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 Mahā 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.
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 Mahā 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 Mahā 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
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa (including Chapter 28)
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Second Skandha, Chapter 9
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Third Skandha, Chapters 15–16
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 59, 67–69
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 15