Vishnu is one of the trinities[2] of the Hindu philosophy with Brahma, as the creator, Vishnu, as the preserver and Shiva, as the destructor.
अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् | प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया || BG:4.6||
ajo ’pi sannavyayātmābhūtānāmīśhvaro ’pi san prakṛitiṁsvāmadhiṣhṭhāyasambhavāmyātma-māyayā
(Meaning: Although I am unborn, the Lord of all living entities, and have an imperishable nature, yet I appear in this world by virtue of Yogmaya, my divine power.)
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत | अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् || BG:4.7||
yadāyadā hi dharmasyaglānirbhavatibhārata abhyutthānamadharmasyatadātmānaṁsṛijāmyaham
(Meaning: Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjun, at that time I manifest myself on earth.)
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् | धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे || BG:4.8||
paritrāṇāyasādhūnāṁvināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām dharma-sansthāpanārthāyasambhavāmiyugeyuge
(Meaning: To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to re-establish the principles of dharma I appear on this earth, age after age.)
The above three verses from Chapter 4, Verses 6, 7 & 8 ofSrimad Bhagavad Gita state one fact clearly: that, the Supreme Lord, in His famed teaching to Arjun on the battle field, declares that He appears in this cosmic world time and again, yuga after yuga, by His own divine power of Yogamaya[1] in order to re-establish the principles of dharma whenever it declines.
Vishnu – Narayana:
Vishnu is one of the trinities[2] of the Hindu philosophy with Brahma, as the creator, Vishnu, as the preserver and Shiva, as the destructor. The three principles of creation, preservation and destruction or annihilation are signified by the three Gunas or the fundamental forces of Prakriti (nature), viz., Satwa, Rajas and Tamas. Guna literally means a strand or fibre, the inter-weaving or the inter-mixing of which causes the manifestation of the material object or the universe. The act of creation is pure and is Satwa. The desire to do so and to preserve the created or the manifested is Rajasik in nature and all that is manifested has its timeline and eventually has to perish. The act of such annihilation is Tamasik. Thus, the trinity of supreme deities, viz., Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh signify the three gunas of nature – Satwa, Rajas and Tamas and the entire philosophy symbolizes this triad of existence in the material world and their interaction in the creation of material forms.
Vishnu, the one who preserves/protects, is the higher or the subtle divine concept and he takes his different manifested forms or Avatars to perform this act of preservation or protection in time and age. Vishnu himself, as the paramatmatatwa, is pure and Satwa in nature, while his lower forms or the Avatars are a mix of the different gunas in accordance with the form of his appearance. The Avatar in which He forms the link with humanity in a mix of Satwa, Rajas and Tamas with Satwa being in the highest content and then the Rajas and still lesser the Tamas, is Narayana[3]. The different Avatars or forms of manifestation of Vishnu / Narayana are in accordance with the purpose or the objective of the incarnation. Vishnu is thus, an AvataraPurusha, who takes a new Avatar whenever necessary to establish dharma[4]. When He incarnates at the end of a Yuga signaling the advent of the next or a new yuga, such an Avatar of Vishnu is called a Yugavatar, like Rama, Krishna or Kalki who signal the end or transition from one yuga to another.
The earliest reference to Vishnu is contained in the Rig Veda in the following two hymns that are reproduced below:
(RV: 1.22.20)
तदविष्णोःपरमंपदंसदापश्यन्तिसूरयः |
दिवीवचक्षुराततम ||
(Meaning: Saintly people always behold the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu by virtue of their divine vision.)
(RV: 1.22.21)
तदविप्रासोविपन्यवोजाग्र्वांसःसमिन्धते |
विष्णोर्यतपरमंपदम ||
(Meaning: They always sing the holy sublime glories of Lord Vishnu's supreme abode.)
The above hymns form part of the selection of a portion of the Mandala 1 which is known as Vishnu Sukta by the rishi MedhatithiKanva and is set in the GayatriChhanda (metre). The hymns in Vishnu Sukta are sung in praise of the Lord Vishnu and these form an important part of the devotional rituals of the Vaishnavasampradaya.
The word Narayana is derived from two root Sanskrit words – Nara (human) + Ayan (direction), thus, signifying that the direction or the goal of the human kind should be to seek Narayana. The ultimate direction or the goal of a human is to attain Naryana or Vishnu in His abode, the Vaikuntaloka[5].
Different Lokas:
Loosely said, Loka is a world or a universe of planetary systems. Many of our scriptures including Rig veda, Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahmanda Puran, etc., uniformly describe clearly the existence of multiple universes[6] or lokas and even several Vaikuntas or abodes of Vishnu associated with the multiple planetary systems or universes. Similarly, these texts speak of different Shiva and Brahma as well for those lokas much as we follow here on earth.
There are 14 different lokas in our planetary system and as physical dimensions of existence; they are mentioned as being 7 such lokas above the plane of earth or the bhoomandala and 7 such lokas below the plane of earth. In the order of ascension from earth, they are (1) Bhu, (2) Bhuva (3) Swa (4) Maha (5) Gnana (6) Tapa and (7) Satya and in the descending order below that of bhoomandala are (1) Atala (2) Vitala (3) Sutala (4) Talatala (5) Mahatala (6) Rasatala and (7) Patala.
These multiple universes and all material forms of existence created therein with the three gunas: Satwa, Rajas, Tamas, and the subtle elements of buddhi (wisdom or intelligence), Chitta (mana / mind) and Ahamkara (ego) which together constitute the Consciousness or his material energy[7], exist in the cycle of time until the mahapralaya (the final annihilation or destruction) occurs at the end of the Manavantara. They finally dissolve into the Supreme God and remain in His body until the next cyclical age or the Manavantara begins.
Manavantara and Yuga (cycle of Time):
Vishnu is the lord of time in which the entire cosmic universe exists. Therefore, He is also known as Kaala Purusha. As time progresses limitlessly it repeats events in the cycle. There are four parts in a cycle of yugas, which are Satya or Kreta[8] yuga, Treta[9] yuga, Dwapar[10] yuga and Kali[11] yuga.
The quantum of these cycles of time can be better understood with the following concept of calculations beginning with a reference to the hymn from Rig Veda: hymn – 1.22.18: Trini-pada-vichakrame ViSnur-Gopa-adabhyo, Atho Dharmani dharayan. The explanation of this sloka can be better understood in a layman’s way from Jyotish[12] shastra. If the entire zodiac of 3600 is divided into three parts, the junction or Sandhi occurring between the Fire and Water signs are the Vishnu Nabhi[13] and Brahma Nabhi at the two levels of Daiva Chakra and Chakra. The Vishnu Nabhi is called the Daiva Pada and the Brahma Nabhi is called the Chakra Pada.
On the basis of Daiva Pada that includes three Daiva Chakras to give 36,000[14] years (Vishnu is Himself an Aditya (Sun also known as Diva or Daiva – the one who gives, i.e., Surya gives light and warmth that are required for life) and there are 12 Adityas. Thus, 36,000 years x 12 Adityas = 4,320,000 (earth) years. On the basis of the Brahma Nabhi, the Chakra-Pada, where three Chakras of 120 years each are included to form a Daiva-Varsha or what is commonly known as the "Year of the Gods" or 360 earth years.
Thus what we get for Kali Yuga is 1200 Daiva-Varsha, for Dwapara Yuga is 2400 Daiva-Varsha, for Treta Yuga is 3600 Daiva-Varsha and for the Kreta Yuga is 4800 Daiva-Varsha. Adding up all these Daiva-Varsha we get a Mahayuga cycle of 12,000 Daiva-Varsha or 4,320,000 earth years.
One thousand such Mahayuga make one Kalpa[15]. Thus, Kalpa is the basic Vedic Cosmic cycle which is equal to 12,000,000 Daiva-Varsha or 4,320,000,000 Earth years. This is also called the "Day of Brahma". The "Night of Brahma" is of equal length to the day of Brahma. From this we get the day & night of Brahma which is 24 Million Daiva-Varsha or 8,640 Million earth Years. One year of Brahma is 360 such days and nights which are equal to 8640 Million Daiva-Varsha or 3,110,400 Million earth years, or say 3.11 Trillion earth Years. The life of Brahma is said to be 100 such Brahma years which is 8,64,000 Million Daiva-Varsha or 311,040,000 Million earth years, or say 311 Trillion earth years. At the end of Kalpa[16] or 100 years of Brahma’s life Nirvikalpa Pralaya (complete dissolution of all worlds) occurs followed by a Sandhi and then creation of another Manavatara takes place and a new Brahma originates from the navel of Narayana.
There are 14 such Manavantaras described in all the scriptures. We are currently in the 7th Manavantara. In each Manavantara there is a new Brahma, Indra, the Sapta Rishis and a new Manu. The current Manavantara is that of Vaivaswata[17] Manu. This process of creation and dissolution of the cosmic universe time and again is what Sri Krishna says to Arjun in Bhagavad Gita (chapter 7 & 9) when He describes to him His divine powers.
Avatars of Vishnu:
As the protector of the cosmic universe, Vishnu takes an incarnation to establish dharma. Besides the Dasavatar there are other varying avatars of Vishnu in different scriptures like Bhagavatam, Vishnu Puran, Harivamsa, and certain Vaishnava agamas (schools of thought) etc. However the following important avatars of Vishnu are commonly accepted by all branches of Vaishnava followers and they are:
1. Sanat Kumaras – the first created four sons of Brahma
2. Narada – the second created son of Brahma
3. Nara Narayan – the third creation of Brahma
4. Kapila – a muni or sage who gave the Sankhya shastra
5. Dattatreya – the combined avatar of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva born to rishi Atri
6. Yajna – the lord of all sacrifices
7. Prithu – the king who milked earth (Prithvi) as cow for material benefit of mankind
8. Rishabha – the father of Bahubali nath
9. Dhanavantri – the god of medicine who emerged from churning of the ocean
10. Mohini – the enchantress who appeared after Sagar-manthan to distribute amrit
11. Ved Vyas – the rishi who compiled Vedas, Puranas and also composed Mahabharata
Dasavatar
1. Matsya
2. Kurma
3. Varaha
4. Narasimha
5. Vaman
6. Parashurama
7. Rama
8. Krishna
9. Buddha (also some Vaishnava scripture say it is Balarama)
10. Kalki (yet to appear)
Besides the Dasavatars and the above avatars, there are few other important avatars of Vishnu, such as Hayagreeva, etc.
Bhakti Rasa and the path to Mukti:
In His various incarnations, Vishnu re-establishes dharma in one way or the other, except as Krishna, wherein, as a purna-avatar, He displays His divine self in any ways, yet, indulging in normal activities as a cowherd boy, then growing up to be a normal Yadava warrior and prince of a clan, then leaving Dwarka to save his clan from the destruction of Jarasandha, then being a good student to rishi Sandipani in a gurukul, then growing up to be Sakha (a friend) of Draupadi and sharing a similar relationship with Arjun than being the cousin of the Pandavas, later guiding them through the difficult times of their 13-year exile and the subsequent war with the Kurus, giving the discourse of Bhagavad Gita, the highest meta-physical treatise ever, to Arjun, and also gracefully accept the curse of Gandhari, then, also being the ruler of Dwarka as Dwarkadheesh and finally not being able to save the Yadavas as they were cursed to be doomed and finally dying bleeding with an arrow shot by a hunter. So, Krishna, epitomises both His complete divinity at times where necessary and being simply human where necessary.
To mention the purport of His avatars with just a few examples: as Sanat Kumaras who are born with complete knowledge of the Vedas and are enlightened souls, they are free to move around in the cosmic space unhindered, curse the door-keepers of Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya which sets a cycle of reign of adharma by these re-incarnated door-keepers as Asuras in the form of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, then Kumbhakaran and Ravan and thereafter as Kamsa and Sishupal, thus, sowing the seeds for the future avatars of Vishnu. As Kapila, He sets Sankhya order. As Prithu, He protected goddess earth, Bhoodevi, who was running away from Prithu in the form of a frightened cow desperately trying to save being exploited by adharma, and finally convincing her his good intentions and thereafter receives from her as milk all the vegetation and material wealth for the welfare of mankind. Then, as Rama he slays Ravana and re-establishes dharma.
But, it is in the avatar as Krishna that He is popularly revered as the fountainhead of love and Bhakti, though the Bhakti movement in itself is of a much later origin. It is more vivid in the renderings of the Azhwaar or Alwaar saints of Tamil classical texts who are considered by modern academics to have lived more or less between the 5th and 10th century AD or the CE (Common Era), even though there is also a claim that they lived between 4200 – 2700 BCE, which is still a matter of deeper research.
One of the most detailed scripture that highlights the divinity of Sri Krishna’s life is the Srimad Bhagavatam. It is known to be a composition rendered by Shuka muni, the very learned and highly emancipated son of Ved Vyas, during his conversation with Parikshit who was at the end of his life cursed by a rishi to die of a snake bite (bitten by Takshak). It was the time of transition of the yuga from Dwapar to Kali. It is essentially to take away the fear of death from Parikshit’s agitated mind that Shuka muni explains the divine life of Krishna to him through this treatise. But, even Bhagavatam does not mention the Rasa Leela with Radha or the gopis of Vrindavana, which actually appears to be a later advent by the Bhakti movement in the North and especially in and around Vrindavana.
Even in the early Bhakti works of great Vaishnava acharyas like Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, Vallabhacharya, or the Alwaar saints who actually began the Bhakti movement with their Tamil classical renderings of their Bhakti to Vishnu in the classical compositions Thiruvandhadhi, Thiruvaymozhi, Perumal Thirumozhi, Thiruppallandu, Nachiayar Thirumozhi, Tiruppavai, Thirumaalai, there is no mention of Radha or Krishna and His Rasa Leela. Their works are purely Bhakti treatises for Vishnu and His 108 Divya Desams or places of great importance to Vaishnava parampara. The Krishna Bhakti parampara of Rasa Leela and Radha as His Shakti is more of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya / sect and seems to have developed more deeply with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and later his disciple, Achyuta Dasa, and then the lineage till Srila Prabhupada and the modern day sect more popularly known as ISKCON or the International Sri Krishna Consicousness taking it across the globe and making Sri Krishna much more popular and the fountainhead of love and Bhakti.
Krishna constantly speaks of “Surrender” to Him which alone, He says, is the sure way to attain eternal peace, the sure way to reach Him. He makes this point very clear to Arjun through Chapter: 7 (verses 16, 17), Chapter: 9 (verses 20 to 26) of Bhagavad Gita that performing mechanical rituals is the first step towards him, the prayers to other gods and other celestial entities for fulfilment of desires is the next, but the wrong way, and knowledge about Him is the next closer step to Him while devotion to Him with complete knowledge about Him is the sure step closer to Him. This can happen only when the knowledge about Him turns into Bhakti and then to complete surrender unto Him. The message that is spread widely by the Bhakti movement is that Mukti can be sought only through Bhakti which alone enables a complete surrender to God as described in Bhagavad Gita in Chapter:12, verse:12, which is as follows:
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते | ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् || BG:12:12||
śhreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṁ viśhiṣhyate dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāch chhāntir anantaram
(Meaning: Better than mechanical practice is knowledge; better than knowledge is meditation. Better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of actions, for peace immediately follows such renunciation.)
It is the firm belief of the Bhakti followers that such surrender can happen only when knowledge turns into Bhakti as that fills one with the ecstasy of being one with the Lord. Such joy and eternal bliss is what is deemed as Mukti where the soul is at absolute peace and one with the Paramatma and it no longer fears death, birth or any kind of suffering or pain or joy of life.
HARE KRISHNA!
[1]Yogamaya is the Sri Shakti, the personal power of the Lord. In the VaishnavaparamparaRadha is considered the Yogamaya power of the Lord Sri Krishna as an incarnate of Vishnu. In the ShaktaparamparaYogamaya is also Mahamaya and they are the same as Adi Shakti, the Divine Mother, also known as Prakriti/nature. It is the Shakti of the Lord that enables Him to perform. It is the illusion (Maya) caused by the Divine Mother that we do not see/realize God easily and one can do so only through complete knowledge of His existence and with Her divine grace when the veil of maya is surpassed to realize God.
[2]Though the Hindu philosophy portrays Godhood as a trinity, in actual higher understanding, they are the sameParam Brahman or the supreme energy from which the entire cosmic existence manifests. Together with its vimarsharupa (reflective energy), i.e., Shakti, also known as Prakriti (nature), the material world is created. The Param Brahma is both Nirguna (formless) and Saguna (with form) at the same time and it is through the exercise of Shakti that the three gunas, Satwa, Rajas and Tamas interact to create the material world.
[3]The higher subtle form Vishnu is pure Satwa and is veiled by Yogamaya. The next higher form of His manifestation is Vasudeva (Vasu [opulence or light] + diva [the one who gives]) with a higher mix of Satwaguna plus Rajas and the third level of His manifestation is Narayana with a mix of the Satwa, Rajas and Tamasgunas which is the form that we pursue as the Ayan or the direction of life (soul) which eventually leads to seeking the higher form of Vishnu as the ultimate goal to reach His abode – Vaikuntaloka.
[4]Dharma refers to the pursuit of one’s fundamental duty to be performed in one’s lifetime and not what is loosely translated as one’s religion. Eg., the fundamental duty or dharma of Arjun on the battle field as a Kshatriya warrior was to fight with valour without fearing the consequences and not to drop his weapons lamenting the death of his kith and kin and gurus, which is what Sri Krishna course corrects with His Gitopadesa
[5]Vaikuntaloka is described in SrimadBhagavatam composed by Shuka muni (son of VedVyas) in various Cantos. While Canto 3, Chapter 15, verse 14 describes the forms who reside in Vaikunta, Canto 12, Ch.24, Vs14 states that this is the above where Vishnu resides, while Canto 11, Ch.25, Vs.22 describes that this is the destination of those who transcend the three gunas and SrimadBhagavatam describes its location geographically as being 26,200,000 yojanas (or 209,600,000 miles) (1 yojana equals 8 miles or 12 Kms) above Satyaloka and in the direction of MakaraRasi or the zodiac sign of Capricorn. It is speculated that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is drifting towards the sign of Capricorn.
[6] Rig Veda (Hiranyagarbha Suktam – RV:10.121; Nasadiya Suktam hymns on creation – RV:10.129); Devi Suktam (hymns 10.125); Bhagavata Puran (Catos – 3.11.41, 6.16.37, 10.87.41); Yoga Vashishtam, Garga Samhita, etc are uniform in speaking of creation of universe (multiple universes) by the Supreme God.
[7] In Chapter 7, verse 4 to 6 of Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna explains creation and dissolution and says these 8 components as His material energy from which matter – the material world – is created. He calls this energy as Prakriti. Krishna says these 8 components are part of his Maya. These concepts are explained further in detail in Taittiriya Upanishad (Ch.2.1.2). Modern science defines matter as a combination of elements (there are 118 elements as of now in the Periodic Table of sciene). Ever since the discoveries of Albert Einstein (Theory of Relativity) where he propounds that mass can be converted in energy, the scientific world has been engaged in the quest for the single field or the Unified Field Theory to understand the relationship between matter and the forces of the universe.
[8] Kreta – literal meaning: Four
[9] Treta – literal meaning: Three
[10] Dwapar – literal meaning: Two
[11] Kali – literal meaning - One
[12] Jyotish shastra is one of the six limbs of the Veda and is called a Vedanga. The six limbs of Veda are: Shiksha (learning), Chhandas (prosody), Vyakarna (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Kalpa (rituals) and Jyotisha (the study of time for choosing Muhurta or auspicious time).
[13] Nabhi is the navel – the junction.
[14] 360 earth years x 100 years of gods gives 36,000 years
[15] Kalpa is one day or the bright half of Brahma’s day.
[16] Bhagavad Gita Chapter:9, verses 7 &8
[17] Vaivasvata is the son of Surya
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