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zas he is the Prajapati (creator) and supreme god. As such, he has three Avasthas or conditions : — i. That of Brahma, the active creator, who is represented as springing from a lotus which grew from Yishwu's navel while he was sleeping afloat upon the waters. 2. Yish?m himself, the preserver, in an Avatara or incarnate form, as in K77sh?ni. 3. iSiva or Rudra, the destructive power, who, according to a statement 'of the Maha-bharata, sprang from his forehead. But though the INIaha- bliiirata generally allows Yishwu the supremacy, it does not do so invariably and exclusively. There are passages which uphold /S'iva as the greatest of the gods, and represent Yishwu as jjaying him homage. The /S'aiva Pura/ias of course make iSiva supreme. VISHNU. 36't Yishwu's preserving and restoring power has been manifested to the world in a variety of forms called Avataras, literally ' de- scents,' but more intelligibly ' incarnations,' in which a portion of his divine essence was embodied in a human or supernatural form possessed of superhuman powers. All these Avataras became manifest for correcting some great evil or effecting some great good in the world. The Avataras are ten in number, but the Bhagavata PuraTia increases them to twenty-two, and adds that in reality they are innumerable. All the ten Avataras are honoured, but the seventh and eighth, Eama and Kr/sh?za, are honoured as great mortal heroes and receive worship as great gods. K?*2sh?2a is more especially looked upon as a full manifestation of Yishmi, and as one with Vish/iu himself, and he is the object of a widely extended and very popular worship. See Avatara. The holy river Ganges is said to spring from the feet of Vish?iu. As preserver and restorer, Yishiiu is a very popular deity, and the worship paid to him is of a joyous character. He has a thousand names (Sahasra-nama), the repetition of which is a meritorious act of devotion. His wife is Lakshml or /S'ri, the goddess of fortune, his heaven is Yaikun/ha, and his vehicle is the bird Garuc?a. He is represented as a comely youth of a dark-blue colour, and dressed like an ancient king. He has four hands. One holds the Panchajanya (q.v.), a iS^ankha or conch- shell ; another the Su-dar5ana or Yajra-nabha, a chakra or quoit weapon ; the third, a Gada or club called Kaumodaki ; and the fourth, a Padma or lotus. He has a bow called >Sarnga, and a sword called ISTandaka. On his breast are the peculiar mark or curl called ^Sri-vatsa and the jewel Kaustubha, and on his wrist is the jewel Syamantaka. He is sometimes represented seated on a lotus with Lakshmi beside him, or reclining on a leaf of that plant. Sometimes he is portrayed reclining on the serpent ^esha, and at others as riding on his gigantic bird Garuf?a. Of the thousand names of Yishmi the following are some of the most common : — Achyuta, ' unf alien, imperishable ;' Ananta, ' the endless ; ' Ananta-5ayana, ' who sleeps on the serpent Ananta;' Chatur-bhuja, * four-armed ;' Damodara, 'bound round the belly with a rope,' as Kr?sh7Z.a ; Govinda or Gopala, ' the cowkeeper ' (KHsh?ia) ; Hari ; Hrishikesa, ' lord of the organs of sense ; ' Jala-5ayin, ' who sleeps on the waters ; ' Janarddana, 362 VISHNU— VISRAVAS. ' whom men worship ; ' Ke.<^ava, ' the hairy, the radiant ; ' Kiri- tin, ' wearing a tiara ;' Lakshmipati, ' lord of Lakshmi ;' Madhn- sudana, ' destroj^er of Madliu ;' Madhava, 'descendant of Madhu;' Mukimda, 'deliverer;' Murari, 'the foe of Mura;' Nara, 'the man ; ' Naraya?za, ' who moves in the waters ; ' Panchayudlia, ' armed with five weapons ; ' Padma-nabha, ' lotus-navel ; ' Pitam- bara, ' clothed in yellow garments ; ' Purusha, ' the man, the spirit;' Purushottama, 'the highest of men, the supreme spirit;' ^arngin or *Sarngi-pam, ' carrying the bow 6'arnga ; ' Yasudeva, K?'ish72a, son of Yasudeva; Yarshweya, 'descendant of Yr/shwi;' Yaikun^'ha-natha, ' lord of Yaikun/ha (paradise) ; ' Yajnesa, Yajneswara, 'lord of sacrifice.' YISHYU. Author of a Dharma-sastra or law-book. YISHYU PURAiYA. This PuraTza generally stands third in the lists, and is described as " that in which Parasara, begin- ning with the events of the Yaraha Kalpa, expounds all duties, is called the Yaishnava, and the learned know its extent to be 23,000 stanzas." The actual number of stanzas does not amount to 7000, and there is no appearance of any part being wanting. The text is in print. Y-^ilson, the translator of this PuraTza, says, " Of the whole series of Purawas the YishTiu most closely corresponds to the definition of a Pancha-laksha72a Purawa, or one which treats of five specified topics (Primary Creation, Secondary Creation, Genealogies of Gods and Patriarchs, Eeigns of the Manus, His- tory). It comprehends them all ; and although it has infused a portion of extraneous and sectarial matter, it has done so with sobriety and judgment, and has not suffered the fervour of its religious zeal to transport it to very wide deviations from the prescribed path. The legendary tales which it has inserted are few, and are conveniently arranged, so that they do not distract the attention of the compiler from objects of more permanent interest and importance." The whole work has been translated with numerous elucidatory notes by Wilson, and a second edi- tion has be&n published with additional valuable notes by Dr. F. Hall. YISMAPANA. ' Astounding.' The aerial city of the Gand- harvas, which appears and disappears at intervals. YIaS'RAYAS. Son of the Prajapati Pulastya, or, according to a statement of the Maha-bharata, a reproduction of half VIS WA -DE VA S— VIS WA-KA RMA. 363 Pulastya himself. By a Bralimani wife, daughter of the sage Bharadwaja, named I^avic^a or Ilavif/a, he had a son, Kuvera, the god of wealth. By a Rfdcshasi named Nikasha or KaikasT, daughter of Sumali, he had three sons, Ravawa, Ivumhlia-karTza, and Vibhishana and a daughter named Surpa-nakha. The Vish??u PuraTza substitutes Kesini for Nikashii. The account given by the Mahii-bharata is that Pulastya, being offended with Kuvera for his adulation of Brahma, reproduced half of himself as Yisravas, and Kuvera to recover his favour gave him three Rakshasi handmaids : Pushpotka/a, the mother of PavaTia and Kumbhakar?za ; MalinI, the mother of Vibhishana; and Raka, the mother of Khara and Surpa-nakha. VI6'WA-DEYAS, YI^WE-DEVAS. 'All the gods.' In the Vedas they form a class nine in number. All the deities of inferior order. They are addressed in the Yeda as " preservers of men, bestowers of rewards." In later times, a class of deities particularly interested in exequial offerings. The accounts of them are rather vague. They are generally said to be ten in number, but the lists vary, both as to the number and the names. The following is one list: — (i.) Yasu, (2.) Satya, (3.) Kratu, (4.) Daksha, (5.) Kala, (6.) Kama, (7.) Dhnti, (8.) Kuru, (9.) Purii-ravas, (10.) Madravas. Two others are sometimes added, Rochaka or Lochana and Dhuri or Dhwani. See Yishmi Pura?za, Hall's edition, vol, iii. pp. 178, 188, 189. YI/S'WA-KARMA, YIaS'WA-KARMAK 'Omnificent.' This name seems to have been originally an epithet of any powerful god, as of Indra and Siirya, but in course of time it came to designate a personification of the creative power. In this cha- racter Yiswa-karma was the great architect of the universe, and is described in two hymns of tlie itig-veda as the one " all-seeing god, who has on every side eyes, faces, arms, and feet, who, when producing heaven and earth, blows them forth (or shapes them) with his arms and wings ; the father, generator, disposer, who knows all worlds, gives the gods their names, and is beyond the comprehension of mortals." In these hymns also he is said to sacrifice himself or to himself, and the ISTirukta explains this by a legend which represents that " Yiswa-karma, son of Bhu- vana, first of all ofi"ered up all worlds in a Sarva-medlia (general sacrifice), and ended by sacrificing himself." In the Epic and Puramc periods Yiswa-karma is invested 364 VISWAMITRA. with the powers and offices of the Yedic Twash^?-z, and is some- times so called. He is not only the great architect, but the general artificer of the gods and maker of their weapons. It was he who made the Agneyastra or " fiery weapon," and it was he who revealed the Sthapatya-veda, or science of architecture and mechanics.