Viśvāvasu the Gandharva
Viśvāvasu · viśva-vasu, “beneficent to all”
Viśvāvasu has other meanings too: see all meanings of Viśvāvasu.
Viśvāvasu is the chief of the Gandharvas, the singers of svarga (the world of the devas). The Vāmana Purāṇa names him twice, each time at the head of the Gandharvas. In the war of Bhagavān Śiva‘s gaṇas against the daitya Andhaka, Viśvāvasu and his Gandharvas poured their tejas (radiant power) into the boy Mātali, who then became the charioteer of Indra (Devendra). Later, when the daitya Bali ruled svarga, the Gandharvas led by Viśvāvasu sang in his court. In the Agni Purāṇa, Viśvāvasu is one of the gandharvas called on in the mantras of a king’s abhisheka (consecration bath) to make it complete and give the king victory.
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa shows him first among the gandharvas from the beginning of creation, when he and the other gandharvas took up the moonlight that Brahmā cast off. When Pṛthu milked the earth, the gandharvas and apsarās made Viśvāvasu their calf. He sang the glory of Hiraṇyakaśipu on Mahendra‘s throne, and of Indra when Namuci fell; he is the gandharva of Sūrya‘s gaṇa in the month of Śrāvaṇa; and Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that among the gandharvas he himself is Viśvāvasu.
The tejas given to Mātali
Pulastya Maharshi told Nārada Maharshi of the great battle at Mandara, where the pramathas, the gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva, fought the army of Andhaka, and Indra came to help them. A brāhmaṇa asked his wife about their boy, and she said: “This boy will become a charioteer.” As soon as those words left her mouth, the boy, though he knew nothing yet, flew up. The Gandharvas headed by Viśvāvasu learned that he was going to help Indra, and all of them poured their tejas into him.
Filled with the tejas of the Gandharvas, the child went to Indra and said: “Devarāja! Come, come! I will drive your chariot to please you.” Indra asked whose son he was, and whether he could hold the horses in check. The child answered: “Sureśvara! I was born from the earth by the tejas of a ṛshi. I grew by the tejas of the Gandharvas. I am skilled in driving horses.” So the boy named Mātali, the son of the ṛshi Śamīka, went with Indra to the sky and stood holding the reins of his chariot, and Indra rode into the enemy army.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 43
At the court of Bali
When Bhagavān Vishṇu had withdrawn from the field, the daityas under Bali drove the devas out of svarga, and Bali took the seat of Indra. Ruler of the seven pātālas and the three worlds, he enjoyed the pleasures of svarga. In his court the Gandharvas led by Viśvāvasu sang, the apsarās led by Tilottamā danced, and the yakshas, kinnaras and vidyādharas played many instruments together, delighting Bali.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 48
In the king’s abhisheka
Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma the mantras for the abhisheka of a king, which remove all pāpas. The king is bathed from a kalaśa of water with kuśa grass, and each mantra calls on a host of beings to perform the abhisheka, protect the king or give him victory. One of them names the gandharvas: “May the gandharvas Citrāṅgada, Citraratha, Citrasena, Kali, Ūrjāyu, Ugrasena, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Nandana, Hāhā, Hūhū, Nārada, Viśvāvasu and Tumburu make your abhisheka complete, and give you victory.”
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219
Per Bhāgavata Purāṇa
The moonlight at creation
Maitreya Maharshi tells Vidura of the bodies that Brahmā created and cast off at the beginning of creation. Smiling in a way that carried deep meaning, with his form shining with beauty, Brahmā created the hosts of the gandharvas and apsarās. He cast off that body filled with beauty too, and it became moonlight. Viśvāvasu and the other gandharvas took it with delight.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 20
The calf of the gandharvas
When Pṛthu Mahārāja brought the Earth under control and milked from her all the oshadhis, the other peoples too milked her as they wished, each with its own calf, milker and vessel. The gandharvas and apsarās made the great gandharva Viśvāvasu the calf, used a lotus as the vessel, and milked sweetness of voice and beauty. By these the gandharvas gained their glory.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 18
Singer at the courts of svarga
Nārada Maharshi tells Yudhishṭhira that when Hiraṇyakaśipu had conquered the three worlds and by his own power sat on the throne of Mahendra, “Viśvāvasu, Tumburu and those like me sang his glory,” and the gandharvas, siddhas, maharshis, vidyādharas and apsarases praised him again and again (Skandha 7, Chapter 4).
In the Devāsura war after the churning of the ocean, when Indra removed the head of Namuci with foam, which is neither wet nor dry, the hosts of maharshis praised Indra and rained flowers on him, the best of the gandharvas, Viśvāvasu and Parāvasu, sang, the dundubhis of the devas sounded, and the apsarās danced with joy (Skandha 8, Chapter 11).
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 4; Skandha 8, Chapter 11
In the gaṇa of Sūrya
Sūta Maharshi tells Śaunaka Maharshi that Bhagavān Sūrya moves through the twelve months with twelve gaṇas of seven. In the month of Śrāvaṇa the gaṇa is Indra, the Sūrya of the month; Viśvāvasu, the gandharva; Śrotā, the yaksha; Elāpatra, the nāga; Aṅgiras, the maharshi; Pramlocā, the apsarā; and Varya, the rākshasa. “These conduct the month of Śrāvaṇa.” While the maharshis praise Sūrya with the Vedic mantras, the gandharvas sing his glory aloud and the apsarās dance before him. These gaṇas are the vibhūtis of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of Sūrya.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 11
A vibhūti of Śrī Kṛshṇa
Teaching Uddhava his vibhūtis, the glories in which he shines in the world, Śrī Kṛshṇa says: “Among gandharvas I am Viśvāvasu; among apsarās, Pūrvacitti.”
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 16
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 43, 48
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 20; Skandha 4, Chapter 18; Skandha 7, Chapter 4; Skandha 8, Chapter 11; Skandha 11, Chapter 16; Skandha 12, Chapter 11