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Vishnu - (Sanskrit) "The All-Pervasive." Supreme Deity of the Vaishnavite religion. God as personal Lord and Creator, the All-Loving Divine Personality, who periodically incarnates and lives a fully human life to reestablish dharma whenever necessary. In Saivism, Vishnu is Siva''s aspect as Preserver.
See: Vaishnavism.
Vishnu Visnu - Vishnu Visnu (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root vish to enter, pervade]
The sustainer or preserver; the second of the three gods of the Hindu Trimurti or Triad. Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu together are infinite space, of which the gods, rishis, manus, and all in the universe are simply the manifestations, qualities, and potencies. Vishnu is called the eternal deity, and in the Mahabharata and the Puranas he is declared to be the imbodiment of sattva-guna, the quality of mercy and goodness, which displays itself as the preserving power in the self-existent, all-pervading spirit. His symbol is the chakra (circle). He is identical with the Hindu Idaspati (master of the waters) and with the Greek Poseidon and Latin Neptune.
Blavatsky gives a passage about Vishnu from the Laws of Manu, with interpolated remarks (SD 1:333): " ''Removing the darkness, the Self-existent Lord'' (Vishnu, Narayana, etc.) becoming manifest, and ''wishing to produce beings from his Essence, created, in the beginning, water alone. In that he cast seed . . . That became a Golden Egg.'' (V.6, 7, 8, 9) Whence this Self-existent Lord? It is called this, and is spoken of as ''Darkness, imperceptible, without definite qualities, undiscoverable as if wholly in sleep.'' (V.5) Having dwelt in that Egg for a whole divine year, he ''who is called in the world Brahma,'' splits that Egg in two, and from the upper portion he forms the heaven, from the lower the earth, and from the middle the sky and ''the perpetual place of waters.'' (12, 13.)"
In the Mahabharata (3:189:3) Vishnu says: " ''I called the name of water nara in ancient times, and am hence called Narayana, for that was always the abode I moved in'' (Ayana). It is into the water (or chaos, the ''moist principle'' of the Greeks and Hermes), that the first seed of the Universe is thrown. ''The "Spirit of God" moves on the dark waters of Space''; hence Thales makes of it the primordial element and prior to Fire, which was yet latent in that Spirit" (SD 2:591).
Vishnu has many names and is presented in many different forms in Hindu writings. Riding on Garuda, the allegorical monstrous half-man and half-bird, Vishnu is the symbol of Kala (duration), and Garuda the emblem of cyclic and periodical time. Vishnu as the sun represents the male principle, which vivifies and fructifies all things. The Puranas call Ananta- Sesha a form of Vishnu on which the universe sleeps during pralaya. In the allegorical Vaivasvata-Manu deluge, Vishnu in the shape of a fish towing the ark of salvation represents the divine spirit as a concrete cosmic principle and also as the preserver and generator, or giver of life. In the Rig-Veda Vishnu is a manifestation of the solar energy and strides through the seven regions of the universe in three steps. The Vedic Vishnu is not the prominent god of later times.
Vishnu as the giver of life is the source of one line of avataras. The ten mythical avataras of Vishnu are: Matsya, the Fish; Kurma, the Tortoise; Varaha, the Boar; Narasimha, the Man-lion (last animal stage); Vamana, the Dwarf (first step toward the human form); Parasu-rama, Rama with the axe (a hero); Rama-chandra, the hero of the Ramayana; Krishna, son of Devaki; Gautama Buddha; and finally, Kalki, the avatara who is to appear at the end of the Kali yuga "mounted on a white horse" and inaugurate a new reign of righteousness upon earth.
" ''In the Krita age, Vishnu, in the form of Kapila and other (inspired sages) . . . imparts to the world true wisdom as Enoch did. In the Treta age he restrains the wicked, in the form of a universal monarch (the Chakravartin or the ''Everlasting King'' of Enoch) and protects the three worlds (or races). In the Dwapara age, in the person of Veda-Vyasa, he divides the one Veda into four, and distributes it into hundreds (Sata) of branches.'' Truly so; the Veda of the earliest Aryans, before it was written, went forth into every nation of the Atlanto-Lemurians, and sowed the first seeds of all the now existing old religions. The off-shoots of the never dying tree of wisdom have scattered their dead leaves even on Judeo-Christianity. And at the end of the Kali, our present age, Vishnu, or the ''Everlasting King'' will appear as Kalki, and re-establish righteousness upon earth. The minds of those who live at that time shall be awakened, and become as pellucid as crystal" (SD 2:483).
Again,
"If we only search for the true essence of the philosophy of both Manu and the Kabala, we will find that Vishnu is, as well as Adam Kadmon, the expression of the universe itself; and that his incarnations are but concrete and various embodiments of the manifestations of this ''Stupendous Whole.'' ''I am the Soul, O, Arjuna. I am the Soul which exists in the heart of all beings; and I am the beginning and the middle, and also the end of existing things,'' says Vishnu to his disciple, in the Bhagavad-Gita (ch. x)" (IU 2:277).
Vishnu - Vishnu is one of divine trinity in Hinduism, also known as the preserver, Vishnu has had nine incarnations, including Rama and Krishna.
Vishnu - A Hindu deity, the Preserver. Part of the trinity of Brahma (the creator), Shiva (the destroyer) and Vishnu (the Preserver).
Vishnu - Vishnu (Sanskrit). The second person of the Hindu Trimurti (trinity), composed of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. From the root vish, "to pervade". in the Rig -Veda, Vishnu is no high god, but simply a manifestation of the solar energy, described as "striding through the seven regions of the Universe in three steps and enveloping all things with the dust (of his beams ".) Whatever may be the six other occult significances of the statement, this is related to the same class of types as the seven and ten Sephiroth, as the seven and three orifices of the perfect Adam Kadmon, as the seven "principles" and the higher triad in man, etc., etc. Later on this mystic type becomes a great god, the preserver and the renovator, he "of a thousand names - Sahasranama ".
Garuda - Garuda (Sanskrit) In Hindu mythology a gigantic half-man and half-bird, born from an egg brought forth by Vinata, wife of Kasyapa, the self-born sprung from time and one of the seven emanators of the world.
Symbol of the great cycle or manvantara, Garuda is also an emblem of the sun and the solar cycle. He is made coeternal with Vishnu as one aspect or manifestation of Vishnu himself, who therefore is often described as riding on Garuda as Vishnu in space and time. Garuda''s son is Jatayu who in the Ramayana rushed to rescue Sita when she was carried off by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka, but was slain in the ensuing conflict.
Vamana-avatara - Vamana-avatara (Sanskrit) The dwarf-avatara; a descent of Vishnu the preserver in the form of a dwarf. According to the Puranic allegory, Vamana of the Three Strides came to dispossess the demon Bali from dominion over the three worlds. Vamana petitions Bali for only as much of the world as he could compass in three steps. Vamana then resumed his godlike stature and in three world-encompassing strides deprived Bali of the heavens and the earth, all save the regions of Patala (the lower spheres of manifestation).
These three strides of Vishnu represent the godlike emanation or essence passing through the three cosmic planes superior to the fourth or material plane, informing and inspiring as the essence proceeds.
Trivikrama - Trivikrama (Sanskrit).An epithet of Vishnu used in the Rig Veda in relation to the "three steps of Vishnu". The first step he took on earth, in the form of Agni; the second in the atmosphere, in the form of Vayu, god of the air; and the third in the sky, in the shape of Surya, the sun.
Vaishnavism - (Sanskrit) "Way of Vishnu." One of the four major religions, or denominations of Hinduism, representing roughly half of the world''s one billion Hindus. It gravitates around the worship of Lord Vishnu as Personal God, His incarnations and their consorts.
The doctrine of avatara (He who descends), especially important to Vaishnavism, teaches that whenever adharma gains ascendency in the world, God takes a human birth to reestablish "the way." There are either 10, 22 or 34 avataras of Vishnu, according to various scriptures. The most renowned avataras were Rama and Krishna. The last to come will be Kalki, the harbinger of a golden age on Earth.
Vaishnavism stresses the personal aspect of God over the impersonal, and bhakti (devotion) as the true path to salvation. The goal of Vaishnavism is the attainment of mukti, defined as blissful union with God''s body, the loving recognition that the soul is a part of Him, and eternal nearness to Him in Vaikuntha, heaven.
Foremost among Vaishnava scriptures are the Vaishnava Agamas, Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana. Among the earliest schools were the Pancharatras and the Bhagavatas.
The five major contemporary schools (founded between 1000 and 1500) are those of Ramanuja (Sri Vaishnavism), Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Chaitanya. Philosophically they range from Madhva''s pure dualism to Vallabha''s lofty monistic vision.
Vaishnava - Vaishnava Vaisnava (Sanskrit) A follower of any sect recognizing and worshiping Vishnu as the sectarian supreme divinity. There are at present four principal Vaishnava sects: the Ramanujas founded by Ramanujacharya; the Madhvas founded by Madhva; the Vallabhas or Vallabhacharyas founded by Vallabhacharya; and a sect in Bengal founded by Chaitanya.
Other minor sects are those founded by Ramananda and Kabir. All these Vaishnava sects are of relatively modern origin, though they use at least some of the ancient Hindu writings as their texts.
Trimurti - Trimurti (Sanskrit) [from tri three + murti imbodiment, form]
The Hindu triad, consisting of Brahma, the emanator or evolver; Vishnu, the sustainer or preserver; and Siva, the beneficent, the destroyer, and the regenerator. These three entities as individualized divinities form the apex or crown of the spirit of the solar system. In the human being, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva represent the three divine-spiritual principles of the seven -- directly following forth from the highly recondite superspiritual triangle which, with the seven principles, make the full ten human principles.
In the world of matter, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are each personified by earth, water, and fire, i.e., each of these divinities combines in itself these three elements, one predominating when the divinity manifests one of its three fundamental gunas. "In Indian Puranas it is Vishnu, the first, and Brahma, the second logos, or the ideal and practical creators, who are respectively represented, one as manifesting the lotus, the other as issuing from it" (SD 1:381n). But Brahma, for instance, because of the significance of expansion inherent in the name, could equally well be looked upon as the source of Vishnu, manifesting as the cosmic waters or Second Logos. This perhaps is the reason why in this Trimurti, Brahma is called the emanator or evolver, and Vishnu the sustainer or preserver.
These three persons or aspects of the triad are really three sides of the same cosmic reality; and to gain an accurate understanding of their respective functions it should be born in mind that any one of the three may at any time, if the matter is considered from a different viewpoint, be said to contain the functioning elements of the other two in addition to its own. "Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are a trinity in a unity, and, like the Christian trinity, they are mutually convertible. In the esoteric doctrine they are one and the same manifestation of him ''whose name is too sacred to be pronounced, and whose power is too majestic and infinite to be imagined'' " (IU 2:277-8).
In the Vedas, where neither Brahma nor Siva is known under these names, the trinity usually consists of Agni (fire), Vayu (air), and Surya (sun), the originants of the terrestrial, atmospheric, and heavenly fire respectively. The Padma-Purana states that in the beginning the great Vishnu desiring to produce the whole world, became threefold, in himself the creator, preserver, and destroyer. In order to produce the world, the supreme spirit emanated from the right side of his body, himself, as Brahma; then, to preserve the universe, he produced from the left side of his body, Vishnu; and to destroy the world he produced from the middle of his body the eternal Siva.
The three persons of the Trimurti are the three qualificative gunas or attributes of the universe of differentiated spirit-matter, self-formative, self-preserving, and self-destroying for purposes of regeneration and perfectibility. Because Brahma is the considered the formative or emanative force, it is said to be personified imbodiment of rajas, the quality of activity, of desire for creation -- that desire owing to which the universe and everything in it is called forth into being. Vishnu because of its preservative and sustaining function is said to be the imbodied sattva, which characterizes the intermediate period between full growth and the beginning of decay; and Siva is said to be the imbodiment of tamas which, in one of its functions, is the attribute of stagnancy and final decay, and thus becomes the destroyer.
The Jewish Qabbalistic triad, Sephirah, Hokhmah, and Binah, is identical in certain philosophical respects with the Hindu Trimurti.
Maga - Maga (Sanskrit). The priests of the Sun, mentioned in the Vishnu Purana. They are the later Magi of Chaldea and Iran, the forefathers of the modern Parsis.
Brahma - A hindu deity, the Creator aspect of God. Part of the trinity of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Shiva (the Destroyer).
Avyaya - Avyaya (Sanskrit) (from a not + vyaya subject to change, decay from the verbal root vyay to expend)
As an adjective, not subject to change, imperishable, incorruptible; as a masculine noun, a name of Vishnu and of Siva; as a neuter noun, a member or corporeal part of an organized body (used in Vedanta philosophy).
See also APARINAMIN
Garuda - Garuda A mythical bird half-man-half-bird -on which Lord Visnu moves. It is the vehicle of Lord Visnu. Shri Garuda is one of the powers of Lord Visnu himself. Huge in size, and brighter than pure gold, its Teja (lusture) crosses the Sun. Extremely heroic and brave in nature and a staunch enemy of evils and snakes (representing evil). Also, he is destroyer of poison. Garuda Sadhana gives the power to cure venom and poisonous effect.
According to Puranic stories, he was born of Sage Kashyapa and Vinata, one of the daughters of Daksha Prajapati and is of Kaashyap gotra. He has a white face, a beak-like long nose, red wings, and a huge body with a golden hue. His lustre was so brilliant that soon after his birth, the demi-gods mistook him for Agni (fire) and began worshipping him.
Garuda had a son named Sampati, and his wife was Unnati. Another wife of Kashyapa, Kadru, who was the mother of the serpent race, was Vinata''s great rival. Once the two wives had a dispute over the color of the horse of Indra- the, Uchchaishrava, that was obtained during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthana). Vinata lost the bet and as per the conditions, she was made a slave of Kadru. She could regain her freedom only if Garuda could obtain the nectar (Amrit). Garuda succeeded in stealing it from heaven but not without a fight with Indra, its preserver. In one side were all the Gods with Indra and Garuda was on one side. It was said that he almost won over all the Gods before being severly harmed and in the process Indra''s Vajra (thunder-bolt weapon) was destroyed. Indra recovered the nectar afterwards, after Garuda freed his mother.
Garuda''s son Jatayu once tried to fly up to the Sun in the sky. This burnt his wings and he fell down. Also, he tried to resist Raavana during the abduction of Sitaa and got fatal injuries. In this condition, he awaited his death till giving Raama the details of Sita''s abduction by Ravana and her whereabouts. His last rites were performed by Rama. Jatayu had been a friend of Rama''s father, Dasharatha.
Garuda, after getting permission and acceptance from Shri Visnu, after the war, wrote one of the first Puraanas, teh Garuda puraana. This is in the form of instructions to Garuda by Vishnu and deals with a variety of science and principles, including the secret of creation of the Universe.
Garuda Mantra: Om PA Kshim Svaaha
Garuda Mantra for destroying poison: Om hreem hrauum hreem hreem bhirundayai svaahaa
Garuda Gaayatri: Om TatPurushaaya Vidmahe, SuvarnaPakshaaya Dheemahi, Tannoh Garudah Prachodayaat
Ganges - A holy river of India. The principal river given this name originates in the Himalayas, flows past Hardvar, Prayag (Allahabad), Varanasi (Banaras), and Gaya, and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Gangasagar.
This Ganga is said to have come from the feet of the Hindu god Vishnu and to have landed first on the matted hair of the god Shiva, where it aroused the jealousy of Shiva''s wife. It is also called Bhagirathi and Jahnavi. Other Gangas include a Ganga in the sky (Akashaganga, the Milky Way), a Ganga in the underworld (Patalaganga), and numerous replicas of the Ganga on earth.
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