Vishṇu-Nārāyaṇa: Supreme Brahman

Vishṇu-Nārāyaṇa is also named Vāsudeva, Janārdana, Hṛshīkeśa and Purushottama. The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa teaches that he is the Supreme Brahman. He is unborn, eternal and present everywhere. The whole world arises from him, rests in him, and returns into him.

The Purāṇa describes his nature in several ways. He has six sovereign qualities and no fault. He is the source of three śaktis (powers) that explain how the world appears and how moksha (liberation) comes. He is the Paramātman, whose viśvarūpa (all-form) is the whole formed world, and whose formless side is the supreme brahma-śakti. He is both the object of yoga and the goal of moksha.

The six qualities of Bhagavān Vishṇu

The Shashṭhāṃśa of the Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa gives its plainest definition of the title bhagavān. Parāśara teaches it to Maitreya.

The bhagavān is the mahānubhāva (the one of great power) who knows how all beings arise and dissolve, how they come and go, and who knows both vidyā (knowledge) and avidyā (ignorance). He is called bhagavān because he has six qualities, with no heya (undesirable) quality at all.

Jñāna: knowledge of everything.
Śakti: the power under all that appears.
Bala: strength that is never overcome.
Aiśvarya: sovereign rule over all.
Vīrya: heroic vitality, the power to make and hold up without loss.
Tejas: self-shining brilliance that lights all.

That supreme reality, who has all six qualities in full and is free of every fault, bears the name Vāsudeva. Prajāpati himself explained this name to the great ṛshis when they asked. Vāsudeva makes the worlds, keeps their order, and is their sovereign master. He is the prakṛti (nature) of all beings and the support of all guṇas and doshas (qualities and faults), while he himself is beyond them. He is sarvāvaraṇātīta, beyond every veil. He is akhilātmaka, the ātmā of everything. The whole universe between earth and sky is pervaded by him. He has all kalyāṇa-guṇas (auspicious qualities). By the smallest part of his own śakti he creates all beings. He takes splendid forms by his own will and brings about the welfare of all worlds. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 5)

The three śaktis of Vishṇu

The yoga teaching of the Shashṭhāṃśa (Chapter 7) states the three śaktis of Vishṇu. Through them it explains the whole world, seen and unseen, and also bondage and moksha.

1. Parā Śakti

The Parā (supreme) śakti is Vishṇu’s own power beyond all conditions. It is the same as his nature and cannot be described. It is svarūpa-śakti, the power that is not other than the one who holds it.

2. Kshetrajñā Śakti

The Kshetrajñā (field-knowing) śakti is the power of awareness that appears as the jīva, the individual ātmā. It spreads through all life in steps.

It is least present in beings that do not move (plants, stones).
It is more present in lower creatures that move (worms, insects).
It is more in reptiles and serpents.
It is more in birds.
It is more in animals.
It is more in humans.
It is greater in nāgas, gandharvas, yakshas and devas.
It is greater in Indra.
It is greater in Prajāpati.
It is shown most fully in Hiraṇyagarbha.

The same Kshetrajñā śakti is in all these beings. It is not divided. It only appears in different degrees, according to how much it is covered.

3. Avidyā-Karma Śakti

The Avidyā-karma (ignorance and action) śakti is the third. It covers the Kshetrajñā śakti and makes the state of saṃsāra. By it the jīva feels all the tāpas (sufferings) and changes of bound life. As long as the Kshetrajñā śakti is wrapped in the Avidyā-karma śakti, the jīva stays bound and appears differently in different species, by how much it is covered. Moksha comes when the knowledge of yoga (yoga-jñāna) loosens the hold of the Avidyā-karma śakti, and the Kshetrajñā śakti knows that it is one with the Parā śakti. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 7)

Vishṇu as Paramātman at pralaya

The Shashṭhāṃśa ends its teaching on the three kinds of pralaya (dissolution) by saying that Vishṇu-Vāsudeva is the one reality that lies under all dissolution and outlasts it. In the prākṛta pralaya, the whole chain of tattvas (principles) melts back in reverse order, from the gross elements up to mahat. The vyakta (the shown world) is taken into the avyakta (Pradhāna, the unshown). Purusha and Prakṛti both dissolve into the Paramātman. That Paramātman is Vishṇu.

The one who is spoken of by all syllables, short, long or drawn out, the one to whom the Vedas point but whom words cannot reach, he alone is shown as the vyakta, he alone is the avyakta, he is the Purushottama. He is Paramātman, Viśvātman, Viśvarūpadhārī, Hari. Into him Prakṛti and Purusha dissolve. He is the ground of all.

All arising comes from this Vishṇu, and all dissolving returns into him. He himself has no pralaya. For him, the turning between showing and dissolving is only a manner of speech (aupacārika). (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 4)

The mūrta and amūrta forms

In his yoga teaching, Keśidhvaja describes two aspects of Vishṇu as objects of dhāraṇā (steady focus) and dhyāna (meditation).

Mūrta rūpa (the formed aspect). The whole shown world is the mūrta form of Vishṇu. This includes Hiraṇyagarbha, Vāsudeva, Prajāpati, the Maruts, the Vasus, the Rudras, the twelve Ādityas, the stars, the planets, the gandharvas, yakshas, daityas, all devas and the beings born as devas, all humans, animals, birds, serpents, mountains, oceans, rivers, trees, and every being that moves or does not move. The yogī who meditates on this all-pervading viśvarūpa as the body of Hari practises mūrta dhāraṇā.

Amūrta rūpa (the formless aspect). The amūrta aspect is the brahma-śakti, the all-pervading śakti in which all the many powers of the universe rest. It is the “other great form of Hari”. In it lies his power to make, hold and dissolve the worlds. This power does not come from any outside act. It comes from Vishṇu’s own immeasurable (aprameya) and unhindered (avyāhata) activity (ceshṭā). This amūrta śakti burns away all pāpa (sin) in the citta (mind) of the yogī, as a fire driven by wind burns all the dry grass of a field. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 7)

The form for meditation

For those who meditate on the formed aspect of Vishṇu in its most concentrated personal form, the Purāṇa gives this form.

Eyes long like lotus petals.
A pleasant, broad, shining forehead.
Beautiful cheeks, and well-shaped ears with fine kuṇḍalas (earrings).
A neck like a conch.
A broad chest marked with the śrīvatsa.
A deep navel, with three folds of skin above the belly.
Eight long arms (or four) holding the chief divine āyudhas (weapons).
Well-shaped thighs, ankles and lotus feet.
Clothes of shining pure yellow silk (pīta-vastra).

This is sākshāt (direct) Brahman in its most near form. The yogī meditates on it first with all its ornaments. Then, as dhāraṇā grows deeper, the form is made simpler step by step. At last the mind holds the form in all conditions, and the difference between the one who meditates (dhyātā) and what is meditated on (dhyeya) melts into samādhi. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 7)

The close of the Vishṇu Purāṇa

The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa itself ends with two maṅgala-ślokas (verses of blessing) in praise of Vishṇu. He is the one without change (vikṛti-śūnya), the only Purushottama, the Akhilātmaka (the ātmā of everything), and the master of all knowledge and all śrī. The Phalaśruti (the promise of fruit) says that hearing this Purāṇa gives the fruit of the aśvamedha, grants all four purushārthas (aims of life), and at last leads to Vishṇu-sāyujya, merging with Vishṇu. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapter 8)

Vishṇu in the Satī Khaṇḍa of the Śiva Purāṇa

The Satī Khaṇḍa of the Śiva Purāṇa has several important episodes that involve Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Why Vishṇu was at Daksha’s yajña: Dadhīci’s śāpa

The Satī Khaṇḍa tells why Vishṇu was at Daksha’s yajña, though he knew it went against dharma. In an earlier conflict, the Kshuva-Dadhīci war, Dadhīci had laid a śāpa (a curse) on Vishṇu and all the devas. By it they would be burned by Rudra’s fire of wrath (kopāgni) at Daksha’s yajña. Vishṇu was bound by this śāpa to be present there and to meet defeat.

He told this to Daksha when Daksha asked for his protection: “Śiva is Parabrahman. The Sudarśana Cakra that I carry was given to me by Maheśvara himself. It will not harm Śiva’s bhaktas. I cannot protect you from Śiva’s wrath.” (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 35, 38–39)

The talk of Vīrabhadra and Vishṇu

Before the battle, Vīrabhadra and Vishṇu spoke together. Vīrabhadra said the conflict was a parīkshā (test) and affirmed that Śiva and Vishṇu are not different. Vishṇu agreed. Both then chose to fight as ordained. This teaches that their seeming opposition on the field of the yajña was not true enmity but a cosmic showing. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 36)

Defeat by Vīrabhadra

In the battle that destroyed Daksha’s yajña, Vīrabhadra stabbed Vishṇu with his triśūla (trident) and Vishṇu fell unconscious. Vīrabhadra then used stambhana (divine paralysis) to freeze him in place, and broke his Śārṅga bow into three pieces. Brahmā and Vishṇu both withdrew from the field, and the yajña was destroyed completely. The Satī Khaṇḍa presents this defeat not as a disgrace but as the ordained fulfilment of Dadhīci’s śāpa, a cosmic test that showed the greatness of devotion to Śiva (Śivabhakti). (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 37)

Leading the devas to Kailāsa

After the yajña was destroyed, Vishṇu led the defeated devas, together with Brahmā, to Kailāsa to seek the grace of Bhagavān Śiva. They found Śiva seated on a darbhāsana (a seat of darbha grass) in jñānamudrā, teaching the assembled ṛshis. Śiva rose to greet Brahmā and Vishṇu himself. The devas then offered their stotra (hymn of praise), and Śiva accepted it. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 40–41)

Sources

Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pradhamāṃśa, Chapter 1
Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Shashṭhāṃśa, Chapters 4, 5, 7, 8
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 35–43