Viṣṇuyaśas

Viṣṇuyaśas was a brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village. Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself chose him as the father in whose house the Kalki avatāra would be born. His name means “he whose glory is Viṣṇu”. He was a learned and devout householder. He lived by Vedic dharma, taught Kalki and his brothers, and performed Kalki’s upanayana (the sacred thread ceremony). His wife was Sumatī. Late in his life Nārada told him that his son Kalki was Nārāyaṇa himself. He then went to Badarīkāraṇya, did severe tapas, and left his body.

Who he was

Viṣṇuyaśas was a brāhmaṇa of Śambhala-grāma, the village that Bhagavān Viṣṇu chose for his last avatāra. His name means “one whose glory is Viṣṇu”. It fits his nature as a householder of the highest devotion to Viṣṇu. He was the husband of Sumatī. He had four sons: Kavi (the eldest), Prājña, Sumantra, and Kalki (the youngest, and the avatāra himself).

All four sons were amśas (parts) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Kalki was the full and chief avatāra. His three brothers stood beside him and later took part in the great digvijaya (campaign of conquest). In it Prājña killed a lakh (a hundred thousand) warriors, and Sumantra killed twenty-five thousand charioteers (Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapter 2).

The choice of Bhagavān Viṣṇu

Bhagavān Viṣṇu spoke to the assembled devas at Goloka and promised to come down as Kalki. He named the father he had chosen: “I will take birth in Śambhala in the house of the brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśas. Sumatī will be my mother” (Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapter 1).

In the Purāṇas

All the Purāṇic accounts of the Kalki avatāra agree that Viṣṇuyaśas is Kalki’s father:

  • The Kalki Purāṇa (Prathamāmśa, Chapter 1) gives Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s words: “I will descend in Śambhala in the house of the brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśas.”
  • The Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa (Caturthāṃśa, Chapter 24) says Kalki was born in Śambhala as the son of Viṣṇuyaśas.
  • The Narasiṃha Purāṇa (Chapter 54) says Kalki was born to Viṣṇuyaśa in Śambhala.
  • The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives Viṣṇuyaśa as Kalki’s father.
  • The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 73–74) gives the Śambhala account, and names Kalki’s father.

His conduct

Viṣṇuyaśas is shown as a man of deep learning, right conduct and Vaiṣṇava devotion. When the four cirajīvins (immortals) came as mendicants for the naming ceremony, he received them with full honour. They were Paraśurāma, Kṛpācārya, Vyāsa and Aśvatthāman. He saw that they were brāhmaṇas who deserved hospitality and respect (Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapter 2).

At Kalki’s birth

Kalki was born on Vaiśākha Śukla Dvādaśī. Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared in his four-armed divine form. Viṣṇuyaśas and Sumatī were both present. Viṣṇumāyā covered them. They saw the divine form as a passing vision that faded. After that they were sure they had only ever seen a baby with two arms. Their joy at their son’s birth was complete.

All of Śambhala-grāma was filled with joy. Every being forgot its sorrows. The four cirajīvins, Paraśurāma, Kṛpācārya, Vyāsa Maharṣi and Aśvatthāman, came as mendicants for the naming ceremony and gave the child the name Kalki. Sumatī gave a hundred cows to the brāhmaṇas.

Viṣṇuyaśas at once arranged the nāmakaraṇa (naming ceremony). He invited learned brāhmaṇas skilled in the Ṛg, Yajur and Sāma Vedas, and he invited the four immortals. He gave in charity. He handled his son’s sacred rite with the full care of a devoted and learned householder (Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapter 2).

Teaching Kalki before the upanayana

When Kalki reached the age for the upanayana, Viṣṇuyaśas explained to him the nature of the Veda, the Gāyatrī and the Yajñopavīta. He answered Kalki’s questions with clarity and devotion:

  • The Veda came from the mouth of Śrī Hari himself.
  • The Gāyatrī is the mother of the Veda.
  • The Yajñopavīta (the sacred thread) is the sign of the three guṇas and of freedom from saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).
  • The ten saṃskāras (sacred rites), from garbhādhāna to samāvartana, make up the sacred life of a brāhmaṇa.

He also described the crisis of the Kali age. The few brāhmaṇas who still kept dharma were being swallowed up by bodily desire. They lost their brahma-tejas (the radiance of Brahman) and were driven into the service of śūdras. He spoke of this with deep sadness. It was the spark that made Kalki firm in his resolve to begin his mission against Kali.

Viṣṇuyaśas then performed the upanayana of his divine son with due care and ceremony (Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapter 2).

His household in the Dvithīyāmśa

Kalki married Padmāvatī in Siṃhala Dvīpa and came back to Śambhala. Viṣṇuyaśas, together with Viśākhayūpa, had made the city ready to receive the newly married pair. They decorated it with golden kalaśas (jars) of fragrant water, kālāguru incense, lamps, fresh flowers and auspicious things. He welcomed Padmāvatī as his daughter-in-law with full honour.

Viṣṇuyaśas decided to perform an Aśvamedha yajña, a great royal yajña for the welfare of the world. From this plan Kalki set out on the first military campaign, the conquest of Kīkaṭapura. The Aśvamedha needs lordship over territory, and this gave the first push to the whole digvijaya (Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 6).

Nārada’s visit and the truth

In the Tritīyāmśa, the great digvijaya was over and Kalki was ruling in Śambhala. Nārada and Tumbaru, the divine musician, came to the assembly hall of Viṣṇuyaśas. He received them with full honour and asked the basic question: “O Brahmarṣi! By what karma should I act to reach mokṣa (liberation) from the tormenting saṃsāra?”

Nārada took him aside and told him the truth in private: “Your son Kalki is Nārāyaṇa himself.” Nārada said: “Viṣṇumāyā has caught even you. Now that you know the tattva (the truth), meditate on Nārāyaṇa. Wander the earth without āśā (desire) and mamatā (the feeling of ‘mine’), having joined the jīvātman with the Paramātman” (Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 16).

The great tapas and his passing

Viṣṇuyaśas took Nārada’s teaching to heart, now that he knew his son’s divine nature. He took leave of Kalki and went away. He went to Badarīkāraṇya, the sacred forest of Badarī in the Himālaya, the everlasting home of Nara and Nārāyaṇa. There he did severe tapas. He trained his body and drew his mind away from all worldly ties.

Through this tapas Viṣṇuyaśas reached complete union of the jīvātman with the Paramātman, the state where the individual awareness dissolves into the universal. He left his body (Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 16).

His wife Sumatī entered the fire (agni-praveśa) at his death.

His last rites

Kalki heard of his father’s death from ṛṣis. His eyes filled with tears. He performed the uttarakriyā, the full rites after death, for his father with complete devotion (Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 16).

Sources

  • Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapters 1, 2
  • Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 6
  • Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 16
  • Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Caturthāṃśa, Chapter 24
  • Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 54
  • Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa
  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 73–74