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Lord Vishnu
Attributes of Lord Vishnu
Vishnu as supreme deity
Forms of Vishnu
Stories of Lord Vishnu
The ten Avatars of Vishnu
Relation with Shiva and other deities
Other names of Vishnu
Lord Vishnu Family
Emblems of Vishnu
Vishnu Sloka
Temples of Lord Vishnu
Lord Vishnu in other countries
Lord Vishnu
Lord Vishnu (विष्णु) is one the supreme deity in Hinduism. In a concept in Hinduism Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the Trimurti
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 Lord Shiva (शिव) the destroyer or transformer.
The Vishnu Sahasranama declares Vishnu as Paramatma (supreme soul) and
Parameshwara (supreme God ). It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master
of the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe.
In the Puranas, Vishnu is described as having the divine colour of water filled clouds, four-armed, holding a lotus, mace
(Gada), conch (shankha ) and chakra (wheel). Vishnu is also described in
the Bhagavad Gita as having a 'Universal Form' (Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human perception or imagination.
Attributes of Lord Vishnu
Vishnu is always to be depicted holding the four attributes
associated with him as:
Counch: A conch 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 Om .
Chakra: The chakra, a sharp-spinning discus-like weapon, named
"Sudarshana" , held by the upper right hand, which symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind.
The chakra 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.
Gada: 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.
Gada is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.
Lotus flower: 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 , the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma , and Divine Vedic knowledge or jnana
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सशकंचक्रं सकिरीटकुण्डलं
सपीतवस्त्रं सरसीरूहेक्षणम् |
सहारवक्षः स्थलकौस्तुभश्रियं
नमामि विष्णुं शिरसा चतुर्भुजम् ||
Vishnu is often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesh Nag
Lord Vishnu
Goddess Laxmi (महा लक्ष्मी)
Vishnu's consort and goddess of wealth |
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Vishnu as supreme deity
In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times.
In the Rigveda , Shakala shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares that Agni
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. The
upanishads, right from Gopal tapani upanishad to the Brhad ranya 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 intellect, and who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu."
The Rigveda 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.
According to various Purana , Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality, is shapeless and omnipresent .
Forms of Vishnu
Vishnu is depicted in one of the following three forms:
1. Standing upright on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal;
2. Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded "Shesha
Naga", with his consort Lakshmi, seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of Milk ).
In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.
3. Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda . 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.
Stories of Lord Vishnu
Story of Matsya Avatar
In the earliest yuga (era) of Sata-yuga, a king named Manu was
performing severe penance for thousands of years. One day as he was performing ablutions with river water, a small fish came into his hands
and just as he was about to throw the fish back into the river, the fish requested the king to save its life. Heeding its request, the king put
the fish into a jar of water but the fish started growing and the jar was not big enough for it. Then the king threw it into the river, but it
soon it outgrew the river and the king then threw it into Ganges and then into the ocean. The king realised that it was Lord Vishnu himself
and then the lord made an appearance and made a special request to the
king. It predicted that the world would come to an end by a huge flood
in seven days and requested the king to build a huge boat and take the
seven sages(hermits), seeds of all plants, one animal of each type and
told him that he would appear as a fish to propel the boat to Mount Himavan for surviving the flood to the next yuga(eon).
True to his word, after seven days the Lord appeared and the king tied the boat to the
fish by using the royal serpent Vasuki and the fish took all of them to
Mt Himavan and kept them there till the flood was over and in the new
era, the king started procreation a for the new era.
Story of Kurma ( Tortoise) Avatar
Further to Pralaya- deluge at the beginning of the present Kalpa the
Gods (devas) lost their immortality due to a curse by the short-tempered
sage Durvasa. The sage had once presented a garland of flowers to
Indra, king of gods, who carelessly gave it away to his elephant which
trampled it. The Devas approached Vishnu for help. Vishnu then asked
them to churn the ocean of milk after adding medicines into the ocean.
Mt Mandara could be used a the churning stick he said. He requested them
to ask them help of Asuras in lifting the mountain in exchange for offer
of the share of nectar of immortality that would ensue from the churning. Both the devas and the asuras churned the ocean using the
serpent Vasuki as the rope. At the start, playing a Machiavellian trick,
Indra, king of the gods asked the asuras for the head end of vasuki. But
asuras suspecting foul play, took the head end, only to be deceived as
the poison from Vasuki was slowly weakening them. But as churning was
proceeding the mountain was sinking and then Lord Vishnu took the form
of the tortoise KURMA and kept the mountain afloat. As soon as the bowl
of amrita, the nectar of immortality was out, the asuras grabbed it.
Then Lord Vishnu took the form of an apsara, a beautiful maiden, and
seduced the asuras into letting her distribute the nectar and also to
abide by her order of distribution. As soon as the devas were served the
maiden disappeared thus totally deceiving the asuras and making them totally weak.
The ten Avatars of Vishnu
Vishnu is best known through his ten avatars (incarnations), which
appear on earth when there is disorder in the world. Rama and Krishna,
whose stories are told in the Epics and the Puranas, are the most popular incarnations of
Vishnu.
The ten Avatars of Vishnu are:
1. Matsya (fish)
2. Kurma (turtle)
3. Varaha (boar)
4. Narasimha (man-lion)
5. Vamana (dwarf)
6. Lord Parshuram
7. Lord Ram (श्री राम)
8.Lord Krishna
9.Buddha
10. Kalki (horseman, who has not yet appeared)
Among these ten principal Avatara described, nine have occurred in the past and
tenth Avatara - Kalki take place in the future, at the end of Kali Yuga . Other then above ten Avatars, there are gods who descended into this world for a specific task and
with an aspect of Lord Vishnu. Mention may be made of Dattatreya, Kapila, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Hayagriva, Naranarayana, Vedavyasa and Yajna.
The following gods are also considered to be incarnations or
manifestations of Vishnu. These gods are very popular and are worshipped
regularly by millions of devotees.
Lord Jagannath of Puri in Orissa
Lord Pandurang Vithala or Vithoba of Pandharpur in Maharashtra
Lord Ranganatha of Kanchipuram
Lord Varadaraja of Kanchipuram as well as Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh
Lord Venkateswara or Balaji of Tirumala, in Andhra Pradesh
Lord Srinivasa of Srirangam in Tamilnadu and Srirangapatna in Karnatka
Lord Satyanarayana: He the Lord of truth (Sathya),
generally worshipped in the households on specific occasions.
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Relation with Shiva and other deities
The complimentary relationship between Shiva and 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. Stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara
is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari ) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also
called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata. Shiva and Vishnu are the same.
Once Naarada, coming under Vishnu maaya, gives shaapam to Vishnu. After realizing his mistake
Naarada said “Lord! Please forgive Me. I, coming under influence of
Your maaya, got ahankaar and did Your ninda. Please tell Me what can
save Me from this ghora-paapam”. Vishnu said, “O Priya Naarada! You go and do paaraayana of Shankara Shatanaamams.
Then You will get Shaanti. Shiva is whom I respect the most. Even by
mistake don't forget this. One who doesn't have Shiva- anugraham cannot be
My Bhakta. Believe this and then My maaya wont affect you.”
Shree Hanuman (श्री हनुमान) , who is the 11th avataar of Shiva and Raama the
purna avataar of Vishnu both of them acheived great tasks.
Hanuman always worshipped Raama, with great Vinayam. And Raama worshipped Shiva with unparalleled devotion
Other names of Vishnu
Vishnu has a very large number of names and followers that are collected
in the Vishnu sahasranama ("Vishnu's thousand names") from within the larger work
Mahabharata. He is also known by
the name of his incarnations which took place in different periods to
protect this world. He is known as Achintya, Acyutah, Ananta, Lord Vishnu,
Lord Narayana, Lord Krishna, Baikunth, Laxmikant, Devakinandan,
Damodar, Rishikesh, Keshav, Pundarikaksh, Govinda, Garuddhwaj, Madhav,
Swabhu, Daityari, Pitambar, Vishwaksen, Janardan, Upendra, Indravraj,
Chakrapani, Chaturbhuj, Padmanabh, Madhuripu, Vasudev, Trivikram,
Shauri, Shripati, Purushottam, Kansarati, Adhokshaj, Vishwambhar, Kaitabhjit, Vidhu, Shri Hari, Girdhar Gopal , Balaji etc.
Lord Vishnu Family
Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, 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,.
Vishnu's vehicle is Garuda , 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.
Emblems of Vishnu
Namam : A U shaped mark with a vertical stripe in between. Worn by devoted Vaishnavites on their foreheads.
Shank : or Conch
Chakra: The discus
Gada : or mace
Kausthubham : The necklace
Salagrama : It is Vaishnava's equivalent of a Siva ling, a fossilized shell of a mollusc, with a lot of whorls inside, resembling a galaxy in motion, which is worshipped as a symbol of Vishnu in the households of devote followers.
Vishnu Sloka
The following mantra dedicated to lord Vishnu is a way of praying to the deity.
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Lord Krishna
the eighth Avatar
Lord Ram (श्री राम)
the Seventh Avatar
Lord Parshuram
the sixth Avatar
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*Shaantaakaaram Bhujagashayanam Padmanaabham suresham
Vishwaadhaaram Gaganasadrasham Meghavarnam shubhaangam
Lakshmikaantam Kamalanayanam Yogibhirdhyaanagamyam
Vande vishnum Bhavabhayaharam Sarvalokaikanaatham *
The daily prayer to Lord Vishnu is
सशकंचक्रं सकिरीटकुण्डलं सपीतवस्त्रं सरसीरूहेक्षणम् |
सहारवक्षः स्थलकौस्तुभश्रियं नमामि विष्णुं शिरसा चतुर्भुजम् ||
Temples of Lord Vishnu
Some of the important Lord Vishnu temples in India are:
Thousand Pillar Temple situated in Warangle, Lakshmi Narayan Temple in
New Delhi, Cave Temple at Badami. Guruvayoor Temple at Trichur, Tirubhalla Temple at Alapuzha, Badrinath Temple in Badrinath, Vithala
Temples in hampi, Sri Mahalasa Temple at Mangueshu, Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Chamba, Deogarh Temple in Gwalior, Thirunavaya Temple in
Malappuram, Thirunelli Temple in Wayanad, Ananta Vasudeva
Temple in
Bhubaneshwar, Sas Bahu Temple in Udaipur, Ulahalanda Perumal Temple in
Kanchipuram, Parthasarathy Temple in Chennai, Varadaraja Temple in
Chennai, Ananthapura Lake Temple in Kasaragod, Ranchhodraiji Dakor in
Ahmedabad, Hayagriva Temple in Guwahati, Ananthasana Temple in Udupi,
Keerthinarayana Temple in Mysore, Jagan Mohini Keshava Swami Temple in
Rajahmundry, Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kubara Perumal Temple in Tiruvannamalai.
Shree
Padmanabhaswamy Lord Vishnu Temple is
the richest temple in the world. The treasures found from cellars of
the temple are estimated to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
Badrinath temple (बद्रीनाथ मंदिर), sometimes called *Badrinarayan temple*, is situated along
the Alaknanda river, in the hill town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand state. It is widely considered to be one of the holiest Hindu temples, and is dedicated to god Vishnu
Lord Vishnu in other countries
There is a beautiful statue of Vishnu in Bangkok, Thailand depicting
Vishnu mounted on his vahana Garuda.
Angkor Wat (Cambodia) Vishnu temple is not only the largest Hindu Temple, but also one
of the wonders of the word. Yet, unknown to many Hindus all around! An
architectural marvel and a piece of world heritage. the initial design
and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II
(ruled 1113-c. 1150). Dedicated to Lord Sri Maha Vishnu, it was built as
the king's state temple and capital city. In the 14th or 15th century the temple
was converted to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day.
Lord Venkateshwara Temple, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Malibu Hindu Temple, Malibu, California, US. This temple of the Hindu god Venkateswara, built in 1981, is located in
the city of Calabasas near Malibu, California.
Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple of Greater Chicago, Aurora, Illinois, United States.
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Toronto, Canada
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Toronto is a Hindu temple in Toronto,
Ontario, opened on July 22, 2007 by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Federal Opposition Leader
Stéphane Dion, Indian Ambassador to Canada Rajamani Lakshmi Narayan and
BAPS Spiritual Leader Pramukh Swami Maharaj also in attendance. The temple was constructed by 2,000 builders who were required to follow
ancient Hindu rules. The temple was built using Turkish limestone and
Italian marble. The temple cost $40 million to build. The funds were raised by Hindu communities worldwide.
Arulmigu Sri Raja Kaliamman Temple, Johor Baru, Malaysia (Glass Temple) |
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