Vishvaksena

Vishvaksena · vishvak-sena, “whose hosts go everywhere”

Mudrā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mudrā.

Vishvaksena is the pārshada (attendant) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the chief of those who serve him. In the Agni Purāṇa he stands before Nārāyaṇa, is worshipped in the north-east of the maṇḍala, and is worshipped last of all, when the pūjā of Śrī Hari is complete: then all of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s nirmālya (what has been offered to him and removed) is given to Vishvaksena.

The Purāṇa describes him as a master (prabhu) bearing the śaṅkha (conch), the divine cakra and the gadā (mace), raising his forefinger in warning; and, in the chapter on the forms of the mūrtis, as four-armed, holding the cakra, the gadā, the hala (plough) and the śaṅkha. His mantra is oṃ viśvāya vishvaksenāya namaḥ. He has his own mudrā, receives his own pavitraka (sacred thread-garland) at the yearly pavitrāropaṇa, and stands carved among the dvārapālas on the temple door.

His form

  • Bearing the weapons of Bhagavān Vishṇu. At the close of the Vaishṇava dīkshā, Nārada describes Vishvaksena as the master bearing the śaṅkha, the cakra and the gadā, threatening with his forefinger. (Chapter 24)
  • His mūrti. Among the mūrtis that Bhagavān Hayagrīva describes after the ten avatāras, Vishvaksena, the pārshada of Bhagavān Vishṇu, is made with four hands holding the cakra, the gadā, the hala and the śaṅkha. (Chapter 49)

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 24, 49

His place in the pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu

  • The general pūjā. In the general pūjā of Vishṇu and the other devatās that Nārada teaches, the long list of those to be worshipped ends with Kumuda and the other door-guardians, and Vishvaksena. If pūjā is done in this way in maṇḍalas and the like, siddhi (accomplishment) is gained. (Chapter 21)
  • The close of the dīkshā. When the disciples have worshipped Hari, performed Vāsudevārcana and given the gurudakshiṇā, Vishvaksena is worshipped. Then Hari in the maṇḍala is ceremonially dismissed (udvāsana), and all the nirmālya of Bhagavān Vishṇu is given to Vishvaksena. The guru sprinkles himself with the praṇītā water, draws the fire of the kuṇḍa into himself, and dismisses Vishvaksena. One who does this and desires enjoyments obtains all enjoyments; one who desires moksha is absorbed in Hari. (Chapter 24)
  • The pūjā of the vyūhas. At the close of the pūjā of the vyūhas, remembering the bīja that is in ākāśa (space), one worships with the name of Vishvaksena. (Chapter 25)
  • In the north-east. In the daily pūjā of the pavitrāropaṇa, after the dvārapālas Pṛśnigarbha, Kumuda and the others have been worshipped and bali has been offered to the pārshadas of Vishṇu, the pūjā of Vishvaksena is done in the north-east with the mantra oṃ viśvāya vishvaksenāya namaḥ. (Chapter 33)
  • His pavitraka. In the pavitrāropaṇa for Bhagavān Vishṇu, after the pavitrakas have been offered to the dvārapālas, the yoga-pīṭha, the gurus and Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, a pavitraka is offered to Vishvaksena too, with namo vishvaksenāya. At the visarjana, between the north and the north-east, Vishvaksena is worshipped, his pavitraka is worshipped, and the pavitrakas are given away to brāhmaṇas. (Chapter 36)
  • The Śālagrāma pūjā. In the madhyama (middle) pūjā of the Śālagrāma, Bhagavān Hayagrīva places the guru in the east, the gaṇa in the west, Dhātā in the north-west, Vidhātā in the south-west, Kartā in the south, Hartā in the north, Vishvaksena in the north-east and Kshetrapāla in the south-east. At the end three mudrās are shown, the mudrās of Vishvaksena, of the cakra and of Kshetrapāla, and with this the madhyama pūjā is complete. (Chapter 47)
  • Before Nārāyaṇa. In the pūjā of Mahāvishṇu with the eight-syllable mantra oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya, Agni Deva places Garutmān outside the maṇḍala, Vishvaksena standing before Nārāyaṇa, and, outside the āvaraṇa, Śrī Mahāvishṇu with his attendants beginning with Indra. The sādhaka who worships in this way gains all fruits. (Chapter 303)

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 24–25, 33, 36, 47, 303

On the temple door

In the building of a temple, Bhagavān Hayagrīva teaches that the doorway is twice as high as it is wide, and that in the fourth part of the door the mūrtis of the four dvārapālas are made: Caṇḍa, Pracaṇḍa, Vishvaksena and Vatsadaṇḍa. At half the height of the door-jamb a mūrti of Lakshmī is made, a lotus in her hand, bathed by the elephants of the directions.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 42

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 24–25, 33, 36, 42, 47, 49, 303