Wednesday 6 July 2011

Vishnu - A Symbolic Appreciation

Once when man's wickedness crossed all boundaries, infuriated Shiva transformed himself into a wrathful form known as Bhairava. Shiva began his rampage of destruction, killing, and ripping out hearts of humans and drinking blood, his menacing laughter thundering all around.

Vishnu approached Bhairava and requested him to stop the slaughter. Bhairava said: "I will go on killing until my bowl is filled with enough blood to quench my thirst." It was common knowledge that Bhairava's bowl could never be filled and his thirst never quenched.

Compassionate Vishnu addressed Shiva thus: "Let me give you all the blood you need. You don't have to bleed mankind." So saying, Vishnu struck his forehead with his sword and let his blood spurt into Bhairava's bowl. Ages passed, Vishnu kept pouring his blood into the bowl, while Bhairava kept drinking it.

Bhairava finally realized that Vishnu was sacrificing himself for the sake of the world. Moved by Vishnu's generosity, he declared, "So long as you preserve the world, I will not seek to quench my thirst. But when the world becomes so corrupt that even you cannot sustain it, I will raise my trident and squeeze every drop of blood from the heart of man."

The entire universe, along with the dynamic processes underlying it, is said to stem from Ishvara. When Ishvara creates the Universe, he is called Brahma, when he protects the Universe, he is called Vishnu, and when he destroys, he is Shiva. The three together constitute the trinity, which controls the universe and all its functions.

Thus Lord Vishnu is the Preserver and the Protector of all humanity. A deity who saves mankind from calamities that result from its own actions. Vishnu the Preserver and Protector has returned to earth in troubled times in various forms called Avatars to save the humanity and Universe and to restore the balance between good and evil.

Carry your Vishnu Prarthana Application wherever you go in your iPhone and pay tribute to the deity at any time and place.

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