Vishnu-Mythology God - Research Paper Example

Vishnu is responsible for sustaining and maintaining the universe. Shiva is the destroyer who time and again annihilates the old order, so that new life can emerge. Vishnu is the most worshiped god amongst the Hindus, especially amongst the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism. Even a cursory study of the Hindu philosophy and mythology reveals that it is not that the beliefs of Hindus were not based on logic and rationality evident in the ways of nature. However, to a great extent, like the Egyptians and the ancient Chinese, Hindus preferred to personify their essentials beliefs and faith in the guise of mythological characters, gods and demons.

This approach served many purposes. It allowed the commoners to grasp the eternal tussle between the good and the bad in a more visually understandable way (Pattanik 21). Besides, considering the fact that in the times when the essential Hindu theology emerged, it was common to disseminate religious doctrines by word of mouth instead of writing them (Pattanik 21). So, the mythological characters and the stories and myths associated with them made it easier to spread religious beliefs from one person to other, from teacher to disciple and from one generation to other.

Vishnu is one major god of the Hindu mythology that accrued the awe and reverence of Hindus, in measures which supersede any other god of Hindu mythology. Iconography Primarily speaking, Hindu religion since times immemorial has been a visual religion. Each and every god of the Hindu mythology is associated with a definite form, character, and the accompanying weapons and accoutrements, which besides being visually appealing connote a specific and deeper meaning (Dimmitt 44). The forms of most of the Hindu gods have not changed since times immemorial, a trend that depicts the timelessness and eternal appeal of this faith.

Like many other gods, Vishnu also has a specific form and look, depicted in the ancient and contemporary iconography, and cherished and elaborated on in the ancient texts. In the ancient icons and texts, Vishnu is presented as being blue colored. Simply speaking, the blue color of Vishnu depicts his all pervasiveness. The blue is the color of the sky. The ocean is also always blue. Also, both the sky and the ocean are endless and immense. Similarly, the blue color of Vishnu connotes that god is all pervasive and is present everywhere.

Nothing could be hidden from the eyes of god. Also, Vishnu is a male god who is always shown as having four arms. These four arms of Vishnu again convey the all pervasiveness of god, but albeit in a more elaborate way. The front two arms of Vishnu convey his pervasiveness in the physical world. The two arms at the back of Vishnu uphold him as a master and lord of the spiritual world. Surprisingly, in this way the ancient Hindus it seems to have done away with the dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual existence, or in Western terms, between the mind and the matter.

In most of the icons, Vishnu is shown as wearing a crown that conveys his sovereignty over the entire universe. Also, the earrings in both the ears of Vishnu convey the organization of the universe in terms of opposites that are good and bad, wise and foolish, big and small, beautiful and ugly and so on. Interestingly, while on the one side goodness, wisdom and beauty are shown as the accessories of Vishnu, he is equally adorned by evil, pettiness and ugliness. This in a way conveys the Hindu philosophical belief that the Universe can survive