Easten Religion

7/5/2018 Gods (Vishnu) - 18.SU.REL.1111.C50 EASTERN RELIGIONS

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Vishnu is the Protector god. He is a sustainer and preserver. He is often blue,

reclining on a cosmic serpent, and depicted with a conch shell, lotus �ower,

and peaceful look on his face. He is considered royalty, wearing lots of "bling"

as you can see - jewels, gold and heavy necklaces. Those who follow Vishnu

are called Va i s h n av i t es .

Notice the horseshoe shaped symbol in his forehead. You'll see this on

Vishnu, Vishnu's avatars, any god associated with Vishnu, as well as

Vaishnavites themselves. This is the symbol of Vishnu's footprint on the

world.

Whenever there is imbalance in the world, Vishnu comes to earth in different

forms, called Av a t a rs . This is why Vishnu is often given the nickname of C o s m i c C o p because he usually

comes to earth to save the day - kind of like a Hindu version of Superman/Clark Kent (or Batman/Bruce

Wayne with an additional supernatural aspect). Vishnu's adventures usually involve mythic battles

between his avatars and ignorant demons and he usually ends up liberating them of their ego/ignorance.

(Remember from your previous lessons that demons are symbols of our own greed/ego/illusion).

Vishnu traditionally has 10 avatars, which include humans and animals. Some Hindus will add the Buddha

to Vishnu's avatar list (though most Buddhists will not recognize this.) Interestingly enough, when Catholic

missionaries went to India to convert Hindus and taught them about Jesus being God in the �esh here on

earth, the Hindus had n o p ro b l em accepting this dogma. They accepted it right into their own, responding,

"Oh! Jesus is Vishnu! Another avatar!" And so, they added Jesus to the list. It made perfect sense to them.

The Catholics were not so satis�ed and left without success in their conversion. Though they did bring back

the mala (prayer) beads with them, which later became the rosary.

V i s h n u C h a n t - Listen to this Mix.

V i s h n u ' s Av a t a rs

You already know two of Vishnu's avatars from studying your lesson on Hindu scriptures: Ra m a and

K ri s h n a . Rama was the virtuous husband/king who rescued his wife Sita and conquered evil with his

sidekick (and monkeygod) Hanuman in the great epic, the Ramayana.

7/5/2018 Gods (Vishnu) - 18.SU.REL.1111.C50 EASTERN RELIGIONS

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You read about Krishna in the Bh a g av a d G i t a . He appeared to the warrior Arjuna to give him a pep talk

before going into battle. Krishna gave Arjuna the divine eye to see him in all his splended glory.

Like Jesus, Krishna is depicted both as a baby and as an adolescent aged young man. He is usually blue

skinned, but not always. One of the most popular myths tells of his mother, Ya s h o d h a ra , �nding him

eating dirt (as most infants do…) As she opened his mouth to dig the dirt out, she saw the entire cosmos in

the back of his throat. This was a good indication to her that he was a special kid!

As an adolescent, Krishna was a playful god, teasing and playing tricks on people. The tricks are innocent

enough, but always get him in a bit of trouble (like stealing fresh pies from open windows). He is often

depicted playing a � u t e and �irting with the G o p i G i rl s . The Gopi girls are cowherders who always

compete for Krishna's attention. One story tells of the gopi girls bathing in the river after a long day and

Krishna stealing their saris (dresses) and hanging them in the trees.

Another story describes a dance festival where each of the Gopi girls wants him all

to herself. Because he's a god, he simply multiplies himself so that each girl has a

dance partner. This is known as the Ra s s - L i l a (dance/fes t i v a l o f l o ve). This story

is often seen as a symbolic truth that each of us can have a personal relationship

with God. In other words, there is enough God to go around - we don't need to be

jealous.

If you think this story is strange because it's sexual in nature, open up your

Hebrew Bible (what Christians refer to as the Old Testament) and read Song of

Songs (sometimes called Song of Solomon). It is an erotic love poem that most

modern Christians and Muslims interpret as a symbolic representation of our

emotional relationship with God, much like this story of Krishna and ourselves.

Even though Krishna spends a lot of his time �irting with the Gopi girls, he only has o n e w o m a n in his

heart and that is Ra d h a . Radha's name literally means favorite or beloved. They have a very passionate and

stormy love affair, consistently �ghting (often over her jealousy of the gopi girls) and making up (after

Krishna tells her she's the only one for him).

Krishna is a VERY popular god, one of the most worshiped in modern Hinduism.

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K ri s h n a C h a n t - Listen to this devotional.

In a few lessons from now, we ll look more closely at the H a re K ri s h n a s , who focus their devotion entirely

on Krishna through kirtan worship, which is singing, chanting and dancing publicly.