It has always been a pleasure knowing more about Hindu Gods. The Lord of the Lords “Vishnu” is the preserver the nurturer and the protector of this creation. Lord who is respected by gods, dreaded by demons and admired by his devotees abodes in the highest heaven Vaikuntha.Sitting silently and smiling he takes care of the whole universe and whenever he feels that there has been a threat or some chaos engulfs the universe he takes the form of a human or a beast to protect the people who follows the path of “dharma” .To protect the ethical, moral, sacred values he has descended from heaven several times but among his incarnations, the ten Avatars has always been of great importance popularly known as the “Dasha-Avatar.”

They are:
Matsya, the one-horned fish,
Kurma, the mighty turtle
Varaha, the fierce boar
Narasimha, the man-lion
Vamana, the clever dwarf
Parshuram, the vengeful, priest
Rama, the dutiful prince
Krishna, the righteous cowherd
Buddha, the compassionate sage
Kalki, the messiah.

Evolution Of Lord Krishna

Among the ten Avatars Krishna is said to be the Purna Avatar, the total incarnation of Vishnu .It is also interesting to know that many religion found there belief in Lord Krishna. There was a fusion of world religion Vaishnavism or cult of Vishnu as worshipped in the incarnation of Krishna helped adapt Hinduism to new ideas. Greeks found their hero Herakles in Krishna, the Zorastrial belief in the messiaha was reflected in the prophecised descent of Kalki. Puranic myth of Matsya saving Manu’s ship appeared to be a variation of the Biblical tale of Noha’s arc. Early Christian missionaries were convinced the legends of birth of Krishna, were inspired by Christian gospel of birth of Jesus and Virgin Mary.The cult of Vishnu also traveled to South Asia and they absorbed the legend of Rama in the epic Ramayana in their own cultural tradition.

Krishna the lord tinged with the hue of blue clouds has always been portrayed as a divine form of Lord Vishnu.The festival of Janmastami essentially celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna.

There is a myth that around the birth of lord Krishna in the Dvapara –yuga the greed of the kings to rule the world burdened the earth, Bhoodevi the goddess of earh bowed before the good lord in the form of a cow and said,“Save me before the greed of man breaks my back.”

The festival of Janmastami essentially celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna.( give link to Jamastami celebration)The myth around the birth of Lord Krishna : In the Dvapara-yuga, the third quarter of the world-cycle, the ambitions of Kings burdened the earth. Bhoodevi the goddess of earth stood before Vishnu in the form of a cow and cried: “Save me before the greed of man breaks my back”

Plucking two of his hairs, one white and one black, the lord said, “I will place these in the womb of Devaki, the Yadava princess, and she will give birth to your guardians, Baladeva and Vasu deva, who will rid the world of unrighteous men and reestablish Dharma”

Thus Vasudeva Krishna was born of Vishnu’s black hair, on a dark night, in the dark half of the lunar cycle when rain clouds rumbled across the sky and rains lashed the land of Vraja (modern day Mathura/Vrindavan near Agra). He was the eighth child. He was dark colored and hence He became known as “Krishna”

From the book “Vishnu” by Dr.Devdutt Pattanaik.

Posted by VishnuBhagat in Hindu Mythology

isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

Translation

Everything animate or inaminate that is within the universe is controlled an owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himsel, which is set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom thy belong.

Posted by VishnuBhagat in Mantras

Todays Subject matter is the Teachings of the Vedas. What is Vedas? The Sanskrit verbal root of veda can be interpreted variously, but the purport is the finally one. Vedas means knowledge. Any knowledge you accept is veda, for the teaching of the Vedas is the original knowledge. In the conditioned state, our knowledge is subjected to many deficiencies . The difference between a conditioned soul and a liberated soul is that the conditioned soul has four kinds of defects.

Posted by VishnuBhagat in Teachings of the Vedas

Let me explain you why we should all pray to the Goddess of Wealth ‘Laxmi’.

She is the Beloved of Lord Narayan, also popularly known as Lord Vishnu, The Supreme Lord. And you may forcibly and/or by foul means try to keep ‘Laxmi’ with you. But She will not stay , for longer than She needs to, until you accord the respect to Her Dearly loved Lord Narayan, as much if not more, than that, you extend to Her.

According to the sculptures and paintings that have come down from ancient times, if the Goddess Laxmi travels alone, she travels on an owl. If she travels with Lord Vishnu, she travels on the Garuda (Eagle). Swami Nirmal Chetan explains the above symbolism thus: An owl is supposed to be blind during the day and a wealthy person without the right kind of intellect cannot see beyond his richness. Therefore whenever Laxmi (The Goddess of Weath) travels without Lord Vishnu she makes the person whom she visits metaphorically blind. However when the Goddess Laxmi travels with Lord Vishnu, She travels on a Garuda, which is the symbol of wisdom.

On a lighter note the word ‘Daulat’ (wealth) is derived from the word ‘Do Laat’ (Two kicks) When ‘wealth’ knocks on the door of someone without the right sense of discrimination, he gets one kick, which makes him blind. When ‘wealth’ decides to make its exit it gives the person another kick — that of blood pressure or heart attack, or some such select illness, which mostly tends to strike ‘the wealthy ones’.

Moral of the story: Let us pray to Laxmi but let us not forget the worship of God, and She will grace us with Her presence forever.

May the Goddess Laxmi bestow Her choicest Blessings on all of you, this Diwali.

Wish you all a Very Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year !!

Posted by VishnuBhagat in Laxmi Goddess Of Wealth

Lord Vishnu represents the aspect of the Supreme Reality that preserves and sustains the universe. Although there are variations in images and pictures of Lord Vishnu, He is generally symbolized by a human body with four arms. In His hands He carries a conch (shankha), a mace (gada), and discus (chakra). He wears a crown, two earrings, a garland (mala) of flowers, and a gem around the neck. He has a blue body and wears yellow clothes. The Lord is shown standing on a thousand-headed snake (named Shesha Nag), and the snake stands with its hoods open over the head of the Lord.

The four arms indicate Lord’s omnipresence and omnipotence. The two front arms signify the lord’s activity in the physical world and the two back arms signify His activity in the spiritual world. The right side of the body represents the creative activities of the mind and the intellect. The left side symbolizes the activities of the heart; that is, love, kindness, and compassion.

A conch in the upper left hand indicates that the Lord communicates with His devotees with love and understanding. When blowing His conch, He reminds his devotes to live in this world with kindness and compassion towards all living beings. A chakra in His upper right hand conveys the idea that the Lord uses this weapon to protect His devotees from evil. The mace denotes energy and a mace in the Lord’s left lower hand signifies that He sustains the manifest world by the energy that He holds in Himself. His front right hand is depicted bestowing grace on His devotees.

The snake denotes the mind and the thousand heads of the snake signify innumerable desires and passions of an individual. Just as a snake destroys its victim by its venom, an uncontrolled mind destroys the world by the venom of its possessiveness. The Lord has controlled all desires, and this is symbolized by showing Him seated on the two coils of the snake. When a sincere devotee of the Lord controls his desires, the Lord fulfills the devotee’s genuine desires and helps him on his path.

The blue sky in the background of the Lord suggests that He pervades the entire universe. The blue color symbolizes infinity. The blue body of the Lord signifies that He has infinite attributes. He is nameless, formless, and immeasurable. The color yellow is associated with earthly existence and the yellow clothes of the Lord signify that He incarnates Himself on this earth to uphold righteousness and destroy evil and unrighteousness.

A flower garland around the Lord’s neck is a symbol of the devotee’s adoration for the Lord. A gem decorating His neck signifies that the Lord fulfills all genuine desires of His devotees and provides for their needs. The crown is a symbol of the Lord’s supreme power and authority. The two earrings signify the dual nature of creation, such as knowledge and ignorance, happiness and unhappiness, and pleasure and pain.

Posted by VishnuBhagat in The Supreme Form