A Hindu medalion depicting Vishnu.
Vishnu
| A Hindu medalion depicting Vishnu. |
Vishnu was incarnated in various avatars including: |
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One of the two major gods of
Hinduism,
Vishnu is frequently viewed as the preserver and
protector of the world. The most popular contemporary
forms or incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu are Rama,
hero of the epic Ramayana, and
Krishna. Vishnu is described as the god of space and time who behaves benevolently towards men. In iconography he is often represented riding on the bird Garuda or sleeping on the snake Shesha. In his mystical sleep he meditates on the world to come and prepares it in his mind. His female consort is the lotus goddess Lakshmi or Padma, goddess of well-being. |
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Rama Rama was an avatar of Vishnu. His life and adventures are portrayed in the Ramayana. He is seen as the ideal Hindu man. He created a host of monkeys and bears to fight by his side against the many headed monster Ravana who had abducted his wife Sita. They began the battle by killing off large numbers of Ravana's demons the Rakshasas.Rama finallly vanquished Ravana by shooting an arrow, which Brahma had given him, through the demon's chest. The magic arrow pierced the demon, came out at the other side of his body, and returned to Rama's quiver. |
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Krishna |
Radhu and Krishna - India's immortal lovers. |
Perhaps the most popular god of Hinduism,
Krishna is celebrated in literature, art, music, and dance
throughout India. He may be depicted as the blue,
flute-playing beloved of the cowmaidens (gopis) of Brindaban,
as a prince consorting with his lover Radha, or as a
small child caught stealing butter. In Krishna
the most sensitive sentiments of
erotic love, yearning for salvation, elements of folk
legends, and the tradition of Sanskrit literature are blended.
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| Connected in popular belief but of a quite different temperament is the Krishna of the Bhagavad Gita, the avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, who discourses to the hero Arjuna (one of the five princes in the Mahabharata) on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Although this Krishna is the focus of a number of devotional cults, the spirit is one of the awesome might and all-encompassing nature of God, displayed to Arjuna in a dazzling vision by Krishna, and devotion is taught as only one of three disciplines (the others are knowledge and nonattached action) leading to release. |
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Kalkin The final avatar of Vishnu, Kalkin is believed to come at the end of the present age on a white horse to punish the wicked and reward the good (although he is sometimes depicted as being evil). |