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| VISHNU - THE PRESERVER |
Hindu gods and goddesses are phenomenal, but in due course
of time Vishnu, as God of all gods, acquired supremacy, which continues till
date. He is the central and the major deity of the trinity, viz., Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva. Though technically amongst these three chiefs gods known as creator,
preserver, and destroyer, Vishnu is the Preserver, for all practical purpose
he is
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| VISHNU IN HIS VISHWAROOP |
deemed to be all-powerful, all knowing and all present.
The name Vishnu comes from the root VISH, which means, "to spread in all
directions, to pervade". He is the inner center, the core, the nucleus,
and the cohesive point through which everything exists. He swells in everything,
owns everything and overcomes any thing.
At the dawn of Aryan religion's formative stage, Vishnu is found to be a god
amongst so many other gods. But his rise on the scale of worship and prayer is
very rapid and already before the end of the Vedic times, he rises to the highest
pedestal. The form and image of Vishnu as well as its significance is explained
in detail in Puranas and several other minor Upanishads.
The two most common representations of Vishnu show him either sleeping over the
waves of the ocean on the coils of the serpent-deity, named Shesh Nag, or standing
on waves with four hands each hand holding one of his four chief attributes.
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| VISHNU - THE PRESERVER |
About the four arms of Vishnu, GOPAL-UTTARTAPANI Upanishad
says:
"In my lower right hand, which represents the revolving
or creative tendency, I hold the conch, symbol of the five elements.
In the upper right hand, which represents the cohesive tendency I hold the discus,
shining like an infant sun, symbol of the mind.
In the upper left hand, which represents the tendency towards dispersion and
liberation, I hold the lotus, symbol of the causal power of illusion, from which
the universe rises.
In my lower left hand, which represents the notion of individual existence, is
the mace, symbol of primeval knowledge."
The Conch (SHANKH) named PANCHJANYA is the fountain that evolves
the five elements, i.e., water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. When blown it produces a sound
that is associated with primeval sound from which creation developed.
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