Vaiṣṇava (Vishnu) Iconography - Icons & Symbology

Vaiṣṇava  (Vishnu) Iconography - Icons & Symbology

The language of symbols develops when an attempt is made to represent something that is beyond the normal capacity of the human mind to understand.

A transcendent reality is expressed in terms of equivalents known as symbols.

All of human interaction is carried out through the use of symbols:

To represent a group in terms of quantity we use symbols called numbers. To represent ideas in terms of sound we use symbols known as words. To transmit words to others in a graphic manner we use the symbols of letters of the alphabet.

A symbol can be natural or conventional. When we perceive a direct relationship between one order of things with another a natural symbol develops.

In the Agamic cosmology symbolism is the expression of reality. It is the expression of the particular points where two worlds meet. The meeting points of the transcendental world with the material universe. The material world is a reflection of the transcendental world and therefore true symbolism springs from nature and is not invented by mankind.

However far back we reach in Indian thought as a whole we find a coherent use of symbols to represent abstractions.

The whole of Indian iconography is built up upon a code of symbols based on the assumption that there exists a natural affinity between ideas and forms. This code of symbols has come down from time out of mind, its origins are lost in the remote ages of prehistoric man.

Symbols do not speak to the rational mind and cannot be fully understood by logic, they are the subject of inner experience and spiritual realization. Symbols are the inner language of the unconscious mind.

In the Spiritual Realm (Parama Vyoman) God resides in the form of Para-Vāsudeva. He is adorned with the nine chief ornaments and weapons which represent the various cosmic principles of the universe.

1. Kaustubha (chest jewel) — jīvas

2. Śrīvatsa — prakṛti

3. Gadā (mace) — mahat (cosmic intelligence).

4. Śaṅkha (conch) — sāttvic ahaṁkāra

5. Śārṅga (bow) — tāmasic ahaṁkāra - the mind

6. Khaḍga (sword) — knowledge

7. Cakra (discus) — universal mind

8. Bāṇa (arrows) — five senses

9. vanamāla (garland) — elements

These  weapons  and  ornaments  are  not  regarded  as  mere  symbols  but  are  actually connected  with  the  principles  which  they  represent  as  the  presiding  deities. 

1. Kṣīra-Sāgara (Ksheera sagara )— Ocean of Milk:  

This symbolizes the state of undifferentiated unity of Prākriti (primordial matter) prior to creation of the universe. From liquid milk solid butter is churned — from the undifferentiated Prakriti differentiated solid matter arises.