Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Gifts

At his birthday ceremony all the demigods and sages presented Him gifts.

  1. The sun-god chanted Vedic mantras, 
  2. the priest of the demigods decorated His chest with the sacred thread, and 
  3. Kashyapa Muni put a straw belt around His waist. 
  4. Mother Earth and His own mother provided Him a deerskin and a loincloth. 
  5. The Moon (king of the forests) offered Him the rod of a celibate, and the heavens furnished an umbrella. 
  6. Brahma supplied a water pot, 
  7. the seven sages handed Him sacred grass, and 
  8. the goddess of learning equipped Him with prayer beads. 
  9. The treasurer of the demigods gave a begging pot, and 
  10. Bhagavati, Lord Shiva's wife, gave Him His first alms.

Trivikram

The iconographical representation of Vishnu in this incarnation is mainly shown in two ways; either as a dwarf Vaman or the Trivikram Vishnu.

1.   Vaman

According to Vishnudharmottarpuran, the image of Vaman should have two arms. One hand should hold a Kamandalu and the other an umbrella. There should be a tuft of hair tied together. He should be wearing a deer-skin along with a yadnyopavita(sacred thread worn by brahmhans) and a kaupina (loin-cloth). He should carry a book with him. All these are the emblems of a vedic student or a brahmhachari.

Sometimes we can see the sculptures of Vaman as a deformed dwarf. The image is ill-shaped man with a hunch back, protruding joints and a big belly.

2.   Trivikram

The image of Trivikram Vishnu is sculptured in three ways i.e. with the left foot raised up to the level of,

i)     the right knee,

ii)   the navel

iii)  the forehead.

It is to represent him as striding over all the three worlds.

He should have either four or eight hands.

  1. If he has four hands, one right hand should hold shankh, and a left hand carries chkra. The other right hand should be held in abhayamudra and the other left hand should be stretched out parallel to the uplifted leg. 
  2. If the image has eight hands, five of the hands should carry shankh, chakra, gada (mace), bow and hal (plough). Others carry the symbols of the four-handed image. 
The right leg of Trivikrama is to be firmly placed on the earth and the left has to be in position of taking a stride.

  1. Indra should be shown holding an umbrella over his head. 
  2. Varun, Vayu, Surya and Chandra are to be shown as flying whisks. 
  3. Brahmha should be shown washing the uplifted foot of Trivikram. 
Below his left leg, the dwarf Vaman has to be presented in the position to receive the grant of three steps land. Opposite to him, the asura king Bali should be shown with a water vessel indicating that he is ready to pour the sacred water as proof of his gift.

Thursday, 2 February 2017

Bali indra laxmi

Through Indra Bali saw a Devee in his dream, she was Lakshmee - Devee of wealth, leaving his body. The Bali asked her  "Who are you?" She replied - "I am Lakshmee, Devee of wealth and prosperity as you have given me in charity to indra." The King saluted her respectfully and she went away.

Next came a Devtaa of Vaibhav (glory) who also left him as he also could not stay there where there was no Lakshmee. The King saluted him also and he also went away. In the same way others : Dharm (righteousness), Dayaa (compassion), Kshamaa (forbearance) also left him, but when Satya (truthfulness) started leaving, the King held his feet and said - "I never left you all these days so you cannot leave me now."

All other qualities were waiting out side for Satya to join them, so that they could go somewhere else. When Satya did not come out for quite some time, Dharm said - "I have to go back, I can't exist without him." and he returned to the king's palace. Then others also followed him, one by one, in reverse order. At last Lakshmee also had to return, because she also could not exist without them. She said to the King - "Thanks to your love for Satya which brought all of us back to you. Who holds the Satya so firmly has never have to suffer with any misery."

Labels