Vishnu-Lord of the Universe-Chapter#4

8 forms of Laksmi

Lakshmi

Lakshmi is the consort of Lord Maha Vishnu and is the Goddess of beauty, wealth and fertility. She resides in Vishnu’s chest. Often the deity of Vishnu bears a medal in the chest to signify the presence of Maha Lakshmi. When the devas and asuras churned the milk ocean, Lakshmi emerged from the ocean along with Dhanvantri, jewels, precious stones, amurtham. She and Vishnu are inseparables. During Ram incarnation, she takes avatar of Sita. And when Vishnu comes as Krishna she takes birth as Rukmini and Radha and serves the Almighty Lord. Lakshmi is the power and strength of Lord Vishnu. In some places She is seen in two forms, Bhudevi and Sridevi, both on either side of Vishnu's idol. Bhudevi is the fertility form in which She is Mother Earth. Sridevi is the wealth.

Different Names of Lakshmi

Padma: lotus dweller.
Kamala: lotus dweller.
Padmapriya: One who likes lotuses
Padmamaladhara devi: One who wears a garland of lotuses
Padmamukhi: One whose face is as beautiful as a lotus
Padmakshi: One whose eyes are as beautiful as a lotus
Padmahasta: One who holds a lotus Padmasundari: One who is as beautiful as a lotus


Goddess Lakshmi-Goddess of Beauty, wealth and prosperity.

Her other names include:
Bhargavi: One who is the incarnation of the daughter of Sage Bhrigu
Sridevi: Goddess of wealth
Bhumi Devii: Earth goddess
Jalaja: Born from sea.





Lakshmi often accompanied by Goddess Saraswati and Vinayagar.


Iconography:

Physically, goddess Lakshmi is described as a fair lady, with four arms, seated on a lotus, dressed in fine garments and precious jewels. Her expression is always calm and loving. The most striking feature of the iconography of Lakshmi is her persistent association with the lotus. The meaning of the lotus in relation to Shri-Lakshmi refers to purity and spiritual power. Rooted in the mud but blossoming above the water, completely uncontaminated by the mud, the lotus represents spiritual perfection and authority. Goddess Lakshmi's traditionally accepted vehicle, is the owl.





Popular painting of Ravi Verma depicting Goddess Lakshmi.


8 forms of Lakshmi’s:

Veera Lakshmi- Goddess of courage.
Gaja Lakshmi- Portrayed along with elephants symbolizing supremacy.
Santhana Lakshmi- Seen with a child.
Vijaya Lakshmi- Goddess of power.
Dhanya Lakshmi- Goddess of food.
Adhi Lakshmi- Supreme power.
Dhana Lakshmi- Goddess of wealth.
Aishwarya Lakshmi- Goddess of prosperity.




Lord Vishnu with His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi.

Lakshmi is often accompanied by Lord Ganesha and Goddess Saraswati. This combination is said to overcome any difficulty in life and the devotee will be blessed with wealth, knowledge and will be free of all obstacles in life. Lakshmi resides in the chest of Vishnu. This is often depicted by a dollar near the chest of Lord Vishnu.


Next Chapter#5: True Devotees of Vishnu

Stay tuned...

Vishnu-Lord of the Universe-Chapter#3

Praying to Vishnu
The purpose of doing puja is to thank and remember Maha Vishnu before starting our day. It is due to the Supreme that we have been given a good body, food, etc. It is He who awakens us in the morning and blesses us with sleep at night. It is He who constantly protects us from evil and bad things everyday. It is He who inspires and boosts our atma. Therefore to thank Him for all these valuable gifts, we need to pray to him. We think of Him first, before thinking and doing things for ourselves. Even when Vishnu came as Krishna to the world, He still followed all rituals and vedas as an human being, though he was the God.


Unfortunate People
It is wrong to tease people who are lame or mentally ill. After all they are also creation of God. It is their fate, ill-luck, that they have been born physically challenged. It is the duty of every human to take care of His elders and neighbours. When He incarnates, He has never shown partiality. He has respected everyone equally.








Vishnu as Parashuram with axe.
Parashuram Avtar



In the Parashurama avtar, Vishnu destroys evil king Katavirya Arjuna and restores peace. Parashuram was the son of rishi Jamadagni. Parashuram was well known for penance and strength. Katavirya Arjuna was the king of all Kshatriyas then. Katavirya Arjuna used to be very powerful and full of ego. One day Katavirya Arjuna stormed into the ashram of brahmins and forcibly took away the diive Kamdhenu. When Parashuram returned after completing penance and meditation, he learnt about the incident and vowed to slay Kartavirya Arjuna. Parashuram rescued Kamadhenu and handed the cow over to his parents and returned to his meditation and penance. Meanwhile Katavirya Arjuna's sons beheaded rishi Jamadagni, father of Parashuram. Parashuram was enraged when he learnt about his father’s demise. He hunted down all of Kshatriyas. He vowed to wipe out 21 generations of Kshatriyas. In this manner Bhagwan Parashuram removed evil Earth and re-established dharma. Parashuram proves the power of man. He considered as Rama with axe. The axe was presented by Lord Shiva after Bhagwan Parashuram underwent penance.

Ram with Lakshman, Sita Devi and Hanumaan.

Lord Ram

In Ram avtar, Lord Ram kills demon Ravana and rescues Sita Devi. Lord Ram is the most popular incarnation of all as in that incarnation, Ram lived life the way it should be lived. He didn’t succumb to materialistic pleasures of life and he lived as a proper family man and was loyal to Sita devi. He didn’t even use any of His divine powers as in Krishna avtar. Rama's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. For the sake of his father's honour, Rama abandons his kingdom to Kosala's son to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest. His wife, Sita and brother, Lakshmana being unable to live without Rama decide to join him, and all three spent the fourteen years in exile together. This leads to the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana. After a long and arduous search that tests his personal strength and virtue, Rama fights a colossal war against Ravana's armies. Rama slays Ravana in battle and liberates his wife.

Lord Balaram

Balaram is the elder brother of Lord Krishna. He is considered as an avtar of Adhi-Sesha, the giant snake on which Lord Vishnu rests. Balarama is always depicted as being fair skinned, especially in comparison to his brother, Krishna, who is shown as dark blue or black in color. His weapons are the plough and the mace. The only theological difference between Krishna and Balarama is that the body color of Krishna is dark and that of Balarama is fair. During Ram avtar, Goddess Maha Lakshmi incarnated as Sita along with Ram. The giant serpent Adhi-Sesha couldn't stay away from His Lord. So Adhi-Seshan incarnated as Lakshman, Ram's brother so that he could serve him in earth. The Lord was moved by Adhi-Seshan's devotion and spirit. So in next avtar, Adhi-Seshan incarnated as Balaram with an hamsam of Vishnu. Then Vishnu incarnated as Krishna and served Balarama in return of gratitude.

Lord Krishna

Krishna is the ninth avtar and perhaps the most popular avtar of Vishnu. Few consider Krishna has the Supreme Personality of God head from whom all avtars originate including Vishnu. According to Hinduism, Krishna is the avtar of Vishnu. His lifestyle was very different from that of other avtars. His favourite food item was butter. He was a naughty kid during His earlier days and He was a great hero amongst women (Gopis). During his lifetime, he killed many demons, evil kings and bad elements. Everyone knew by looking at Him that He was no ordinary human. However, Krishna is widely criticised for His one-sided partial nature towards Pandavas during the Great War Mahabharata. Krishna played a lot of pranks using His Supreme Powers indirectly to reestablish justice. It was in this avtar that Vishnu in the form of Krishna shows his awesome cosmic form to Arjuna. All living forms, land, ocean, all gods are seen in His radiance. Krishna himself is killed by an archer after the Great War.

Kalki Avtar

As the world was neared the end of Dwarpa Yuga, Vishnu took the form of Balarama and Krishna and destroyed evil demons, kings in the world. Thus the world was devoid of bad people once again. In the last incarnation Kalki, Vishnu will come as a white horse with a sword to remove evil and He will reestablish peace and truth. We can see that every time there is imbalance between good and bad, God descends down to earth to remove bad elements from the society. Every Religion has got truth. God has taken many forms to give us joy and protection whether it’s Jesus or Allah. There is a path to reach God. Different paths may lead to the same destination. Likewise, there are different religions all leading to the same God.

Next Edition:- Goddess Lakshmi-Consort of Vishnu.

Vishnu-The Lord of the Universe-Chapter#2

Vishnu in the form of fish. Matsya Avtar.


In Kaliyuga, people are far away from God. The world is full of injustice. The human civilization has degraded spiritually through the years. All humans have become sinners. It's the age for wrong doers. There is ignorance of Dharma everywhere. People are killing each other in the name of Religion and castes. No one is really concerned about other’s welfares. Humans will be inclined to follow false sciences rather than accepting the Vedas as the Ultimate Truth to reality. People will see those who are helpless as easy targets and remove everything from them. Other’s property will be coveted. There will be a mad craze for money, lust and other cheap materialistic pleasures of life. Students won't be obedient to the Guru's. In the age of Kali Yug, even pre-teenage girls will get pregnant. The primary cause will be the social acceptance of sexual intercourse as being the central requirement of life. Human life’s moral values will be lost.




Vishnu in the form of tortoise-Kurma Avtar

It is believed that sin will increase exponentially, whilst virtue will fade and cease to flourish. People will take vows only to break them soon. People will destroy trees and gardens in the view of urbanization. People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks.

The good and the bad are balanced. However, sometimes the amount of evilness increases. God descends down into earthly form to remove injustice. Wrong doers will be punished. This is evident from the incarnation of nine avatars.

In the Matsya avatar, Vishnu-The Supreme takes the form of a fish and saves the world from destruction and reestablishes growth of life in the world by defeating a demon which stole the vedas from Brahma. Earlier, a evil demon stole the vedas from Brahma and kept it under an ocean. Vishnu took the form of a fish and fights the demon under water and restores vedas and gives it back to Brahma.

But peace was short lived. The world was again facing miseries. The Devas and Asuras were always at war. In one such war, the demi-gods were on the verge of defeat. A truce was made and the Devas and Asuras agreed to churn the milk ocean to get the divine nectar, which will make anyone immortal. At that time, Vishnu takes the form of a tortoise i.e. Kurma Avatar to support the mountain. Mandara was used as Churn Dasher and Vasuki, The King of Serpents was used as a rope to churn it. Then Maha Vishnu takes the form of Mohini a charming damsel and distracts the evil minded asuras. Thus they are devoid of nectar. The Devas consumed the nectar become and immortal. Rightness is again restored. It is believed that Rahu and Ketu actually drank some of the nectar. This was seen by the Sun and Moon God. Lord Surya and Moon god told this to Vishnu. With the help of his discus, Lord Vishnu cuts the head of Rahu and the body of Ketu. But since they had consumed the nectar, the remaining pieces remained alive. Later, Rahu and Ketu got an head and body of a snake respectively. It is believed that during eclipse, Rahu and Ketu eat up a portin of Sun and Moon as a sign of revenge.


Varaha Avtar. Vishnu saves the earth when it sunk deep into the ocean.

After many years, a demon named Hirayaksha sinks the world deep into the ocean. Lord Narayana comes in the form of a Boer i.e. Varaha Avatar and rescues the earth and lifts it from the ocean. Hiranyakasipu was the brother of Hiranyaksha. He was no different from his evil-minded brother. He hated Lord Narayana and didn’t allow anyone to worship Narayana. However, his son Prahlad was a Vishnu devotee. Hiranyakasipu warned his own son not to worship Vishnu. But Prahlad didn't listen to his father. Enraged by his son’s disobedience, he decides to kill his own son. Sarcastically, he asks his son where his Lord is present? Prahlad replies calmly, “That He is present everywhere and He is omnipresent”. Frustrated and enraged Hiranyakasipu inquires whether his Lord is present inside the stone pillar near his throne. Prahlad says, “Yes”. Hiranyakasipu breaks the pillar and Vishnu appears in the form of half man-half lion form i.e. Narasimha avatar. Thus it is evident that God always comes to the rescue of His devotees in times of danger and no one cares for us as the Divine Lord Perumal.



Lord Narasimha killing Hiranyakasipu. Prahlad can be seen at the right.


Hiranyakasipu was the brother of Hiranyaksha. He was no different from his evil-minded brother. He hated Lord Narayana and didn’t allow anyone to worship Narayana. However, his son Prahlad was a Vishnu devotee. Hiranyakasipu warned his own son not to worship Vishnu. Enraged by his son’s disobedience, he decides to kill his own son. Sarcastically, he asks his son where his Lord is present? Prahlad replies calmly, “That He is present everywhere and He is omnipresent”. Frustrated and enraged Hiranyakasipu inquires whether his Lord is present inside the stone pillar. Prahlad says, “Yes”. Hiranyakasipu breaks the pillar and Vishnu appears in the form of half man-half lion form i.e. Narasimha avatar. Thus it is evident that God always comes to the rescue of His devotees in times of danger and no one cares for us as the Divine Lord Perumal.



Vamana humbles Maha Bali.


In the next avatar, Vishnu takes the form of Vamana, a dwarf Brahmin. King Maha Bali was a good person. However, he was an Asuran and he wanted to win the devas. Though he was good at heart, he had a very bad attitude towards the Devas. In order to attain a heavenly position he performs Ashwamedha Yagam. Maha Bali conducts Ashwamedha Yagam and donates wealth to brahmins and the poor needy. Vishnu disguised as a brahmin named Vamana approaches Bali and asks for three feet of land. Underestimating, the size of the person he agrees to give it as an offering not minding his Guru Sukracharaya’s words. Sukracharaya warned him earlier that Vamana was none other than Vishnu himself who has come to humble him. Sukracharya then becomes an insect and enters into the water pot as it was customary to pour water before donating anything. Maha Bali was confused when water didn't pour out of the pot. Actually Guru Sukracharya was inside in the form of a bee to prevent water from flowing out. Vamana uses "dharbai" and inserts it into the pot's nozzle to allow the water to pour out. It hurts Sukracharya's eye. Once Maha Bali whole heartedly agrees for the donation, Vamana exposes his true form. He expands Himself and keeps one foot on the earth and the other on the heaven. Bali knew that he had been outwitted by the Supreme. He offered his head for the third step. In this incarnation Vishnu shows that He is the Supreme and the most powerful person. He keeps one foot on earth and shows to humans that he is superior to them. He keeps another step on the heaven to show Indra that He is stronger than him too.


Important lessons to be learnt:

* God is Supreme be it Allah, Jesus or Shiva. Fighting and killing each other in the name of religion is doing sin in the name of God. Religion is only a path to salvation. It is a route to attain peace.

* Proof of evolution is observed. Vishnu comes in the form of Fish, Tortoise, then a four legged boar, half man-half lion Narasimha and a dwarf brahmin, then as a perfect man in Parasuram Avtar. In Ram avtar, he shows how a family man should live. In Balaram avtar, he shows his friendly nature. In Krishna avtar, he proves his kiddish playful nature, Supreme power and divine knowledge as he recites Bhagvad Gita.

* His omnipresent nature is seen in Narasimha avtar.

* His power is felt in all his avtars.


Next Edition(22/11/2007):-Chapter#3 Avatar's-Part-II



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Vishnu-The Lord of the Universe-Chapter#1

Lord Vishnu also known as Lord Narayana is the Supreme Being or the Ultimate reality. Vishnu is the all-pervading essence of all beings, the master the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe. It is from him the entire universe originates. In the basic Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Vishnu is the protector of the universe, where Brahma and Shiva are known as creators and destroyers. Vishnu is often represented as sleeping over a thousand headed serpent named "Adhi Sesha or Ananta Sesha" with His consort Goddess Lakshmi massaging His lotus feet. Lord Narayana and Adhisesha are inseparables. Even in Vishnu’s avtar of Ram and Krishna, Adhi-Sesha incarnates as Lakshman and Balarama respectively to serve the Almighty.






In the Puranas, Vishnu is described as being the color of clouds (dark-blue), four-armed, holding a lotus, mace, conch and a chakra. Vishnu is also described in the Bhagavad-Gita Gita as having a 'Universal Form' (Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human sense perception. When Krishna reveals himself as Vishnu to Arjuna, in His viswaroopam all gods are seen in his radiance. Brahma, Vishnu,Shiva, Vinayagar, Hanumaan, Anjaneyar, Agni and other Devas and with Goddess Lakshmi in His chest. Krishna reveals that He is present everywhere and omnipresent. He keeps His consort in His chest, indicating to humans that they should care for their spouses. Even Vishnu is a family man. In His avtar as Ram, He is loyal to Seeta Devi. He followed the path of Dharma. He lived the way a man should live. Each of his avtars have got a message for mankind.




The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. The two arms in the front represent the physical existence of Vishnu while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The blue color indicates his all-pervasive nature, blue being the color of the infinite sky as well as the infinite ocean on which he resides. Also on his chest is the srivatsa mark, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi. Around his neck, he wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel and a garland of flowers (vanamaalaa). A crown adorns His head. The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. He is shown as wearing two earrings. They represent inherent opposites in creation - knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness pleasure and pain. "Those who bear His light loads in their life, serve Him the best". I am quoting this line from On His Blindness by John Milton. Those who face difficulties in life, without lamenting serve God. All humans should accept God, as the most Supreme Being be it any religion whether it’s Vishnu or Allah or Jesus and serve Him by chanting His names, than giving into materialistic pleasures and hence succumbing to evil.





Scenario: Kurushetra Battlefied. Krishna reveals His awesome cosmic form.

Symbols of Vishnu


1. A conch shell named "Panchajanya", held by the upper left hand, which represents creativity. The Panchajanya is the originator of the five elements or Panchabhoota - water, fire, air, earth and sky or space.

2. The chakra, a sharp-spinning discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", held by the upper right hand. The chakra as a weapon thus indicates the necessity of destroying one's ego and illusory self-existence and developing the vision to identify the eternal truth. The discus has six spokes and symbolizes a lotus with six petals, thus representing the power that controls all six seasons.

3. A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", held by the lower left hand, which represents individual existence. The mace symbolizes the primeval force from which all mental and physical strength is derived.

4. A lotus flower or Padma, held by the lower right hand, which represents liberation or dispersion. The lotus symbolizes the power from which the universe emerges. It represents the concentration of truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and knowledge or Gyana in a single symbol.




Lord Vishnu as Balaji in Tirumala.




Next Chapter#2: Purpose of Avtars

Are women safe?

A women cares for a child and protects it day and night for ten months. Alas, no one is there to protect her! And God is watching all this!


An employee of a Wipro-owned call centre was found murdered off the old Mumbai-Pune highway on Saturday. Jyoti Chowdhary (22) — whose body was found at Gahunje village, 130 km from Mumbai — was probably strangled, police said. Two drivers hired by the call centre in Hinjewadi IT Park were arrested and charged with murder. Police said they are awaiting the post-mortem report to see whether Jyoti was sexually assaulted. Police Inspector Prakash Suryavanshi said one of the arrested drivers, Purushottam Borate, used to drop Chowdhary to her office from her home. The other accused, Pradeep Kokade, is a friend of Borate's. Confirming that Chowdhary was an employee, Wipro BPO president TK Kurien said in a statement: "There has been a criminal manipulation of our processes. We had put several processes in place, including ‘no first pick up or last drop’ of female staffers, compulsory rosters for every taxi, ongoing education of employees on personal safety, precautions to be followed during late-night travel. Unfortunately, even the most secure processes get manipulated. We have initiated an audit to further tighten all processes, especially those concerning employees' safety."

Though Infosys,Wipro prevents first pickup or last drop of women, crimes still occur at an alarming rate. The reason is due to the fact of women being alarmingly dependent, they get cheated by men. Statistics show that most of the crimes were done by co-workers.

I blame the Government and NASSCOM(National Association of Software and Services Companies ). They havent put any strict restrictions on these BPO companies. BPO companies don't do any background check and police check. Police dont want to instruct these companies what they have to do stop these kind of activites. So there is lot to blame on and sufferring people will be women!

A shocking case of rape and murder of a BPO employee has thrown a question mark over safety for women working in call centres once again. There are various steps that can be taken.

* One is that women should not be the first or last ones to be picked or dropped.

* Second is to make use of technology.

* Third to put a security guard in the cabs. Let is be a women security guard.

* Girls can learn a few martial arts. What they really need is some sort of courage and optimism.

* This idea is tough, but worth thinking. Young girls should learn to judge their counterparts before venturing out with them.

I have observed that women have performed well in all aspects. I have seen them doing well in all aspects be it Academics, I.T, Sports or whatever. I admit that I have been jealous at many circumstances. But I am always against abuse and assault, be it women or men or a small child.

Hoping God will change things....

-Krishna Kumar.S