The God next door

A coffee-table offering shows the many faces of Vishnu in art

A little-known fact about Hindu religious practices is that no priest can possibly start any ritual worship of any deity without invoking Vishnu or his hallowed memory. Even when the priest, irrespective of the school to which he belongs, worships the other two members of the Hindu Trinity of Gods — Brahma, the Creator, and Shiva, the Destroyer — he has to start the process by paying obeisance to Vishnu. There seems to be no getting away from Vishnu, the Preserver, or the one who maintains order and balance in the cosmos by means that are both violent and peaceful. Such is the primordial importance conferred on Vishnu by those who wrote the Hindu religious scriptures.

 

The importance of Vishnu in the Hindu way of life arises for another reason. Of the three members of the Trinity, Vishnu appears to be the most real, infinitely more human, more balanced, present in many more forms and incarnations than the other two, and certainly better understood by most practitioners of the Hindu religion over the ages.

Brahma is the most remote of them all. You can count the number of temples at which you can worship Brahma. Shiva is more popular, but his bohemian way of life and mercurial behaviour inspire awe and fear, and do not make him easily acceptable. Therefore, Shiva remains a distant God. In sharp contrast, Vishnu is the God next door, manifesting all the qualities including the virtues and the minor foibles that a Hindu householder has no qualms in identifying with. He is like the Shakespearean tragic hero — who does not hold an ordinary position in life, but whose hubris helps ordinary folk empathise with him. For Shiva, there is reverence and fear. For Vishnu, there is reverence, but hardly any fear. In addition, there is affection and empathy.

No wonder this rounded personality of Vishnu — also known as Narayana and Vasudev in various contexts — has endeared him to generations of Hindus and given rise to a rich body of idols and paintings that celebrate the idea of Vishnu in its various forms and manifestations. The book under review has undertaken the gigantic task of bringing together pictorial illustrations of Vishnu idols and images found in different corners of the world. The task is ambitious in its sweep and predictably, therefore, the book cannot claim to be as comprehensive in its coverage as its author might have liked.

That should not, however, take away from the book its many merits: exquisite production quality, neatly laid-out pictures with useful captions, a glossary that lucidly explains the most intricate Sanskrit terms, and annotations at the end of each chapter and section, all of which enhance reading pleasure. Since so much care has been expended in all these areas, you are likely to be disappointed to find that there is no index of pictures. For a book with so many priceless pictures of Vishnu in different poses, this flaw is likely to rankle with many readers.

The book is neatly divided into four sections. The first section has some eminently readable accounts of how Vishnu gained the kind of importance he has over the years. Thankfully, there are no innovative attempts to explain the relevance and popularity of Vishnu. Don’t forget the countless essays and treatises on a Marxist interpretation of Vishnu’s beliefs and credentials, in contrast with the other members of the Trinity who were not as class-less. That these essays refrained from propounding or even recounting such banal and intellectually spurious theories on Vishnu is a relief. Instead, the four essays are a source of rich information for anyone wishing to gain an understanding of Vishnu.

The second section of the book deals with the images of Vishnu in various forms. The common factors in many of these images are Vishnu’s four hands and the artistic manifestation of the four weapons and attributes — Shankha (conch shell), Chakra (discus), Gada (mace) and Padma (lotus) — with which he is invariably associated. Vishnu in his Cosmic Sleep posture is an outstanding piece of art. The terracotta relief of Vishnu astride his mount Garuda, the beak-nosed mythical half-man, presents two contrasting moods — Vishnu’s pacific smile juxtaposed with Garuda’s purposeful glance.

The third section, on Vishnu’s avatars or incarnations, is comprehensive in its coverage, dispelling the confusion over the number. The Hindu scriptures generally refer to 10 incarnations of Vishnu, but there are also references to 12 embodiments. Some scriptures even talk of 22 incarnations. The inclusion of Hanuman and Buddha as incarnations of Vishnu has always been a matter of debate in Hindu scriptures, and continues to be so. According to some experts, the inclusion of Krishna as Vishnu’s incarnation is also debatable, although he is among the most popular and widely revered avatars of Vishnu. Not surprisingly, among all the Vishnu avatars, Krishna has the largest number of images — including those in different poses with his consort Radha. There is a gripping image of Vishwarupa, the all-encompassing manifestation of Krishna in his true form, revealed to Arjuna on the battlefield in the Gita section of the Mahabharata.

What makes the book a little more utilitarian for the practising Hindu householder is its fourth section, which delineates the various ways of worshipping Vishnu, highlights the different aspects of Vaishnava ritual and touches on the people who worship and the materials they use. This is likely to have enhanced the book’s commercial appeal, but whether the attempt will succeed is doubtful, given its price tag.

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VISHNU
Hinduism’s Blue-skinned Savior
Editor: Joan Cummins
Publisher: Mapin
Pages: 296
Price: Rs 3,500