Vishnu as Navagunjara
Posted by Robert Beer on 11/17/2017 5:43:41 PM
Vishnu as Navagunjara
Painting by Siddhimuni and Surendra Man Sakya. 1996
Mineral pigments on cotton. 12" x 13.5".
This unusual composition by Siddhimuni depicts the green four-armed form of Vishnu, who is mounted upon his own 'universal form' known as Navagunjara, a creature composed of 'nine (nava) beautiful aspects (gunjara)'. As a composite creature the Navagunjara has the head of a cockerel, the neck of a peacock, the breast and hump of a white bull or cow, the waist and rump of a lion, the tail of a serpent, the raised right foreleg of a human hand holding a lotus, the lowered left foreleg of a tiger, and the lowered right and left rear legs of an elephant and a horse. According to Siddhimuni this composition depicts Vishnu in his vishvarupa or 'universal form', with the Navagunjara's nine animal components representing Vishnu's supreme control over the nine great planets (navagriha) of our cosmological world system.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu's divine manifestation as Navagunjara occurred during his eighth incarnation as Krishna: when, just before the great battle of Kurukshetra, Arjuna petitions Krishna to reveal all of his divine forms. Krishna then relates to Arjuna the vast number of spiritual and material forms and creatures of this world that are manifestations of his self, which include these verses:
"Of horses I am known as Uccaihshravas, who arose during the churning of the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airavata, and amongst men I am the world monarch. Of weapons I am the vajra. Amongst cows I am Surabhi. Of sexual desire I am Kandarpa, the god of love; and amongst serpents I am Vasuki. Of many-hooded nagas I am Ananta, and amongst water-dwellers I am Varuna. Amongst the ancestors I am Aryama, and amongst the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death. Amongst the daitya demons I am Prahlada, amongst subduers I am Time (kala), amongst beasts I am the lion, and amongst birds I am Garuda." (Bhagavad Gita. Chapter X; verses 27 to 30)
Krishna, as Vishnu, then manifests in his nine-animal aspect as Navagunjara: with the precious horse and elephant appearing as the two rear legs; the wish-fulfilling cow and the lion forming its body; the naga-serpent Vasuki forming its tail; and the monarch's human hand holding a red lotus as a symbol of Kamadeva (Kandarpa), the god of love. The peacock's blue neck, the cockerel's red head, and the tiger's yellow foreleg represent, amongst other things, Vishnu's control over the delusions of pride, lust and anger, and over the three gunas or qualities of nature - inertia (tamas), activity (rajas) and purity or equilibrium (sattva). The three feet of Navagunjara that stand upon the ground (horse, elephant and tiger) represent the 'three steps' (trivikrama) that were taken by Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vamana, the 'dwarf', when he measured the universe with three steps as the 'conqueror of the three worlds' (heavens, earth, and the infernal realms).
In Chapter XI of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna then goes on to reveal to Arjuna his universal form (vishvarupa) or omnipresent form (viratarupa) as the Supreme Being, with a multitude of heads, eyes, mouths and limbs, and with the whole of creation manifesting within his body. At this terrifying and wondrous vision Arjuna trembles, drops his bow and arrows, and with folded-palms he bows his head before Krishna-Vishnu, who again returns to his composite form as Navagunjara. This illustrated episode from the Bhagavad Gita is very popular in both Orissan art, and in the art of Nathdvara - a major pilgrimage site of Krishna in Rajasthan. In Nathdvara paintings Krishna is traditionally depicted in his complex blue-black universal form.
However, in the pata-chitra painting traditions of Orissa, Krishna is more commonly represented in the cosmic aspect of Navagunjara - with the palms-folded form of Arjuna standing before Navagunjara with his bow and arrows at his feet, and the background landscape depicting the temple and forested hilltop where Arjuna performed his spiritual penances. This legend is described in a version of the Mahabharata that was composed by the 15th century Orissan poet Sarala Dasa, although the story doesn't appear in any other versions of the Mahabharata or Bhagavad Gita. This legend relates how Arjuna was once performing penances upon a hilltop, when Vishnu as Krishna suddenly appeared before him in his ninefold form as Navagunjara. Arjuna is terrified, and raises his bow and arrow to shoot this strange creature, when suddenly he realizes that the creature's human hand that is proffering a lotus to him is actually the lotus-bearing hand of his lord, Vishnu. In repentance Arjuna drops his bow and arrow, and bows before the cosmic form of Vishnu as Navagunjara.
In this painting Siddhimuni has incorporated the landscape elements of Arjuna's forested hilltop temple into his composition, with the dark sky and ominous clouds emphasizing Vishnu's cosmic form, as he majestically rides upon the saddle-blanket of his 'universal self' holding his four attributes of a club, a lotus flower, his sudarshana-chakra, and his white panchajanya conch shell.
Painting by Siddhimuni and Surendra Man Sakya. 1996
Mineral pigments on cotton. 12" x 13.5".
This unusual composition by Siddhimuni depicts the green four-armed form of Vishnu, who is mounted upon his own 'universal form' known as Navagunjara, a creature composed of 'nine (nava) beautiful aspects (gunjara)'. As a composite creature the Navagunjara has the head of a cockerel, the neck of a peacock, the breast and hump of a white bull or cow, the waist and rump of a lion, the tail of a serpent, the raised right foreleg of a human hand holding a lotus, the lowered left foreleg of a tiger, and the lowered right and left rear legs of an elephant and a horse. According to Siddhimuni this composition depicts Vishnu in his vishvarupa or 'universal form', with the Navagunjara's nine animal components representing Vishnu's supreme control over the nine great planets (navagriha) of our cosmological world system.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu's divine manifestation as Navagunjara occurred during his eighth incarnation as Krishna: when, just before the great battle of Kurukshetra, Arjuna petitions Krishna to reveal all of his divine forms. Krishna then relates to Arjuna the vast number of spiritual and material forms and creatures of this world that are manifestations of his self, which include these verses:
"Of horses I am known as Uccaihshravas, who arose during the churning of the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airavata, and amongst men I am the world monarch. Of weapons I am the vajra. Amongst cows I am Surabhi. Of sexual desire I am Kandarpa, the god of love; and amongst serpents I am Vasuki. Of many-hooded nagas I am Ananta, and amongst water-dwellers I am Varuna. Amongst the ancestors I am Aryama, and amongst the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death. Amongst the daitya demons I am Prahlada, amongst subduers I am Time (kala), amongst beasts I am the lion, and amongst birds I am Garuda." (Bhagavad Gita. Chapter X; verses 27 to 30)
Krishna, as Vishnu, then manifests in his nine-animal aspect as Navagunjara: with the precious horse and elephant appearing as the two rear legs; the wish-fulfilling cow and the lion forming its body; the naga-serpent Vasuki forming its tail; and the monarch's human hand holding a red lotus as a symbol of Kamadeva (Kandarpa), the god of love. The peacock's blue neck, the cockerel's red head, and the tiger's yellow foreleg represent, amongst other things, Vishnu's control over the delusions of pride, lust and anger, and over the three gunas or qualities of nature - inertia (tamas), activity (rajas) and purity or equilibrium (sattva). The three feet of Navagunjara that stand upon the ground (horse, elephant and tiger) represent the 'three steps' (trivikrama) that were taken by Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vamana, the 'dwarf', when he measured the universe with three steps as the 'conqueror of the three worlds' (heavens, earth, and the infernal realms).
In Chapter XI of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna then goes on to reveal to Arjuna his universal form (vishvarupa) or omnipresent form (viratarupa) as the Supreme Being, with a multitude of heads, eyes, mouths and limbs, and with the whole of creation manifesting within his body. At this terrifying and wondrous vision Arjuna trembles, drops his bow and arrows, and with folded-palms he bows his head before Krishna-Vishnu, who again returns to his composite form as Navagunjara. This illustrated episode from the Bhagavad Gita is very popular in both Orissan art, and in the art of Nathdvara - a major pilgrimage site of Krishna in Rajasthan. In Nathdvara paintings Krishna is traditionally depicted in his complex blue-black universal form.
However, in the pata-chitra painting traditions of Orissa, Krishna is more commonly represented in the cosmic aspect of Navagunjara - with the palms-folded form of Arjuna standing before Navagunjara with his bow and arrows at his feet, and the background landscape depicting the temple and forested hilltop where Arjuna performed his spiritual penances. This legend is described in a version of the Mahabharata that was composed by the 15th century Orissan poet Sarala Dasa, although the story doesn't appear in any other versions of the Mahabharata or Bhagavad Gita. This legend relates how Arjuna was once performing penances upon a hilltop, when Vishnu as Krishna suddenly appeared before him in his ninefold form as Navagunjara. Arjuna is terrified, and raises his bow and arrow to shoot this strange creature, when suddenly he realizes that the creature's human hand that is proffering a lotus to him is actually the lotus-bearing hand of his lord, Vishnu. In repentance Arjuna drops his bow and arrow, and bows before the cosmic form of Vishnu as Navagunjara.
In this painting Siddhimuni has incorporated the landscape elements of Arjuna's forested hilltop temple into his composition, with the dark sky and ominous clouds emphasizing Vishnu's cosmic form, as he majestically rides upon the saddle-blanket of his 'universal self' holding his four attributes of a club, a lotus flower, his sudarshana-chakra, and his white panchajanya conch shell.
