๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต, ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ด: ๐ฉ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ป๐
โO ye who wish to gain realization of the Supreme Truth, utter the name of โVishnuโ at least once in the steadfast faith that it will lead you to such realization.โ -Foreword by N. Raghunathan to P. Sankaranarayananโs translation of ๐๐ณ๐ช ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ. The quote claims to be from the ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข, possibly hymn 156 of the first book, though if it is, it is not from any standard English translation.
Vishnu is the Hindu god of preservation and is considered to be the supreme deity in Vaishnavism, Hinduisms largest branch. In addition to his supreme status, he is best known in relation to his avatars, which include central figures in the epics ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข and ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข. The traditional etymology for his name is โall-pervasiveโ.
๐๐น๐น-๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ
The name Vishnu is traceable back to the oldest of Hindu scripture and some of the oldest texts in any Indo-European language: the ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ด, which date back to around 1500 BCE. In these texts Vishnu is less prominent than figures like Indra (king of the gods) or Agni (god of fire) and Vishnu is portrayed as a god of the heavens, associated with the sky, light, and the sun. His rise to supreme deity likely occurred as a result of the aggressive fusion of several other deities between the 7th and 4thcenturies BCE. Prominent among these were deified tribal folk heroes like Vasudeva and Krishna (still popular in his own right and as an avatar of Vishnu). Both of these figures and others like them were popular and relatable deities who did not come from the Vedic tradition i.e. from various folk traditions as opposed to (at the time) Hindu orthodoxy. An attempt to consolidate these popular beliefs with the already orthodox Vedic establishment brought figures like Narayana, a supreme fusional deity, and Vishnu, the embodiment of heaven, into the fold as well. This development establishes Vishnuโs transcendent supremacy, pluriform nature, and widespread appeal. By the writing of the Hindu epics (roughly 3rd or 4th century BCE) Vaishnavism was well established and able to appeal to Hinduโs of all denominations. In this way Vishnu quite literally lives up to his name, poised to cross the exceptional diversity of Indian religious traditions. Vishnuโs pervasiveness is also relevant to his own, contemporary doctrine. Vaishnavism is a heavily โAdvaiticโ, a descriptive term in Hindu philosophy which literally means โnon-dualisticโ. What this means is that all of existence is, ultimately, singular and all distinctions between things are illusory. To massively simplify: reality is an illusion and Vishnu represents the singular whole of all things into one. Thus Vishnu is, again, truly all-pervasive.
๐ฆ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐
Possibly due to his fusional past, Vishnu is the god most associated with avatars i.e. a mortal incarnation of the deity born into the world in order to fulfill a task of cosmic importance. Though Vishnu is not the only Hindu deity to have avatars, his are core to his worship. There are many figures ascribed to Vishnuโs avatars, but most important is the doctrine of ten avatars aka. The Dashavatara. This cycle tracks Vishnuโs involvement in earthly affairs from the origin of mankind to the future end of days. As this series has already featured an entry devoted to avatars, including the Dashavatara, I will simply link that HERE. Vishnu is often contrasted, or complementary to, a fellow member of the Hindu trinity and supreme god of Hinduโs second largest branch: Shiva, god of destruction (perhaps better rendered as โtransformationโ to a Western audience). While Shiva actively dances the universe into being, Vishnu dreams it into existence. Shiva is an ascetic, dressed in a tigerโs skin with matted hair, while Vishnu is regal in his fine robes and jewelry. Shaivism (worship of Shiva as the supreme deity) is most common in Dravidian speaking south India, Vaishnavism in Indic speaking north India. Vishnu is most commonly depicted in a four armed form, carrying his four relics: The Chakra called Sudarshana a weapon which has also been deified in its own right, the mace Kaumodaki, representing Vishnuโs age and strength, the conch shell Panchajanya, which Krishna blew to usher in the climactic war of the ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข, and the lotus, the Hindu symbol of transcendence and purity. His mount is the legendary bird Garuda and his bed is the king of Nagas (mythic and/or literal snakes). The devotion of both birds and snakes, warring entities in Hindu cosmology, is a further representation of Vishnuโs all-pervasive, Advaitic nature. In addition to his four armed form, another common depiction is the Vishvarupa, literally the โuniversal formโ. This form often has many faces extending to the left and right and many arms forming a wing-like outline, though the arrangement of heads and arms may vary and sometimes it is simply the form of Vishnu with all of the Hindu universe mapped out upon him. This was the form that famously appears in the ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข, when Krishna reveals to Arjuna that he is an avatar of Vishnu and shows him his true all-pervasive form. Arjunaโs mortal mind cannot process the vision, though is not destroyed by it as is depicted for similar events involving Zeus in Greek mythology, and ultimately the encounter gives Arjuna the clarity of purpose he needs to commit to the righteous war of the ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข. The symbolism of this form is clear: all people, things, and even other gods, all things good and bad, great and small, are part of Vishnu.
Image Credit: From a translation of ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข by Ramanarayanadatta astri, 1901ย













