23 Vaişņavism

Introduction

What is called Śrīvaişņvism is popularly known as Viśişţādvaita. It is one of the religious sects of Hinduism in which Lord Vişņu along with his consort Śrī (also known as Lakşmī) constitutes the godhead or the Supreme being. In fact, the term ‘viśişţādvaita’ came to be applied to Vaişņava sampradāya only in 11th century A.D. after Śrī Rāmānuja. Śudarsanasūri, the author of Śrutaprakāśika, a celebrated commentary on Śrī Rāmānuja’s Śrībhāşya who lived in 13th century AD first used the expression ‘Viśişţādvaita’ to Śrīvaişņvism. It is also a well known fact that majority of the Hindus are Vaişņavites, according to leading anthropologists and sociologists of the world. All the incarnations of Lord Śrī Vişņu, are worshipped by the followers of Vaişņvism as preeminent manifestation of divinity.

The Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vişņu and Śiva are three principal manifestations of divinity who preside over the realms of creation and passion, organization and goodness, and destruction and ignorance respectively. In that Lord Vişņu is seen as a cohesive centre. Another salient feature of Vaişņavism is that the Epics and Purāņas primarily focus on the Lord Vişņu. As Gavin Flood puts it: “The two most important groups of Hindu narrative traditions embodied in oral and written texts are the two Epics: the Rāmāyaņa and the Mahābhārata, and the Purāņas.” Further he holds: Although the Epics contain lot of material which cannot be neatly categorized as belonging to any particular tradition, there is nevertheless a case for saying that the Epics are primarily Vaişņava in orientation, as, indeed, are many of the Purāņas.” This is to say that the prominent scriptures of Hinduism, by and large, espouse Vaişņavism.

2. Concept of God

“Lord Vişņu is the instructor of the whole world—what else should people learn or teach, except for Him, the Supreme Spirit?”

He is the supreme Godhead who receives awe, admiration and reverence from His worshippers. He is the embodiment of majesty and divine excellence. His appearance is so pleasant and pleasing with long black hair, lotus eyes, deep blue complexion, and glowing yellow garments. His four arms indicate his infinite power and ubiquitous nature. In each of his arms we find a conch, a chakra, a large mace and a lotus. The conch is a symbol of creativity and victory, the chakra symbolizes the power of mind, and is also used as a weapon to destroy the evil and misconception and doubt, the large mace evokes fear in the unrighteous as a symbol of strength, and the lotus symbolizes liberation and the ability to rise beyond the material existence. The Lord is often depicted as reclining on the cosmic waters of creation with Śeşa, the serpent-like form of Balarāma. The Śeşa, guards the Lord and acts as His bedstead with his soft skin and his many hoods rising high above him. From Lord Vişņu’s navel we see the world’s first being, Brahma ready to create on behalf of the Lord. Sometimes, Vişņu is shown with Lakşmi, his consort, who is always serving him. This indicates that she shows all the souls how to perform the most important form of yoga— devotional service.

In the Vedas it is mentioned that the Supreme Reality is Brahman, which is amorphous divinity. But Vaişņavism equates Brahman with Lord Vişņu. Etymologically the words ’Brahman’ and ‘Vişņu’ mean the same. The Sanskrit root of Brahman is ‘brih’, which means ‘expansion’ or ‘to spread throughout’. Similarly, the name Vişņu means ‘pervasive’ or to ‘expand’.” According to D.N. Shanbhag, a renowned scholar of Hindu studies, since both Brahman and Vişņu have same connotations that every reference to Brahman is also equally a reference to Vişņu. The medieval Vaişņava teachers Śrī Rāmānuja and Madhva too interpreted Brahman in the similar fashion. Even in the Ŗg-Veda there are more references to Vişņu than to any other deity, according to F.B.J. Kuiper, the well—known Indologist.

He also held that Vişņu is the only deity who can take his devotees beyond the material world. In the Vedas one finds references to the dualities such as heaven-earth, day-night, gods-demons. But Vişņu goes beyond these dualities into a more transcendental domain.

The ‘three steps’ of Vişņu testify that His steps encompass all that exists and goes beyond into unchartered territory. Most of the Vedic gods are embodiments of celestial, terrestrial, and atmospheric forces. But Vişņu’s three steps vindicate His ability to accommodate all the three. In the Katha Upanişad it is mentioned that Vişņu’s ultimate step can be compared with the culmination of the spiritual journey. It is this point that represents the ultimate destiny of all souls.

The other references found in the Vedas too portray Vişņu as Supreme Lord. In the Ŗgveda one finds a reference to Vişņu as Supreme Lord on whom Lord Rudra (Śiva) is dependent for His sustenance. Even in the Aitereya Brāhmaņa it is stated that of all the gods Agni is lowest and Vişņu is the highest. This statement from the first of the Brāhmaņa commentaries assumes more significance for it claims to be more authentic that the Veda itself because of its antiquity, authority and sanctity, according to the tradition. These early texts also reveal that once there was a contest among the gods to determine which god was the greatest. Vişņu by his deeds emerged victorious, and therefore achieved the status of the most excellent among the divinities.

Similarly, the Vaişņava commentaries on Brahman interpret Brahman as something devoid of material qualities, but not auspicious qualities. These auspicious qualities equate Brahman with Vişņu. One cannot see Supreme as impersonal but has to be viewed as Super personal having spiritual qualities. He is not a person like us, yet His existence is not impersonal, lacklustre existence, but supra personal existence. It is also found in the original Vedic literature, especially in the Brāhmanical commentaries, that Vişņu is often identified with sacrifice (yajṅa). These commentaries align Him with the Puruşa-sūkta wherein He is referred to as Nārāyaņa, Krişņa and so on. The First or Primordial Being (Cosmic Person) who undergoes the ultimate sacrifice is called Puruşottama, which is a name attached to Vişņu and Krişņa. This made Vaişņavites believe that Puruşa-sūkta and other forms of divinity referred to in the Vedic texts are the references to Vişņu

The Vaikhānasa texts of South India are also regarded as the important part of the Vedic conundrum. These texts offer references to early worship of Vişņu. In fact, these texts connect Vaisnavism to the Vedas through language, rituals and practice. One of the Western experts on Vaişņavism, Michael Witzel, observes that the Vaikhānasa texts and their related literature clearly indicate that the mańtra style in terms of language and meter used in these texts resembles that of the Vedic past. Therefore, he does not hesitate to arrive at the conclusion that Vaişņavism can be treated as a Vedic religion. Similarly, the Mahā-Nārāyaņa Upanişad establishes the supreme position accorded to Narāyana (Vişņu) by the Vedas. The above mentioned Upanişad is appended to the Sāmaveda. What is stated in this Upanişad is as follows: “In the beginning of creation, there was only Nārāyana (Vişņu). There was no Brahma, no Śiva, no fire, no moon, no stars in the sky, no sun.”

The Vedic past clearly establishes the supremacy of Vaişņavism in the Hindu religious traditions today. But it is also true of Vaişņava tradition that it is not dependent on the Vedic origins. Vaişņavism is strongly tied to the Epics and Purāņas. It is the personal experience that makes the followers of Vaişņavism to cling to their tradition. According to them, religion is meant to bring worshippers close to God and to make them happy and productive people. Thus the pragmatic value of their belief system is realized by them. In a way, Vaişņavism is a form of monotheism, for its followers do not worship any other deity excepting the various manifestations and incarnations of Lord Vişņu. All other deities are merely treated as subordinates, demigods, angels, and empowered beings. Vişņu is source of everything including all divine emanations, even if these emanations are also various forms of the Supreme. Therefore, the worship of other gods such as Śiva, Śakti, and Gaņeśa is not acceptable to the Vaişņavites.

The Lord Himself in the form of Krişņa claims in the Bhagavadgītā that “I am in everyone’s heart, and, if one wants to worship the demigods, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to any of those deities. I then award him the benefits that he thinks are bestowed by the demigods.” Why do people worship demigods? Krişņa himself answers this question by saying that “people in the material world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods.” Vaişņavism does not encourage people from motivated and goal oriented worship and promotes pure worship of the Supreme. In the Gitā Krişņa tells his worshippers that those “who worship other gods are actually worshipping me, but they are doing it in the wrong way.” The worship of the Supreme Godhead (Vişņu) alone is termed as true worship of the Supreme.

3. Incarnation (avatāra)

Incarnation (avatāra) is one of the most significant features we find in Śrī Vaişņavism. The Supreme descends into this world of empirical beings in order to destroy the virulent demons which are the cause for the rise of unrighteousness (adharma). The Supreme can make his devotees happy only by bringing back righteousness (dharma) back into existence. Although the Supreme can destroy the virulent demons from his spiritual kingdom, yet His descent is to assure His devotees that He is always with them. The Supreme, according to vaişņava tradition, appeared in ten incarnations (daśāvatāras) to alleviate the suffering of his devotees in the various yugas. The first four avatāras of Lord Vişņu appeared in the Satyayuga or Kritayuga, the next three (5,6,7) in the tretāyuga, the 8th and 9th in Dvāparayuga. The last of the avatāras is presently on. In the Purānic literature we come across the following avatāras of the Supreme in the form of short stories. These avatāras are of immense significance to the followers of Vaişņavism.

3.1. Matsyāvatāra

The Lord incarnated himself as a fish and saved the world from a deluge. As the story goes, there lived a king who was performing penance for thousands of years. One day when he was performing his routine ablutions with river water he found a small fish in his hands. He was about to throw it back into the river waters the fish requested him to save its life. The king heeded its request and took it home and preserved it in a small vessel of water. But the fish started outgrowing its size. Then the King shifted it into the river and then into the ocean. From this the king realized that the fish must be the appearance of the Lord. The Lord requested the king to prepare a big boat as the world is going to come to an in seven days due to a huge flood. True to Lord’s prophecy there was a huge flood and the king tied the boat with the royal serpent (Vāsuki) to the Lord who appeared in the form a fish to reach Mount Himavan. The Lord in this form takes his boat safely by protecting seven hermits, each of the species of plant and animal to his newly created world which is a safer destination for all living beings.

3.2. Kūrmāvatāra

The Lord incarnated himself the form of a tortoise by offering his back as the pivot on which the Mount Maṅdara rested. As the story goes, both gods (devatas) and demons (aśuras) were fighting each other for their supremacy. In the process, suddenly the gods lost their strength due to a hasty curse of a short-tempered sage Dūrvasa. The sage once presented a garland of flowers to Indra which the latter gave it away to his elephant which trampled the garland. This act of Indra made Dūrvasa angry. Then the gods approached the Lord to get them back their lost strength due to the curse of Dūrvasa. Then the Lord asked both the gods and demons to churn the ocean of milk after adding some medicinal herbs to it. He then wanted to use the Mount Maṅdara as a churning stick and sought the help of demons to lift it and place it on his back. In return to their help the Lord offered a share of nectar of immortality, which comes after churning, to them. Both the gods and demons churned the ocean by using the serpent Vāsuki as the rope. Several precious objects came out of churning. At the end the a bowel of nectar of immortality surfaced, and it was grabbed by the demons. But the Lord transformed into a beautiful maiden (apsarasa) and mesmerised the demons only to distribute it gods, who got back their strength. Thus the Lord saved the world from the demons by making them weak.

3.3. Varāhāvatāra

The Lord incarnated himself as a wild boar to destroy the demon Hiranyākşa who stole the Vedas from Brahma while he was sleeping. He also got a boon from Brahma that he would not be killed by a beast or a man or god. However, in the list of beasts he forgot to include varāha. He then went on plundering all the worlds. He pushed the world to pātāla which exists beneath sea and committed all atrocities. The Lord appeared in the form of a wild boar and brought back the world on its tusks from pātāla and restored the Vedas to Brahma by killing Hiranyākşa.

3.4. Narasiḿhāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of man-lion (narasiḿha)to release the world from the clutches of a demon (aśura) called Hiraņyakaśapa. He obtained some peculiar powers from Brahma through severe penance (tapas). These powers are such that he would be killed neither in the day nor in the night, neither by god, nor by a man, an animal, a weapon; neither on the Earth nor in the air. He wanted to remain young forever and immortal. He also considered himself as the Supreme God and asked everyone to worship him alone. But his son Prahlāda objected to the foolishness of his father Hiraņyakaśapa. Prahlāda being a devotee of Lord Vişņu refused to worship Hiraņyakaśapa as Supreme God. Enraged by such refusal Hiraņyakaśapa tortured both Prahlāda and his sister Holika. On one occasion Hiraņyakaśapa asked Prahlāda to show him where he (Vişņu) is. Prahlāda replied that he is everywhere. Then he asked Prahlāda to show him whether he is in this pillar by breaking it. Then the Lord Vişņu appeared in the form of half-man and half-lion and killed Hiraņyakaśapa with his claws keeping him on his lap. Therefore, Lord Vişņu had to take up a peculiar form to kill this demon to save the life of his devotee.

3.5. Vāmanāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of a dwarf Brāhman priest (Vāmana) to confront a demon king Bali Chakravarthi, the grandson of Prahlāda, who conquered the the whole world. He was mighty and valorous. Fearing that he would also conquer other worlds Indra approached Lord Vişņu to save his world from Bali. The Lord took the birth of a dwarf and went to Bali, who was generous to fulfill the desires of many, and asked for alms. Bali was prepared to offer anything that he wanted without knowing that it was the Lord Vişņu. The Lord asked Bali to give him three feet of land which the former granted without any hesitation. Then the Lord Vişņu grew bigger in size and occupied heaven and Earth with two his feet. Then there was nothing left for the Lord to put his third foot and Bali offered his head. As a consequence the Lord put his third foot on Bali’s head and crushed him to pātālaloka. Thus he helped gods from this mighty demon.

3.6. Paraśurāmāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of Paraśurāma, a brāhmin priest, to teach a lesson to all the kşatriyas who became arrogant and suppressing all the brāhmins in the world. He was born to Jamadagni and Renuka. He always carried an axe which he got from Lord Śiva as an ardent devotee of him. Kārtavīrya, a powerful king, once visited Jamadagni’s house and in his absence he stole a cow (kamādhenu) which was supposed to yield unlimited quantity of milk. On knowing this Jamadagini got enraged and went to the king’s place and brought back the cow after killing him. In turn the son of Kārtavīrya killed Jamadagni for killing his father. To avenge the death of his father Paraşurāma killed the son of the king and fought as many as 21 battles to kill all the kşatriyas.

3.7. Rāmāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of Rāma, the noble prince of Ayodhya. Rāma, the central figure in the Epic Rāmāyaņa, is depicted as an ideal person for the humankind with all the noble qualities. He is also regarded as an ideal son, ideal husband, and ideal king. He killed the ten headed demon Rāvaņa who was an embodiment of arrogance and lust. He was granted immunity from death by Brahma. Neither gods nor celestial beings could kill him. He underestimated the power of Rāma for he considered him an ordinary human being, who cannot vanquish him. But it is the Lord Vişņu who took the birth of Rāma, and his consort Lakşmi as Sīta. Rāvaņa abducts Sīta when Rāma and his younger brother Lakşmaņa were away. Then Rāma with his ideal follower Hanuman and the army of monkeys crossed the ocean to reach Rāvaņa’s kingdom. There was a fierce war between Rāma and Rāvaņa. In the end Rāma killed the demon and freed Sīta, who is acknowledged as universal mother.

3.8. Krişnāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of Krişņa, a cowheard. He is the central character in the Epic Mahābhārata. This is supposed to be the most important Epic with myriad of stories in the Hindu mythology. There are stories concerning war, peace, brotherhood, love, hatred, politics and so on. It is primarily a story of Kauravas and Pāndavas who were the sons of Dhŗtarāshtra and Pandu respectively. Lord Krişņa plays a key role in this Epic to restore moral order (dharma). As a part of the Mahābhārata during the war between Kauravas and Pāndavas, Lord Krişņa gives a long discourse to Arjuna, the third son of Pāndu, on the philosophy of action. This discourse is termed as the Bhagavad-gīta. Krişņa, when he was young, kills his own maternal uncle Kaḿsa, who was responsible for all evil acts. Krişņa was endeared by one and all for his charming and helping nature. He killed all those demons who robbed the chastity of all gopikas. Unlike the Epic Ramayana, the Mahabharata deals with politics, human nature, human weaknesses, and so on to show the nature of men and their activities in this empirical world.

3.9. Buddhāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of Buddha, the enlightened noble prince who showed the entire world the path of peace. He is known for his concept of ahiḿsā. He preached the four Noble Truths. There are as follows: 1.The world is full of sorrow and misery. 2. This sorrow and misery is caused. 3. What caused sorrow and misery can be eradicated. 4. The way to eradicate sorrow and misery. According to him, by following the eight-fold path (Ārya Aşţānga Mārga) one can get rid of sorrow and misery. His eight-fold path includes: right faith, right resolve, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right thought, and right concentration. The Buddha prescribed Aşţānga Mārga to attain Nirvāņa or liberation from rebirth.

3.10. Kalkāvatāra

The Lord incarnated in the form of Kalki the machine man who rides on the back of a white horse with his blazing sword in his arms. This is going to be the future incarnation of the Lord to end the world which looses all the four legs of dharma. All the evil doers are punished by the Lord in order to create a new world of golden age again. This incarnation of the Lord brings the whole world into an end.

4.  Āļvārs

According to Śrī Vaişņava tradition, there are twelve Āļvār saints who propagated Vaişņavism through their divine singing. The term ’Āļvār’ means one who divided deep in to the divinity. Their 4000 odd songs form the corpus called Dramidavedam or Nālāyira Divyaprabhandham compiled by Nāthamuni. These Āļvār saints belonged to the different social strata and among them in the list there is a woman. She is popularly known as Ānḑal. All these saints are supposed to have lived between 5-9 centuries A.D. The most ancient of them are Poygai Āļvār, Bhutatt Āļvār, Pey Āļvār. It appears that they were contemporaries. The others are: Tirumalisai Āļvār, Nammāļvār, Madhurakavi Āļvār, Kulasekhara Āļvār, Periya Āļvār, Andal, Thondaradippodi Āļvār, Thiruppaan Āļvār, Thirumangai Āļvār. Some belive that Āļvārs of the divine incarnations of Lord Vişņu’s weapons and ornaments and vehicles. Ānḑāļ is considered to be an incarnation of Bhūdevi, but it is also held that they are ordinary human beings who got under the control of divine grace. The message of Āļvār is that there is a mystic union between human soul and the lord of the world.

5. Liberation (mukti or mokşa)

Like any other Hindu religious sect, Vaişņavism too upholds the view that the ultimate goal or ideal of life of every worshipper is to attain liberation from rebirth. It is the bhakimārga which leads to liberation from bondage and liberation is possible only after the falling of body. Thus it is called videhamukti. Devotion (bhakti) combined with surrender (prapatti) is the sure way to liberation, according to Vaişņavism. It is only during the 13th century A.D. the schism in Vaişņavism surfaced in the form of sectarianism. The two prominent sects of Vaişņavism are Vadagalai and Tengalai. Vedānta Deśika and Pillai Lokācārya are supposed to be the proponents of these schools respectively. The former school relies on Sanskrit literature and North Indian tradition, while the latter subscribes to Tamil scriptures and South Indian tradition. According to Vadagalai tradition, the worshipper must hold on to the Supreme just as a baby-monkey to its mother in order to get the grace of the Supreme. This view is technically called markatakiśoranyāya. On the contrary, the Tengalai tradition holds that the worshipper has to surrender himself to the Supreme, and the Supreme bestows His grace on the worshipper by taking care of the worshipper just as a cat takes care of its kittens. This view is called marjālakiśoranyāya. Apart from that, the nāmam sported on the forehead of the followers of the Vadagalai tradition is in ‘U’ shape and for the Tengalai tradition is in ‘Y’ shape. Excepting these differences both the sects worship only Lord Vişņu as their Supreme God.

Summary

Vaişņavism is one of the most prominent sects of Hinduism followed by two thirds of the Hindus. Lord Vişņu and his consort Lakşmi are worshipped by all the followers of Vaişņavism. No other god or goddess is worshipped by them for they believe that Lord Vishnu is the Supreme God and there is no need to worship lesser gods or deities. The ultimate goal of the worshipper of the Supreme is to reach God’s abode to indulge in the seva of the Lord.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism
• https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism

 Bibliography

• Raju, P.T. Structural Depths of Indian Thought. New Delhi: South Asia Publishers, 1985.
• Srinivasachari, P.N. The Philosophy of Bhedābheda. Chennai: The Adyar Library and Research Centre, 1982.
• Srinivasa Chari, S.M. Vaişņavism: Its Philosophy: Theology and Religious Discipline. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.
• Steven J. Rosen. Essential Hinduism. London, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2006