Vyuha
Vyuha ( Sanskrit व्यूह vyūha ) refers to the emanations and manifestations of the Hindu deity Vishnu . It is mainly used in Pancharatra .
etymology
The noun vyūha has as its root व्यः (vyaḥ) meaning covering, veiling, veil . Its main meaning is arrangement, formation (especially of troops) and disposition, but it is also used in the sense of separation, division, dissolution, change, displacement and recognition (for example of syllable components of a word).
In Hinduism
Upanishads
In the Upanishads the term Vyuha appears only once in the Isha Upanishad :
"पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह
रश्मिन्समूह तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि"
“Oh sun, you who travel alone through the sky and enliven everything, oh Surya, son of Prajapati. Withdraw your all-scorching rays. I will remember your glorious sight, I, the Purusha in you. "
In this verse, vyūha means to withdraw, to remove (in relation to the rays of the sun).
Pancharatra
The agamas of Pancharatra , based on an Ekayana review of Shukla Yajuveda , are more recent than the Vedas , but older than the Mahabharata . According to Vaishnava scholar Vedanta Desika, they include the fivefold daily religious duties that are:
However, the name of the Pancharatra is derived from the description of the manifestation of the Supreme Being, which occurs in five (pancha) aspects:
- Para (highest transcendental form)
- Vyuha (revelation in four forms)
- Vibhava ( reincarnation or descent as avatara )
- Antaryamin (cosmic form of God that exists in everything and everywhere, inner guide)
- Archa or Arcā (visible image of God).
Chatur-Vyūha
According to the Vaishnava doctrine on the revelations of God, Vishnu is accompanied by Lakshmi . The manifestation of Vishnu is again of a fourfold nature and is called Chatur-Vyuha . It is led by Vasudeva as creator, followed by Samkarshana as sustainer, Pradyumna as destroyer, and Aniruddha as distributor of spiritual knowledge.
These four Chatur-Vyuha manifestations of Vishnu are in turn connected with the six causes of creation, which are composed of God himself and five other aspects. Successively these are Narayana (thinking), Vasudeva (feeling), Samkarshana (willing), Pradyumna (knowing) and Aniruddha (doing), whereby each divine emanation controls its own, specific, creative energy. The six material properties ( Gunas ) Jnana (omniscience), Aishvarya (mastery), Shakti (energy, potential), Bala (power, strength), Virya (virtue, bravery) and Tejas (self-sufficiency, splendor) act in pairs and are considered as a whole both instrument and subtle matter of the pure process of creation. The Vyuhas are the first created living beings and they represent parts of a coherent whole. Vyuha in this context means projection - the projection of the Svarupa (shape of the self) onto Bahurupa (manifold manifestations).
In the Brahma Sutra (II.ii.42), however, Badarayana , a commentator on the Vedanta , contradicts the Bhagavata's view that the Chatur vyuha manifestations had successively emerged from Vasudeva. In his opinion there can be no origin for the individual soul, any more than a tool is identical with its user. He calls this impossibility of origin उत्पत्त्यसम्भवात् (utpattyasambhavāt).
In the military field, the formation of an army ( vyūha ) is changed depending on the progress of the battle and its warriors with different armaments are constantly being reconfigured. In a very similar way, the Most High through his Yogamaya rearranges the contents of consciousness, with a new level hidden behind each individual level of consciousness . The five covering layers of the material body of man ( Prakriti ) are called five sheaths ( Panchakosa ). In order to be able to find the true self, these envelopes have to be penetrated from the outside to the inside, starting with the grossly visible exterior and moving to more and more subtle layers inside. Similarly, in the Vedas, too, the ultimate truth remains hidden under a golden cover.
Mahabharata
In the Mahabharata and in the Manu-Samhita the term vyūha is mentioned in connection with battle formations which vary in size . Among others, the shakata-vyūha , a battle formation in a chariot formation, garbha-vyūha (uterine formation), suchi-vyūha (needle formation), ardha-chandra-vyūha (crescent moon formation), sarvatobhadra-vyūha (large formation), makara-vyuha ) (crocodile formation) , shyena-vyūha (eagle formation) etc. Vajra-vyūha was a tripartite warrior formation. The chakra-vyūha (circle formation) was used by the Kaurava , who Abhimanyu , the son of Arjuna , could no longer escape alive.
In Buddhism
In Mahayana Buddhism, the word vyūha is used in the sense of arrangement (arrangement, establishment, providence, agreement) such as in the sense of wonderful, supernatural and magical arrangements or of supernatural revelations. In Sukhavati-vyuha (Providence in the Land of Bliss) Buddha remembers one of his previous incarnations as Amitabha in front of his favorite disciple, Ananda . Ananda also learns of 81 other Buddhas from Gautama's past, the latter of which is called Lokeshvararaja and who in turn was reincarnated in this same Amitabha. Lokeshvararaja practiced the virtuous life of a Bodhisattva , attained enlightenment and then taught the Dharmakara.
There are two versions of this Sukhavati-vyuha, which belongs to Mahayana Buddhism. They both tell of Amitabha, one of the five Dhyani Buddhas, who does not appear in any other Buddhist text, neither in Pali nor in Sanskrit , and of Avalokiteshvara , his active reincarnation as a Bodhisattva.
Individual evidence
- ↑ VS Apte: The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary . In: Digital Dictionaries of South Asia . S. 157, 1522 .
- ↑ SMSrinivasa Chari: Vaisnavism: Its Philosophy, Theology and Religious Discipline . Motilal Banarsidass, S. 15, 163, 213 .
- ↑ Ashish Dalela: Vedic Creationism . In: Universe . S. 327 .
- ↑ Otto Harrassaowitz: A History of Indian Literature . Vol.2 Part 1, p. 60 .
- ↑ Julius Lipner: Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices . Routledge, S. 349-350 .
- ↑ Sankaracharya: Brahma-Sutra Bhasya . Advaita Ashrama, S. 439 .
- ^ D. Dennis Hudson: The Body of God . Oxford University Press, S. 40, 42 .
- ^ VC Seshacharri: Upanishads and Sri Sankara's Bhasya . S. 24 .
- ^ Science, Technology, Imperialism and War . Pearson publication, p. 295-296 .
- ^ Julian F. Pas: Visions of Sukhavati . SUNY Press, S. 369 .
- ^ Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World . Vol.2. Concept Publishing, p. 383 .
- ^ Moriz Winternitz: A History of Indian Literature . Motilal Banarsidass, S. 298 .