Vaikuṇṭha

Vaikuṇṭha, “the place without hindrance”

Vaikuṇṭha is the highest abode of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu) and Mahālakshmī. Several Purāṇas describe it. The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa places it to the right of Goloka, the realm of Śrī Kṛshṇa, and says it stretches one crore yojanas (a yojana is a measure of distance of several miles), free from disease, old age and death.

The second skandha (book) of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the fullest inside view of Vaikuṇṭha, as Brahmā saw it after a thousand years of tapas (austerity). It is a realm of pure sattva (goodness and light), untouched by the five kleśas (sources of suffering). The great pārshadas (eternal attendants) serve there, Lakshmī Devī sings the glories of Bhagavān Vishṇu on a swing, and Bhagavān Vishṇu himself shines at the centre.

The Vāmana Purāṇa calls this abode Vishṇu-loka and the pada (state, abode) of Vishṇu: auspicious, all-pervading, made of Brahman, most ancient, undiminishing and firm. It says that it is reached by those who remember Śrī Hari day and night with unwavering bhakti, by the king Jyāmagha who built a temple for Bhagavān Vishṇu, by one who chants the Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra, by bathing in the Vishṇupadī tīrtha of Kurukshetra, and by hearing the Vāmana Purāṇa itself.

The Agni Purāṇa calls it Vishṇuloka, Vaikuṇṭha and Śrī Vaikuṇṭha. Agni Deva names it as the goal of a devotee’s acts: building, restoring, whitewashing and even approving of a temple of Bhagavān Vishṇu; the pavitrāropaṇa; vratas such as the Janmāshṭamī, the ekādaśī, the trirātra for Janārdana and the māsopavāsa; the gift of lamps, flowers, written books and the Meru-dānas; the koṭi-homa; and living at Kurukshetra or dying at Prayāga. The builder of a temple, he says, dwells there with his family as long as its bricks remain. The Agni Purāṇa also knows Vaikuṇṭha as a form of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself: a Śālagrāma, a mūrti installed in temples and houses, and his aṃśāvatāra in the Cākshusha manvantara.

Where It Is and How Large

The Brahma Khaṇḍa describes Vaikuṇṭha’s place in the map of the worlds:

  • It lies below Goloka and to its right.
  • Size: one crore (10,000,000) yojanas, maṇḍalākāra (round in shape).
  • During pralaya (the dissolution of the worlds) it is śūnya, empty.
  • During sṛshṭi (creation) Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa live there with four-armed attendants.

Śivaloka, by contrast, lies to the left of Goloka.

The Nature of Vaikuṇṭha

Like Goloka, Vaikuṇṭha is completely free from the three great troubles: jarā (old age), mṛtyu (death) and vyādhi (disease). It is a realm of pure sattva, of the highest ānanda (bliss), and of the eternal divine presence.

Vaikuṇṭha in Chapter 28

In Chapter 28, Śiva gives Nārada a detailed description that places Vaikuṇṭha just 50 yojanas from Goloka. Being so close shows the intimate bond between Kṛshṇa‘s highest realm and Vishṇu‘s abode: they can be told apart, yet they are joined.

Kālavatī Reaches Vaikuṇṭha

Vaikuṇṭha also appears in a story in the Brahma Khaṇḍa about Kālavatī, the śūdra woman who raised the child Nārada. Nārada had been born to her after his earlier life as Upabarhaṇa, when his merit was used up. When Kālavatī died of a snakebite, her ātmā (soul) reached Vaikuṇṭha. This shows that even a śūdra woman reaches this highest realm of Vishṇu through being close to loving bhakti (devotion).

How Vaikuṇṭha Relates to Goloka

The order Goloka, then Vaikuṇṭha, then Śivaloka establishes that Goloka is highest, while still honouring the great dignity of Vaikuṇṭha. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa is mainly centred on Kṛshṇa, so it places Goloka above Vaikuṇṭha. But Vaikuṇṭha remains the second-highest realm in this order.

Brahmā’s Vision of Vaikuṇṭha in the Bhāgavata (Second Skandha)

The second skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the most detailed inside description of Vaikuṇṭha in all the Purāṇas. At the dawn of creation Brahmā performed tapas for one thousand divine years. Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased and showed Vaikuṇṭha to him directly. This is what Brahmā saw.

The nature of the realm: The five kleśas cannot enter Vaikuṇṭha. They are avidyā (ignorance), asmitā (false sense of self), rāga (attachment), dvesha (aversion) and abhiniveśa (fear of death). There is no room there for viparyaya (mistaken understanding), no moha (delusion) and no bhaya (fear). Sattva here is completely pure, with no mixture of rajas (restless activity) or tamas (dullness). The destroying power of kāla (time) does not reach Vaikuṇṭha, and the reach of māyā (the power of illusion) ends at its doorstep.

The pārshadas: The great eternal attendants of Bhagavān Vishṇu live in Vaikuṇṭha. The foremost among them are Sunanda, Nanda, Prabala and Arhaṇa. All of them have four arms and the colour of dark blue rain clouds. They wear dazzling jewelled ornaments, golden crowns, earrings and garlands, and spotless yellow robes.

Lakshmī Devī: She sits on a swing in Vaikuṇṭha, singing the glories of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Cuckoos, parrots and bees join in around her.

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s form: In the centre of Vaikuṇṭha, Bhagavān Śrī Hari sits on the highest throne. He has four arms and wears the divine kirīṭa (crown), kuṇḍalas (earrings) and yellow garments. The śrīvatsa mark is on his chest, and Lakshmī shines like a golden line on his breast. The twenty-five tattvas (basic elements of existence) serve him on every side. The six divine qualities are present in him by nature: aiśvarya (lordship), vīrya (strength), yaśas (fame), śrī (beauty and fortune), jñāna (knowledge) and vairāgya (detachment). He is ātmārāma, fully at rest in his own true nature, needing nothing.

When Brahmā saw this, his heart overflowed with ānanda, tears streamed from his eyes and the hair on his body stood on end. He fell flat at Bhagavān Vishṇu’s lotus feet. Bhagavān Vishṇu lovingly took Brahmā’s hands and gave him the great upadeśa (teaching) on the one reality and on māyā.

The Visit of the Kumāras (Third Skandha, Chapters 15–16)

The third skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives more detail about the inside of Vaikuṇṭha through the story of the visit of the four Kumāras, Sanatkumāra and his brothers. Drawn by the fragrance of Tulasī garlands drifting from the gates of Vaikuṇṭha, they travelled there seeking the darśana (sight) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In this account Vaikuṇṭha is described through the eyes of those entering it for the first time.

The realm has seven gates. The Kumāras passed the first six without being stopped. At the seventh gate, they were stopped by Jaya and Vijaya, the two shining gatekeepers. The Bhāgavata uses this meeting to show how extraordinary the gatekeepers themselves are. They share Bhagavān Vishṇu’s own nature, wear the same ornaments and bear the same auspicious marks, so that in outer form they cannot be told apart from Bhagavān Vishṇu himself.

The fragrance of Tulasī that drew the Kumāras is described as a spiritual force that can turn even the greatest jñānīs (seekers of knowledge) towards devotion. This detail shows how Vaikuṇṭha naturally spreads bhakti into the world, as a flower spreads its scent.

Then Bhagavān Vishṇu responded to what happened with Jaya and Vijaya. He took responsibility for his gatekeepers’ mistake, honoured the Kumāras’ curse, and set in motion the series of avatāras that would follow. This reveals the majesty of the Master of Vaikuṇṭha: he acts across the whole span of time with one single purpose, and in him even a gatekeeper’s error becomes a way to bring freedom to the world.

Per Vāmana Purāṇa

The Vāmana Purāṇa speaks of Vishṇu-loka, the pada of Vishṇu or the parama pada (supreme abode), as the goal of bhakti, and names the ways by which devotees reach it.

Prahlāda’s teaching to Bali

In Chapter 67, Prahlāda teaches Bali the glory of bhakti to Bhagavān Vishṇu. “Those who hold unwavering bhakti to the bearer of the cakra and gadā attain the eternal pada of Śrī Hari, the Yogeśvara. The parama pada attained by devotees who always keep in mind the wondrous deeds of Śrī Vishṇu cannot be attained even by tapas for the time of a thousand births.” And again: “Those men who remember Hari day and night, every day, the Ādipurusha, Ananta, Ajara (the ageless), Avyaya (the imperishable), attain the pada of Vishṇu: auspicious, all-pervading, made of Brahman, most ancient, undiminishing and firm.”

King Jyāmagha

In Chapter 68, Prahlāda tells Bali of the mahārāja Jyāmagha. His pitṛs (ancestors) longed for one of their line who would build a temple of Vishṇu and serve it. As soon as he heard their longing, Jyāmagha had a temple of Vishṇu Deva built on earth and decorated it himself with many colours. On its walls he painted, in five colours, the wondrous deeds of Keśava. He gave the temple many lamp-vessels according to rule, filled them with fragrant oils and ghee, and lit them himself. He set up many-coloured flags and flagstaffs, planted flower gardens and fruit gardens with creepers, shrubs and the cool shade of devadāru trees, and had gem-studded stone platforms made, on which he honoured sannyāsīs, Veda scholars, brahmacārīs, jñānīs, the poor and the disabled with gifts. “We have heard from the elders,” Prahlāda says, “that that dharmishṭha, self-controlled king, having done these good deeds as his pitṛs wished, went to Vishṇuloka. Vatsa Bali, all who wish to attain the lokas of Vishṇu travel even today on the royal road laid by that Jyāmagha.”

The Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra

In Chapter 59, Sarasvatī Devī, standing on the tongue of a brāhmaṇa boy, speaks the Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra to free a rākshasa from his pāpas. Its phalaśruti says: “A man who chants this stotra for one year without breaking his brahmacarya-dīkshā attains Vishṇu-loka.” The rākshasa went to the Śālagrāma kshetra, chanted the stotra always and worshipped Jagannātha with great love, and at last, by the grace of Purushottama, he was freed from all pāpas and reached Vishṇu-loka.

The tīrthas of Kurukshetra

The Saro Māhātmya names two tīrthas of Kurukshetra that lead to Vishṇu‘s abode. At the Vāmana kshetra, famed in the three worlds, where Bhagavān Vāmana took the three worlds from Bali and gave his kingdom to Indra, lies the Vishṇupadī tīrtha: one who bathes there and worships Vāmanadeva is freed of all pāpas and attains Vishṇuloka. The Kulottāraṇa tīrtha was made long ago by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself to lift up the people of all varṇas and āśramas; those who wish to attain moksha straight after brahmacarya have darśana of the parama pada as soon as they enter it.

The phalaśruti of the Purāṇa

At the close of the Purāṇa, in Chapter 69, Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada Maharshi: “Hearing it, reading it or praising it with śraddhā and bhakti brings the attainment of Vishṇu‘s pada.”

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 59, 67–69; Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 15

Per Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa calls the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu Vishṇuloka, and also Vaikuṇṭha and Śrī Vaikuṇṭha. In his teaching to Vasishṭha Maharshi, Agni Deva names it again and again as the fruit of devoted acts: the building of temples, the pavitrāropaṇa, vratas, dāna (sacred giving), the homa and the tīrthas. He also knows Vaikuṇṭha as a form of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself.

Vaikuṇṭha, a form of Bhagavān Vishṇu

Hayagrīva tells Brahmā the forms of Śrī Hari on the Śālagrāma stones, which give bhoga and moksha. Among them, the Vaikuṇṭha Śālagrāma shines like a gem and bears one cakra, one lotus and lines shaped like a tail. It is named after Hayagrīva and before Matsya.

In the rules for installing mūrtis, Śrī Vishṇu, Vāmana, Vaikuṇṭha, Hayagrīva and Aniruddha are installed in a prāsāda (temple), in a house or in a maṇḍapa (pavilion).

In each manvantara Śrī Mahāvishṇu descends as an aṃśāvatāra (partial avatāra): as Mānasa in the Svāyambhuva manvantara, and then in the six that follow as Ajita, Satya, Hari, Devavara, Vaikuṇṭha and Vāmana. Vaikuṇṭha is his aṃśāvatāra in the sixth, the Cākshusha manvantara.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 46, 63, 150

The temple builder in Vishṇuloka

Agni Deva tells the phala (fruit) of building a temple for Vāsudeva:

  • Those who approve when another builds a temple are freed of all pāpa and reach Vishṇuloka.
  • One who builds a temple for Śrī Mahāvishṇu makes a thousand generations of the past and a thousand of the future fit to dwell in Vishṇuloka.
  • The pitṛs (ancestors) of one who builds a temple for Śrī Kṛshṇa are at once freed from the suffering of naraka; they wear divine clothes and ornaments and live joyfully in Vishṇuloka.
  • One who builds a temple of eight shrines dwells in the presence of Śrī Hari.
  • The temples of Śrī Hari are of three grades, lowest, middle and best; building them gives, in order, svarga, Vishṇuloka and moksha.
  • One who spends a lakh of coins on a Vishṇu temple, or a thousand, or a hundred, or half of that, reaches the loka of Śrī Mahāvishṇu.
  • Children who build a Vishṇu temple of earth in play also reach Vishṇuloka.
  • Those who whitewash a Vishṇu temple, or paint pictures of bandhūka flowers on it, reach Vishṇuloka.
  • As long as the bricks of the temple of Bhagavān Vishṇu remain, so long its builder stays in Vishṇuloka with his kula (family).
  • Merely beginning a temple destroys the pāpa of seven births, and the builder sends a hundred generations of his line to Vishṇuloka.

Yamadharmarāja himself commands his dūtas to leave such devotees alone. In his words, the builder of a Vishṇu temple sends the hundred of his line before him and the hundred to come to Vishṇuloka; one who makes a pratimā (image) of Bhagavān Vishṇu reaches Vishṇuloka; one who installs it merges into Bhagavān Vishṇu; and one who builds a temple and installs a pratimā in it dwells for ever in Vishṇuloka. By this command, Agni Deva says, the Yamadūtas do not take to Yamaloka those who have done such puṇya acts.

The rite of the temple adds that its builder dwells in Vishṇuloka for as many thousands of years as there are paramāṇus (atoms) in the materials of the temple and its image. And one who gives pages written in ink gains the fruit of vidyā-dāna, the gift of learning: for as many thousands of years as there are pages and letters, the giver is honoured in Vishṇuloka.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 38, 61, 63

The pavitrāropaṇa

At the close of the yearly pavitrāropaṇa, the offering of the sacred thread-garland (pavitraka) to Bhagavān Vishṇu, the worshipper honours the pavitraka and gives it leave: “O Pavitraka! You have made this yearly pūjā I did well accomplished. Now I give you leave. Go to Vishṇuloka.” For as many threads as there are in that pavitraka, for so many thousand yugas the worshipper dwells in Vishṇuloka. He uplifts a hundred generations after him, takes ten generations before him and ten after him to Vishṇuloka, and himself becomes mukta (freed).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 36

Vratas that lead to Vishṇuloka

  • The Brahmakūrca: one who drinks the Brahmakūrca, made of the five products of the cow with kuśa water and taken with its mantras, and then fasts, is freed of all pāpas and reaches Vishṇuloka.
  • The Janmāshṭamī: one who keeps the vrata of Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s birth gains the joy of sons and dwells in Vishṇuloka; one who keeps it every year desiring a son is freed from the naraka called Put.
  • The ekādaśī: one who does Vishṇu pūjā on ekādaśī becomes rich in wealth and sons and is honoured in Vishṇuloka.
  • The trirātra for Janārdana: one who keeps it reaches Vaikuṇṭha together with a hundred kulas of his line. It begins on Mārgaśīrsha śukla navamī; the vratī does japa of the mantra “Oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya” a thousand or a hundred times, eats one meal on the ashṭamī, fasts on the navamī, daśamī and ekādaśī, and worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu on the dvādaśī.
  • The month vratas: one who bathes at dawn under rule in the four months from Āshāḍha reaches Vishṇuloka; one who keeps the nakta vrata (eating only at night) in the months from Mārgaśīrsha becomes worthy of Vishṇuloka; one who keeps the trirātra fasting on alternate days, and one who keeps the cāndrāyaṇa, reach Vishṇuloka; and one who keeps a kṛcchra living only on vegetables, roots and fruits reaches Vaikuṇṭha.
  • The māsopavāsa, the thirty-day fast kept from Āśvayuja śukla ekādaśī until the rising of Śrī Mahāvishṇu and closed on Kārtika śukla dvādaśī: at its close the vratī says, “Freed of all pāpas, by the grace of the brāhmaṇas and of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, I shall go to Vishṇuloka.” The brāhmaṇas answer, “O you whose self is divine! Go to Vishṇuloka, free of disease and sorrow, and shine there in a vimāna (celestial chariot), bearing the form of Vishṇu.” One who keeps it so lifts up a hundred generations of his family and takes them with him to Vishṇuloka.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 175, 183, 187, 197–198, 204

Gifts of lamps, flowers and the Merus

  • Lamps: one who gives lamps during Cāturmāsya, the four holy months, goes to Vishṇuloka.
  • Flowers: among the flowers offered to Śrī Mahāvishṇu, Yūthikā gives Vishṇuloka; Atimuktaka and Lodhra bring the attainment of Vishṇuloka; one who offers Karavīra reaches Vishṇuloka; Pāvantī, Kubjaka and Tagara give Vishṇuloka; one who offers Karṇikāra reaches Vaikuṇṭha; one who offers the Bāṇa flower and the leaves of Kṛshṇa-tulasī attains Vishṇuloka; and one who offers Tamāla leaves and Bhṛṅgarāja dwells in Vishṇuloka.
  • The Ratna-meru: one who gives the Meru of gems on Kārttika pūrṇimā, set on a twelve-petalled lotus with Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara as its devatās, uplifts his whole kula, is honoured by the devas and, seated in a vimāna, roams in Indraloka, Brahmaloka, Śivaloka and Śrī Vaikuṇṭha.
  • The Mahā-meru of a thousand palas of gold, given before an image of Bhagavān Vishṇu at the Uttarāyaṇa saṅkrānti or at an eclipse: the giver dwells long in Vishṇuloka.
  • The Ghṛta-parvata, a mountain of five thousand palas of ghee with mountains of five hundred palas beside it, on which Śrī Mahāvishṇu is worshipped: the giver gains happiness in this world and reaches Vishṇuloka.
  • The Tila-meru of sesame: the giver goes to Vishṇuloka with his relatives.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 200, 202, 212

The tīrthas and the homa

  • Śālagrāma kshetra: King Priyavrata, having made his sons lords of the varshas of the earth, became a vānaprastha (forest-dweller), performed tapas at the Śālagrāma kshetra and attained Vishṇuloka.
  • Kurukshetra: Bhagavān Vishṇu and the other devatās live at Kurukshetra, and by living there a man attains Vishṇuloka.
  • Prayāga: one who dies near the root of the Akshayavaṭa, the undying banyan, and at the saṅgamas of Prayāga attains Vishṇuloka.
  • Gayā: King Viśāla, who was blessed with sons through piṇḍadāna at Gayāśīrsha, enjoyed his kingdom and after death attained Vishṇuloka. A preta-rāja (king of departed beings) asked a merchant to take his wealth and give piṇḍa for him at Gayā; when the merchant did so, the preta-rāja was freed and attained Vishṇuloka.
  • The koṭi-homa: one who performs the koṭi-homa, the homa of a crore of offerings, attains all his desires and reaches Vishṇuloka.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 107, 109, 111, 115, 167

Sources

  • Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa (including Chapter 28)
  • Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Second Skandha, Chapter 9
  • Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Third Skandha, Chapters 15–16
  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 59, 67–69
  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 15
  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 36, 38, 46, 61, 63, 107, 109, 111, 115, 150, 167, 175, 183, 187, 197–198, 200, 202, 204, 212