absolute omnipotence : Vishnu has the power to do absolutely everything, even creating something that is bigger than infinity itself. In chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu shows Arjuna everything—all creation: time, space, past, present, future, the omniverse, existing and future humans, and more. It is beyond human imagination to actually comprehend it. [14]

Absolute omniscience: The power of Vishnu to have infinite wisdom experience and knowledge.[21]

Absolute omnipresence: The power to be everywhere at every time including beyond the omniverse in both past, present, future.[14][22] When Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu shows his supreme appearance, it is described being everywhere, yet people can't see it because they don't have the divine vision. Only sages, gods, Sanjaya, Arjuna are able to see this Vishvarupa.

Absolute formlessness: Vishnu's true form is described as formless, infinite, boundless, inapplicable, without shape and color, according to the Vishnu Purana.[20]

Absolute immortality: Chapter 1 of the Vishnu Purana describes Vishnu being boundlessly above the concepts of death, birth, life, growth, age.[23]

Absolute transcendence: The Vishnu Purana also describes Vishnu as being above all descriptions such as logic, time, space, etc.[23] He is an infinite dimensional being according to the Vishnu Sahasranama.

References

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  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of World Religions. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 2008. pp. 445–448. ISBN 978-1-59339-491-2.
  2. ↑ Wendy Doniger (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. p. 1134. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
  3. ↑ Soifer 1991, p. 85.
  4. ↑ Doniger, Wendy; O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger (1 January 1980). Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions. University of California Press. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ Indian Civilization and Culture. M.D. Publications Pvt. 1998. ISBN 9788175330832. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  6. ↑ For the Trimurti system having Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver, Shiva as the destroyer. See Zimmer (1972) p.124.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 491–492. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Shesha, Sesa, Śeṣa, Śeṣā: 34 definitions". 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Muriel Marion Underhill (1991). The Hindu Religious Year. Asian Educational Services. pp. 75–91. ISBN 978-81-206-0523-7.
  10. ↑ Debroy, Bibek (2005). The History of Puranas. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-8090-062-4.
  11. ↑ Williams, George M. (27 March 2008). Handbook of Hindu Mythology. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2.
  12. ↑ "Śb 10.4.12". vedabase.io/en/. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "Vishnu | Hindu deity". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section XXXV (Bhagavad Gita Chapter XI)". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. ↑ Krishna, Nanditha (June 2010). The Book of Vishnu. Penguin Books India. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-14-306762-7.
  16. ↑ "CHAPTER SEVEN". vedabase.io. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Mittal & Thursby 2005, p. 456.
  18. ↑ Tia Ghose (31 October 2012). "Mystery of Angkor Wat Temple's Huge Stones Solved". livescience.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  19. ↑ Akshatha Vinayak, "Shree Vishnumurthy Temple Of Serenity and Mystery", Native Planet, 6-10-2016
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 "The Vishnu Purana: Book I: Chapter II". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  21. ↑ Mukundananda, Swami. "Chapter 7, Verse 26 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda". www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  22. ↑ Mukundananda, Swami. "Chapter 13, Verse 14 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda". www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Vishnu Purana". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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