Vishnu: One of the most important gods of India

Image | Pixabay

Would you like to travel to India on your next vacation and are you interested in discovering more about its culture and customs? One of the least known aspects to Westerners is the Hindu religion, very important to know the way of thinking and feeling of the inhabitants of India.

The Hindu religion is replete with tales and fantastic feats performed by gods, demigods, demons, humans, and other creatures. However, the main gods of Hinduism are three: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Each represents an essential force for the existence of the universe: its creator is Brahma, the continuity force is Vishnu and the destructive force is Shiva. All three are the Trimurti or "three forms" in Sanskrit, that is, the Hindu trinity.

What role does the Trimurti have? What are the roles of each god within it? In this post we will delve into the Hindu religion to get to know these three gods and especially Vishnu a little better. Keep reading after the jump!

The Trimurti

Image | Pixabay

As I said, three are the most important gods of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They all form the trimurti and each of them has a force that achieves the balance of the universe, so that it is not possible to conceive of the creation (Brahma) or the destruction of the universe (Shiva). Furthermore, in truth its conservation is a power that sustains the cosmic order. This is how the faithful of this religion understand the universe and hence the great importance of these gods in it.

From Brahma Brahmanism was founded in India. A branch of Hinduism that regards him as the superior god, the origin of all other gods, who are manifestations of him. From the Aryan invasions, Brahmanism was born, who saw Shiva and Vishnu as minor deities.

Who is Vishnu?

Recognized in the Hindu religion as the god of goodness and conservation, he is the main deity of the current of Vaisnavism which is a branch of Hinduism that has Vishnu as the supreme god. According to this current, being the creator of the universe, this god decided to unfold himself in trimurti or "three forms."

Vishnu is charged with the mission of balancing good and evil in the world and human beings ask him for assistance in finding the way to salvation.

Etymological interpretation of Vishnu

When analyzing the name of the deity in its etymological sense, part of the root "vis" means to settle or permeate which would come to express one of the qualities of Vishnu "the one who permeates everything."

In this way, the conclusion is reached that his name refers to the god who has impregnated all things and beings that live in the world. Starting from this premise, Vishnu is not limited in time, space or substance. His power becomes infinite. Likewise, there are researchers who maintain that the etymological interpretation of the name is "that being that penetrates everything."

How is Vishnu described?

He is usually represented as a blue-skinned god with human form and four arms that hold various objects that carry different meanings:

  • A padma (a lotus flower whose fragrance the Vishnuists like)
  • A sudarshaná chakrá (a contraption similar to the one worn by ninja warriors that Vishnu uses to annihilate demons)
  • A shankhá (a conch shell whose sound in India represents victory after defeating an enemy)
  • A golden mace (to smash the heads of the evil ones)

He is often shown sitting on a lotus flower with Laksmi, his consort, on one of his knees. She is the goddess of fortune and manifests herself in bhuti-sakti (creation) and kriya-sakti (creative activity). Since Vishnu cannot be part of his own creativity (ahamta) or his own energy, he needs a consort who is always with him. For this reason the goddess Laksmi has to accompany Vishnu in all her incarnations.

What are the theological attributes of Vishnu and how is he revered?

Image | Pixabay

The god Vishnu has different divine attributes: obtaining what he wants (prakamya), superiority (isitva), quality of suppressing desires (kama vasayitva), control over others (vasitva), achieving anything (prapti), supernatural powers (aishwaria ), knowledge (gnana) or energy (shakti), among many others.

It is not known for sure when or how Vishnu began to be worshiped. In the compilations of the beliefs of the Aryans (the Vedas) this god is closely associated with Indra and classified as a minor god. Only later did he become part of the trimurti in the Hindu religion and the most important god of all of this faith.

Today Hindus believe that Vishnu incarnated as various avatars on Earth and this god is worshiped in the form of these avatars assiduously.

What are the avatars of Vishnu?

Within Hinduism, an avatar is the incarnation of a god, specifically Vishnu. That is, the equivalent of the demigods in Greco-Roman mythology. Within Vaisnavism, these avatars congregated in various classes according to personality and role defined in the Scriptures.

  • Vananá: the dwarf, came out in ruse-iugá.
  • Matsia: the fish, appeared in satia-iugá.
  • Kurma: the turtle, came out in satia-jugá.
  • Varaja: the wild boar, appeared in satia-iugá.
  • Narasinja - The half lion, half man incarnation. He went out in satia-iugá to defeat the demon Jirania Kashipú.
  • Parashurama: (Rama with ax), appeared in treta-jugá.
  • Rama: the monarch of Aiodhia, came out in treta-iugá.
  • Krishna: (the attractive) appeared in duapara-iugá, together with his brother Balaram. Most Visnuist movements see him as the personification of Vishnu.
  • Buddha: (the sage) came out in Kali-iugá. The versions that do not mention Buddha as the ninth avatar state Balaram instead.
  • Kalki: the destroyer of the impure. It is expected to appear at the end of kali-iugá.

Ages of mankind

In Hinduism a iuga is each of the four eras into which a great era or majā iuga is divided. The four eras or iugas are:

  • Satia-iuga (era of truth): 1.728.000 years old.
  • Duapara-iuga: 864.000 years old.
  • Treta-iuga: 1.296.000 years old.
  • Káli-iuga: era of the demon Kali 432.000 years.

16 comments, leave yours

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  1.   l said

    beuk otavia c'est beurk lol

  2.   ingrid said

    I really love everything related to Hindu culture,

  3.   Cecilia said

    The truth is, this is degrading. If they learned science they would realize how disgusting it is to read this article.
    Poor girl…

  4.   David said

    I did not like

  5.   Ruth Maria Ortiz said

    I believe in rebirth and I think that the girl can be, I am happy about the Hindu religion because they have not lost their beliefs, values, culture, I love that culture.

  6.   Tamara garcia said

    I also like that culture, but only one person has said that the poor deformation of that girl is demeaning. And that they adore her as a God ...
    In short, each one with their madness.

  7.   gladys said

    what a horrible child

  8.   allegandro said

    The truth is that I understand the girl, I do believe that it is reincarnation since it is very interesting but her body is very interesting since it is the same as Vishnu's

  9.   Adelaide said

    Degrading, horrible, disgusting, what an impressive beast

  10.   pink white said

    I think we should investigate well if we go or want to talk about something. there a young woman appears saying that she likes that culture. If you do not know what you are saying, it is better not to comment. That paganism that exists in that country is what has destroyed the Hindus since they do not recognize the ALMIGHTY GOD, the Living God that does exist and the Only One who can change their dark and sad lives for the ones they suffer today. .

  11.   pink white said

    Alejandro, if you don't know what's going on there, you'd better investigate everything behind these things. That a people perish for lack of knowledge does not seem funny to me, much less that they believe in gods that only bring death, poverty and misfortune to people. I think that talking about the poverty and sadness in which those poor Hindu people suffer is not funny at all.

  12.   Ringmaster said

    light travels at 300,000 kilometers per second, the closest star to the earth is approximately 4 light years away, these are data that escape our understanding of distance and time, but we continue to believe in magic, in reincarnation in the divine in purifying our soul, but we still cannot see the immensity of the universe (multiply 300,000 X 60 X 24 X 365 X 4 is the distance in km to the star closest to the earth) if the sand of all the beaches of the world, each grain of sand would hardly be a galaxy that in turn contains millions of stars and we belong to one of those galaxies. It is really just about living and letting live, there is no other life, there is no other hour, believing in a divine being is easier than explaining the infinite universe in which we are hardly anything. IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP

  13.   anicurnal said

    I should give you a bang for putting that photo, crazy

  14.   denmark said

    hello .. I just want to .. show you this .. look at the forehead .. the symbol it brings .. and compare it with the symbol of the Egyptians. over their heads .. thanks .. it's interesting ..

  15.   XURB said

    I THINK THAT THE SIN IS NOT FROM THE BOY WHO WRITTEN THE BLOG, SINCE INFORMING YOURSELF IS NOT BAD, AND THE CLEAR ONE SAYS THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY, MAKING REFERENCE TO WHAT IS BELIEVED THERE, THE TRUTH THE DISCUSSION IS NOT BEGINNING OR NOT IN HER IT IS ONLY REPORTING SOMETHING ... WHAT YOU BELIEVE OR NOT IN THAT CULTURE IS EVERYONE'S DECISION ... AND THERE IS NO DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING HERE. THE BAD IS THE PHOTO BECAUSE IT PUBLISHES INTIMATE PARTS OF THE GIRL, THEY SHOULD COVER HER FACE AND HER ORGANS ...

  16.   Manthus said

    I respect their culture but why worship false images with reason they have poverty misery retarded with their clown clothes as well as the retardation of their minds not only enough heart but also intelligence, no wonder they have children deformed by the belief of their ridiculous gods