Caturvyūha in the Purāṇas

The Caturvyūha is the teaching of the four vyūhas (forms or outward expressions) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa gives it as the answer to the first great question asked by Jaimini: why did Vāsudeva, the supreme cause of all causes, take a human birth? The four vyūhas are Vāsudeva, Saṅkarshaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Each governs its own realm of existence and has its own work.

The teaching makes clear that what looks like a human birth is not a limit placed on the Supreme. It is a purposeful appearance for dharma-sthāpana, the re-establishing of dharma. The Agni Purāṇa and the Kūrma Purāṇa develop the same teaching further, in ritual and in their own ways of explaining it.

Setting

The Caturvyūha teaching appears in Chapter 4 of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Para 72, Caturvyūhāvatāra Varṇanamu, “Description of the Avatāras of the Four Vyūhas”). It is the answer that the four dharma-birds (wise birds who know dharma) give to Jaimini’s first question:

“Sarvakāraṇa-kāraṇaḥ Vāsudevaḥ: Vāsudeva, who is the cause of all causes, why did he take a human birth (mānusha janma)?”

To answer, the birds explain how the one Supreme Being works through four separate vyūhas to keep, protect and liberate the universe.

The Four Vyūhas

Vāsudeva is the para-vyūha, the supreme form of Nārāyaṇa beyond the world, in his fullness. He is described as both saguṇa (with qualities) and nirguṇa (beyond qualities). He is the final source and support of the three worlds and of all beings. He is complete, whole in himself and beyond every limit. He is present in the highest, imperishable (akshara) realm.

Saṅkarshaṇa is the vyūha of tāmasa quality (the quality of darkness and inertia). He is connected with pātāla and the lower worlds. Saṅkarshaṇa is the great withdrawer: the form of Nārāyaṇa who draws all beings back at the end of a world-cycle. He is also Ananta Śesha, the endless serpent on whom Vishṇu rests and who carries the weight of all creation. His nature is linked with the power of dissolution in the universe.

Pradyumna is the vyūha of sāttvika quality (the quality of purity and goodness). He is connected with the higher worlds and with dharma-sthāpana, the establishing of dharma. Pradyumna’s descents into the world take the form of protecting dharma, defeating adharma and keeping the moral order of the universe. The human birth of Vāsudeva as Śrī Kṛshṇa belongs to the Pradyumna-vyūha: a sāttvika descent to establish dharma.

Aniruddha is the fourth vyūha. He is connected with keeping and sustaining the universe between its creation and its dissolution. Aniruddha is the form of Nārāyaṇa who lives in the heart of every being as the antarātmā, the inner witness and sustainer.

The Answer to Jaimini’s Question

The dharma-birds use the Caturvyūha to show that Vāsudeva’s human birth does not make the Supreme any less. It is an expression of the Pradyumna-vyūha’s work of establishing dharma. Water takes the shape of the vessel it is poured into, yet the water itself is not reduced or changed. In the same way, Nārāyaṇa appears in human form through the Pradyumna-vyūha to do what only such a birth can do: restore dharma at a particular moment in the life of the universe.

So the question “why did he take a human birth?” is answered: because this is exactly the nature of the Pradyumna-vyūha, to enter the human world and do what must be done there.

The Nine Vyūhas and the Twenty-Four Mūrtis in the Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa develops the Caturvyūha teaching in two further ways. The first is the nava-vyūha (the nine-fold form), used as the basis of the Āgama pūjā-maṇḍala (the sacred diagram for pūjā in the Āgama tradition). The second is the caturviṃśati-mūrtis (the twenty-four forms), which come from the different ways the four weapons can be arranged.

The Nava-vyūha

In the Āgama pūjā system described in Chapter 23, the four vyūhas are expanded into nine, to be installed on a lotus-maṇḍala:

• Vāsudeva sits in the central karṇikā (the hub of the lotus).
• The other eight vyūha-forms sit on the eight petals, one in each of the eight directions.
• Nine separate pīṭhas (seats) are set up, one for each form.

The nyāsa (placing the deity’s presence on the body by touch and mantra) for the nava-vyūha goes in this order:

1. Vāsudeva is placed on the two thumbs.
2. The four bala-forms are placed on the four fingers.
3. Nyāsa is then done on twelve parts of the body, including the śiras (head), lalāṭa (forehead), mukha (face), hṛdaya (heart), nābhi (navel), guhya (private parts), jānu (knees) and pāda (feet).

The nine mūrtis (sacred forms) are then invited (āvāhana) into the nine lotuses. They are worshipped in the same way as in the pūjā of a single mūrti, but spread across the whole maṇḍala.

The Twenty-Four Mūrtis from the Four Vyūhas

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapters 25 and 48) explains that the twenty-four mūrtis come from the four vyūha-devatās. Each vyūha gives rise to six mūrtis through different arrangements of the four weapons, the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus), held in the four hands:

Each of the twenty-four mūrtis holds the four weapons in its own order in its four hands (upper right, lower right, upper left, lower left). This order is what tells you which mūrti it is.

The Caturviṃśati-mūrti-stotra (hymn to the twenty-four forms) of Chapter 48 is built so that the first syllables of its twelve verses spell out the twelve-syllable mantra, Oṃ Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya. So it is both a hymn of praise and a mantra.

The Nava-vyūha Pūjā of Agni Purāṇa Chapter 201

Chapter 201 of the Agni Purāṇa gives a detailed pūjā-maṇḍala of the nine vyūhas. It is presented as Śrī Mahāvishṇu’s own teaching to Nārada, passed on by Agni to Vasishṭha. This ritual spreads the four-fold vyūha teaching across a nine-fold arrangement on a padma-maṇḍala (lotus diagram). Each place in it belongs to a particular form with its own bīja (seed-syllable mantra).

The Lotus Maṇḍala: Where the Nine Forms Sit

Śrī Devī, Pushṭi Devī and the Sacred Emblems

After the nine forms, the following are worshipped:

• Śrī Devī at the corner, with the bījas Śaṃ and Dhaṃ
• Pushṭi Devī in the south and north positions, with the bījas Gaṃ, Ḍaṃ, Baṃ and Śaṃ
• Vanamālā (the forest garland) on the western pīṭha, with the bījas Dhaṃ and Vaṃ
• Śrīvatsa (the sacred mark on Vishṇu’s chest) in the west, with the bījas Saṃ, Haṃ and Laṃ
• Kaustubha (Vishṇu’s jewel) in the water, with the bījas Thaṃ, Taṃ and Yaṃ

After these, Bhagavān Vishṇu is worshipped by the daśāṅga-krama (the ten-limbed sequence), and Ananta is invoked below the main mūrti. Every name is offered with the word namaḥ (“salutation”) added. The lotus petals and the parts in each direction are worshipped, moving eastward and outward. Then come the ten Dikpālas (guardians of the directions), starting with Mahendra (Indra). Four kalaśas (sacred water-pots) are placed in the four directions.

Amṛta-bhāvana: Meditation on the Stream of Nectar

After the pūjā of the maṇḍala, the sādhaka (practitioner) meditates on the maṇḍalas and their parts: the toraṇa (arched gateway), the vitāna (canopy), and the maṇḍalas of Agni, Vāyu and Candra (fire, wind and moon). He then performs amṛta-bhāvana, meditation in which the body is filled within by amṛta (nectar):

• The sādhaka meditates on the sūkshma-rūpa (subtle form) of the ātman dwelling in ākāśa (space).
• He pictures this ātman bathed in a stream of white amṛta flowing from the candra-maṇḍala (the disc of the moon).
• The amṛta, purified by this plāvana (flooding), is meditated upon as the ātma-bīja, the seed of the Self.
• He then meditates: “The purusha born from this amṛta: I myself am that. I have appeared as the very form of Vishṇu (Vishṇu-svarūpa).”

This meditation changes the sādhaka’s sense of who he is, from the body to the divine form of Vishṇu.

Placing the Twelve Bījas and the Limbs

Next the sādhaka performs dvādaśa-bīja-nyāsa, placing twelve bījas on the body. He touches, in order, the vakshaḥsthala (chest), mastaka (head), śikhā (tuft of hair on the crown), pṛshṭhabhāga (back) and both hands (the two vetra-hasta).

Then follows the aṅga-nyāsa (placing on the limbs): hṛdaya-nyāsa (heart), śiras-nyāsa (head), śikhā-nyāsa (crown tuft), kavaca-nyāsa (armour), netra-nyāsa (eyes) and astra-nyāsa (weapon). After the astra-nyāsa on both hands, the divine presence shows itself in the sādhaka’s body.

The same nyāsa is then done on the mūrti of the devatā, and also on the body of the śishya (disciple). Pūjā done within the heart is nirmālya-rahita (leaves no used offerings behind). Pūjā done on a maṇḍala or similar structure is nirmālya-sahita (leaves used offerings behind). Dīkshā (initiation) given within this nava-vyūha setting passes on the full, purified awareness of the sādhaka.

The Catur-vyūha in the Kūrma Purāṇa

Chapter 51 of the Pūrvārdha (first half) of the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa gives its own form of the Catur-vyūha teaching, within its section on the glory of Vishṇu. The Kūrma Purāṇa teaches that the all-pervading Vishṇu, though one, stands in four modes, both with qualities and beyond them:

1. Vāsudeva: the first mūrti. He is jñāna-rūpa (made of knowledge), maṅgalamaya (full of blessing) and nirguṇa (beyond the three guṇas). This is the supreme aspect, beyond the world, entirely bheda-rahita (without any division).
2. The mūrti called Kāla (Time): the second mūrti. It is connected with tamo-guṇa (the quality of darkness) and bears the name of Śiva (Śiva-nāmāṅkita). This is the great form of dissolution: the body of Vishṇu that destroys the whole universe at pralaya (the dissolution of the worlds). The Kūrma Purāṇa’s placing of Śiva within the vyūhas, as Vishṇu’s second mūrti, is a striking feature of this teaching. It expresses Śiva-Nārāyaṇa abheda, the non-difference of Śiva and Nārāyaṇa.
3. Pradyumna: the third mūrti. Sattva-guṇa (the quality of goodness) is strongest in him. He is described as having the form of Prakṛti (nature) and he protects and sustains the world. The Pradyumna-mūrti is said to enchant all beings, devas, asuras and humans alike. Through this form, Vishṇu as Prakṛti fills and sustains creation.
4. Aniruddha: the fourth mūrti. He bears the name Brahmā (Brahma-saṃjñā). Rajo-guṇa (the quality of activity) is strongest in him; he is the creative form. This Aniruddha-vyūha carries out the purusha-sṛshṭi (the creation of beings) after the Paramātmā’s pralaya-nidrā (the sleep during dissolution). The text says this is the Brahmā named Nārāyaṇa who creates the prajā (living beings).

The Kūrma Purāṇa also says that the three first tattvas, pradhāna (Prakṛti), purusha and kāla (Time), form a śreshṭha sattva-trayī, a supreme group of three, which is itself a svarūpa (true form) of Vāsudeva. In this way even Time is seen as a vyūha-expression of the one Paramātmā.

The chapter makes one more important statement. Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, the twenty-fifth Vyāsa of the Dvāpara Yuga, is himself a direct svarūpa of Nārāyaṇa Vishṇu. By the will of Bhagavān Pradyumna, he takes avatāras across the yugas (ages).

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 4 (Para 72, Caturvyūhāvatāra Varṇanamu)
• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 23, 25, 48 and 201
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 51