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.