Dictionary of Proper Names
Selected from Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works (1989/1996)
V
Vach in Rig-Veda; in Sri Aurobindo’s words: “the Goddess Speech eldest born of the world”; “the mother of the Vedas”; Vach is the expressive power of Adīti; in later scriptures she is called Saraswati.
Vaidehie Sītā daughter of Videha (q.v.)
Vaidyuta Agni Agni as Vidyuta (electricity).
Vaishampaian(a) teacher of the Krishna Yajur-Veda, disciple Veda Vyāsa; afterwards recited to the Mahabharata to Janamejaya.
Vaisheshikā one of the six Darshanas, written by the sage Kanada
Vaja(s) ‘Plenitude’, youngest of the three Ribhūs.
Vajasaneyi Isha Upanishad, being part of Vājasaneyi Samhita of Shukla Yajur-Veda.
Vājashravasa descendant of Vajashravas; patronymic of Nachiketas.
Vala in Veda, the chief of the Pānis.
Valahan epithet of Indra as slayer of Vala.
Valarus sent by Penthesilea to slay Achilles & his men who were coming to the rescue of the Hellenes. He was killed by Echemus & Ascanius.
Val駻y Paul Ambrose (1871-1945), French poet, essayist & critic, whose work is notable for the range & subtlety of its views & sensibility of its language.
Vāli/Bali king of the Vānaras of Kishkīndā; in the second duel with his younger brother Sūgriva, he was killed by Lord Rama.
Valkyries maidens who served the god Odin & were sent by him to the battlefields to choose the slain who were worthy of a place in Valhalla, the Scandinavian heaven for heroes he favoured (cf. Elysium). These foreboders of war rode to the battlefields on horses, wearing helmets & shields.
Vallabhācharya (1479-1531) founded the Vaishnava sect known as the Pushṭi-Mārga (Way of Divine Grace).
Vallabha Swami probably Swami Vallabhācharya. His followers in Bombay & Gujarat & their leaders are called the Epicureans of India.
Valmiki(e) wrote Rāmāyana, life of Lord Rama, (Lord Vishnu’s 7th Avatāra) even as it was unfolding, with himself as one of the persons directly involved in it.
Valois from 1328 to 1589, the Valois kings continued the work of unifying France & centralizing royal power begun under their predecessors, the Capetians (see Capet(s)).
Vāma Mārga left-hand path of the Tantra; the worship of Shakti, esp. as Kāli.
Vāmana son of Kashyapa & Adīti, he was the Dwarf-Incarnation of Vishnu. Bali, the most outstanding king of Asūras, had by his Tapasyā acquired dominion of all the three worlds. To remedy this, Vishnu came to him in the form of a child-mendicant requested as alms as much land as he could step over in three paces (see Bali)
Vānara the second type from below of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale. The Vānara is not the animal Ape, but man with the Ape nature. In this stage the mind of man is centred in the Prāṇa.
Vandal singular of Vandalii, the Germanic race from South Baltic between the rivers Vistula & Oder that, in 4th-5th centuries, ravaged Gaul, Spain, North Africa, & destroyed Rome. The term is used for one who damages, destroys, or defaces.
The Vanity of Human Wishes a didactic poem by Samuel Johnson.
Vanga (Vāngah) Vānga, one of the five divisions of Gauḍa made by Vallalasena, who ruled from 1159 to 1179 (see Bengal).
Varāha third of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. To recover the earth which had been dragged down to the bottom of the ocean by a demon named Hiranyāksha, Vishnu assumed the form of a boar &, after a contest lasting a thousand years, slew the demon & brought the earth up, lifting it on his tusks.
Varāhmihira (505-87), one of the Nava-Ratnas Vikramāditya of Ujjain, he was astrologer, astronomer, & mathematician. His Virāṭa Samhita covers all astrology & Paṅcha Siddhāntikā all astronomy.
Vārshneya epithet of Sri Krishna, as a descendant of Vrishny.
Vartabaha a nationalist journal published from Rangpur (q.v.).
Varūṇa/ Varouṇa (1) In Vedas, he represents the Ethereal Purity & Oceanic Wideness of the Infinite Truth; later he is one of the Ᾱdityas; in Puranas he is the lord of Water, i.e., all rivers & oceans. (2) Rig-Vedic Rishi, father of Bhrigu.
Vasantasenā/ Vasuntsenā heroine of Mricchakaṭika (Toy Cart q.v.) by King Shudraka (see Mālavas).
Vāsavaduttā heroine of Bhāśa’s play Swapna-Vāsavadutta, in which Darśaka, son & successor of Ajātaśatru (king of Magadha) is a brother-in-law of Udayana (see Avanti). However, some claim Sri Aurobindo’s play Vāsavadutta is based on a fable from Sōmadeva’s Kathāsaritsāgara.
Vasis(h)tha (Maitravāruni) Vasishtha is one of the Prajāpatis. A hymn of Rig-Veda represents him to have sprung from Mitra & Varuna, hence his patronymic Maitra Vāruni. He authored the 7th Mandala of the Rig Veda which describes his & his family’s role in the Battle of the Ten Kings (q.v.) making him the only mortal besides Bhāva to have a Rigvedic hymn dedicated to him. He also authored the Vasishtha Samhita – a book on the Vedic system of electional astrology. His wife Arundhati was a great Yogini. He was Kūla-guru of the Ikshvākūs. In the 7th, i.e., the present Manvantara, Vasīshtha was given Kāmadhenu, the Divine Cow, who fulfilled any wish expressed by her owner.
Vasudeva son of Surasena of the chandravamshi Yādava kūla; brother of Kūnti the mother of the Pandavas & father of Krishna.
Vāsudeva Sri Krishna as son of Vasudeva.
Vāsuki(e)/ Vāsuquie king of the Nāgas. He was used by the gods & Asūras as a rope wound round the mountain Mandāra at the churning of the Ocean.
Vāsuluxmie sister of Queen Dhārinie in Kālidāsa’s Mālavikāgnimitram.
Vāsu(s) eight godheads named thus in Vishnu Purana: Āpah (water), Dhrūva (pole-star), Sōma (moon), Dhava or Dharā (earth), Anīla (wind), Anala (fire), Pratyūṣa (dawn), & Prabhāsa (light); named differently in other scriptures. (See Bhīṣma)
Vatel a French cook, famous in the time of Louis XIV.
Vauban Sébastien le Prêtre de Vauban (1633-1707), French military engineer who revolutionized siege-craft & defensive fortification in the context of firearms.
Vāyu/ Vaiou the God of Wind; the master of Life; inspirer of that Breath or Dynamic energy called Prāṇa, which is represented in man by the vital & nervous activities. He is often associated with Indra riding in the same chariot with him. There are not many Vedic hymns addressed to him. Hanumān & Bhīma were his aṇśas.
Vega Lope Felix de Vega Carpio (1562-1635), an outstanding dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age.
Velasquez Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1660), painter of the Spanish school.
Vena in Vedas, Vena is mental delight of existence, creator of the sense-mind (s/a Sōma).
Venus Roman goddess of vegetation later identified with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty & fertility.
Venus Anadyomene Sri Aurobindo’s term for Goddess Vārunie who sprang up from the Milky Ocean somewhat like Aphrodite also known as Anadyomene.
Venus & Adonis one of the two narrative poems ascribed to Shakespeare
Venus Ourania Ourania is the Greek form of Uranian which Uranian was a title of Aphrodite who, according to Hesiod; sprang from the seed of Uranus, the sky-god. Since the Roman goddess Venus is identified with Aphrodite the latter’s title Uranian is applied in its Greek form Ourania.
Verlaine Paul (1844-96), French lyric poet of later 19th cent., who gained notice with his Parnassian poetry, & became a well-known in Bohemian literary circles of Paris.
Vibhishan(a) second brother of Rāvaṇa. When Rāvaṇa threw him out of Lanka for requesting him to return Sītā to Rāma who was an Avatāra, he surrendered himself to Rāma. After defeating Rāvaṇa, Rāma installed him on the throne of Lanka.
Vibhū or Vibhwa the Pervading/ the Self-diffusing; in the Veda, one of the three Ribhūs, the second in the order of their birth.
Vichitravīrya the second son of Shāntanu, the king of Hastināpūra & father of Bhīṣma) by Satyavati. He succeeded to the throne when his elder brother Chitrāngada was killed in battle. Bhīṣma sent by Satyavati to find a suitable wife for Vichitravīrya, defeated the suitors invited for the three daughters of the king of Kāshi – Ambikā, Ambālikā & Ambā, & brought all three to Hastināpura. When Amba refused because she was betrothed to another king, he returned her to her father. As Vichitravīrya died prematurely of consumption, Satyavati called her first son Veda Vyāsa to grant a son each to Ambikā & Ambālikā through his yogic powers. Their sons Dhṛitarāṣṭra & Pāndu were brought up by Bhīṣma. (S/a Vidura)
Victor Amadeus Victor Amadeus II (1666-1732), Duke of Savoy, the first king of Sardinia-Piedmont who established the foundation for the future Italian national state.
Victor Emmanuel probably Victor Emmanuel II (1820-78), Italian king of Sardinia-Piedmont & first king of united Italy (1861-78).
Victoria (1819-1901), Queen of England from 1837 & Empress of India from 1876.
Vicurna/ Vikarṇa youngest of Dhṛitarāṣṭra’s 100 sons. In the War, he joined the Pāndavas in protest against the insults & injustice meted out by his father & Duryōdhana to Sri Krishna who tried to prevent the fratricidal war.
Vidarbha kingdom in Mahārāshṭra later renamed Berar.
Videha ‘bodiless’, epithet of King Nimi, who had shed the body-ego. His successors also carried the same epithet – thus king Janaka was Videhi & his daughter Sītā Vaidehie. (2) Their kingdom Mithila & its people were also known as Videha(s).
Vidisha mentioned in Mahabharata & Ramayana, lay north-east of the Mālwā plateau. 1500 years of foreign domination corrupted Vidisha to Bhīlshā (see Devagiri).
Vidula the historical queen of Sauvira described in the Udyoga-parva of the Mahābhārata. She reproached her son Sanjaya for deserting the battlefield when facing defeat at hands of king of Sindhu; & sent him back into the battlefield with the result that Sanjaya returned victorious. (See The Mother to her Son)
Vidura son of Veda Vyāsa by a maid-servant of king Shāntanu’s queen Satyavatie (see Vichitravīrya). She, unlike Ambikā & Ambālikā, had not only not recoiled at the Sage’s appearance but even submitted herself to him with devotion & humility. Her son Vidura therefore inherited the Sage’s yogic capacities & turned out to be far more intuitive in Dharma & dharmic administration, hence Bhīṣma appointed him Dhṛitarāṣṭra’s chief minister. Vidura gave the best possible advice in all administrative matters & tried his best to dissuade Dhṛitarāṣṭra from blind indulgence of Duryodhana who was a tool in the hands of his maternal uncle Shakuni. When Vidura failed to stop the unleashing of the fratricidal war in Kurukshetra, he resigned & took up sanyāsa. He alone of the Kurus had from beginning realised the Divine in Krishna which is why Sri Krishna preferred his humble hospitality to Duryodhana’s opulent but false hospitality. In the end Dhṛitarāṣṭra & Gāndhāri had to join Vidura in the forest where all three perished in a purifying flash fire.
Vidyādhar(a) is used for Gāndharvas, Kinnaras, Yakshas, etc., inhabiting the regions between the earth & the sky & generally of benevolent disposition. They are attendants upon Indra, but they have their own chiefs & kings.
Vidyāpati/ Bidyapati (1360-1475?) of Mithila: Padāvali the collection of his poems written in Maithili bears affinities to Hindi & Bengali.
Vidyāranya (14th century) the name by which Mādhavāchārya (q.v.) was known after he became a Shankarite sannyasi. As chief counsellor to the kings of Vijayanagara, he had combined statesmanship, erudition, spiritual knowledge & sagacity in his works on the history & administration of the kingdom. As great a commentator on the Vedas as his more famous brother Sayāna, he wrote various subjects, the most famous being Panchadashi on Vedanta. Later he became the Shankarāchārya of Shringeri Math. He went a step beyond his guru who had devalued the central doctrine of the Isha Upanishad occurring in its very first Shloka, viz., “Doing verily works here one should wish to live a hundred years; thus it is with thee & it is not otherwise than this – action cleaveth not to a man.” [SABCL 27:322] Vidyāranya went the whole hog & excluded that Upanishad itself from his list of authoritative Upanishads.
Vidyāsāgara, Īśvara Chandra (1820-91) laboured like a Titan to create a new Bengali language & a new Bengali society. He is considered the father of Bengali prose. “Educationist, reformer, philanthropist: of a high-caste Brahmin family in reduced circumstances: educated at the Sanskrit College, Calcutta: studied Hindu philosophy & law & obtained the title of Vidyāsāgara in 1839: Head Pandit of the College of Fort William & Professor 1850: Principal 1851 of the Sanskrit College during which period mastered the English language. His first literary work was Betal Panchabinshati (1846) remarkable for purity of style. In 1851, on the death of Drinkwater Bethune, the Bethune school was placed under his care & he was associated with it for next 20 years. In 1855, he was appointed, in addition, Inspector of Schools & established several girls’ schools in Hughli & Burdwan. As a result of unremitting labour & strenuous agitation, Vidyāsāgara succeeded in inducing the Government to pass a measure in 1856 legalising the remarriage of Hindu widows. In 1858, in consequence of a difference of opinion with the Director of Public Instruction, he resigned his appointment: from 1864 he managed the Metropolitan Institution, Calcutta: Fellow of Calcutta Univ. in 1857: after leaving the public service, he continued to interest himself in educational questions, esp. of female education. He laboured to break down, by legislation, the system of polygamy, but without success: he started the widow-remarriage movement. Though persecuted for his reforming zeal, he never lost heart in his educational, social & philanthropic efforts. He published numerous works, chiefly in Bengali on education: a carriage accident in 1865 gravely affected his health. [Buckland]
Vijāpur was one of the eight tālukās of Kadi covering an area of 346 square miles of an exceedingly well-wooded plain with a light & sandy soil, for the river Khari crossing over its northern boundary & the Sabarmati flowing past its southern boundary. It was c.22km NE of Gujāria (q.v.) & very close to Pilvai (see Baroda). As a Gaikwādi Tālukā it contained two towns: Vijāpur (population, 8,510), the headquarters, & Iadol (6,641), & 107 villages. Its population fell from 156,113 in 1891 to 117,286 in 1901. In 1904-5 the land revenue was Rs. 1,85,000. It is now an important town in Mehsāna district of Gujarat.
Vijaya (1) in Kālidāsa’s Kumarasambhavam, a friend of Goddess Pārvati. (2) Some scholar(s) believe that the 6th century fresco in Ajanta caves of a king with horses & elephants aboard his ships crossing over to Lanka, may be of the king Vijaya who conquered Lanka & gave it the Buddhist name Sinhala.
Vijayanagar(a) “When the country falling from its old pure moral ideality & heroic intellectualism, weakened in fibre & sank towards hedonism & materialism, the centre of its culture & national life began to drift westward…it finally found its true equilibrium in the beautiful & aesthetic city of Ujjayini…a fit & noble capital of Hindu art, poetry & greatness throughout its most versatile & luxurious age…. [When] the nation began to crumble under the shock of new ideas & new forces [read Jihadi] the centre of gravity shifted southwards to Devagiri…& finally to Dravidian Vijayanagara, the last considerable seat of independent Hindu culture & national greatness.” [SABCL 3:215] The capital of Vijayanagara, founded in c.1336 was originally called Vidyānagara.
S.L. Karandikar: “More than two thousand years before Aurangzeb’s death (1707), a small event of far-reaching importance had happened in South India. It was the arrival at Calicut in May 1498 of a few Portuguese ships under Vasco de Gama. Sardar K.M. Pannikar (Asia under Western Dominance, pp.36-37) has explained the event thus: ‘The Vijayanagar Emperors had, in common with the Portuguese, the crusading spirit against the Mussalmans. Just as the presence of the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula & their Empire across the narrow straits of Gibraltar constituted a standing menace to the Portuguese, the presence of the Bahmini Sultanates on the borders of Vijayanagar provided that state with the powerful motive of safeguarding Hindu religion & culture in south India & of upholding national independence against Muslim powers.’ ” [Lōkamānya Bāl Gangādhar Tilak…:.5]
Buckland: The kingdom practically became extinct with the destruction of the city by Muslim forces in 1565. The site of the city on the Tungabhadra River is now partly occupied by the village of Hampi in Bellary district of Karnataka. In the 2nd half of 19th century, [by the Grace of the Euro-Christian Octopus] the state [=district] of Vizianagram (!) was ruled (sic) by Maharaja Sir Mirza (!?) Gajapati Rai Bahadur & his son Maharaja Sir Paśupati Ananda Gajapati Rai Bahadur both praised by (its) British Resident/Agent of the Gov.-Gen. [=Overlord] for their loyalty to Government. The first was made Member of Gov.-Gen.’s Legislative Council & granted a salute [!] & the second made [unarmed] K.C.I.E. (KnightCommanderoftheIndianEmpire) 1887 & [-do-] G.C.I.E. (K.GrandCom.ofthe I.E.) in 1892; admitted to Legislative Council, Madras.
Vijńānabhikshu a siddha of Sāṅkhya Yoga school of Kashi, perhaps its last Āchārya. He wrote commentaries on Sāṅkhya, Yoga & Vedanta.
Vijńāna(loka)/ Vijńānam the Truth-plane, the supramental world; the Mahar(loka).
Viking(s) 9th-11th century Scandinavian warriors or Norsemen (q.v.) on the coasts of Europe & the British Isles gave to that period the name ‘the Viking Age’. In Eastern Europe they were known as Varangirans.
Vikramāditya Prof. S. Bhattacharya: Sun of Prowess is a title assumed by various ancient Indian kings. Tradition associates the title with a king of Ujjayini who was a repository of prowess & all virtues, & was victorious over the Śakas. The Vikram Era dating from 58-57 BC is attributed to him. But Sober History [of Western & Indian Orientalists] does not know of any such king with the said title ruling in western India in the second half of the first century of the pre-Christian era. It was borne by several historical sovereigns, viz., Chandragupta II (AD 380-415), his grandson Skandagupta (AD 455-67), & several Chālukya kings, Viz., Vikramāditya I (655-80), Vikramāditya II (AD 733-46), Tribhuvanmalla (ASS 1009-16), & Vikramāditya or Vikramanka (AD 1076-1125). Of these several kings Chandragupta II, the 3rd Gupta emperor, who defeated the Śaka satraps, who had his capital Ujjaiyini & whose reign was marked by great intellectual achievements as well as by all-round peace & prosperity & in whose reign Kālidāsa probably (sic) flourished has been considered to have had the best claims for being considered as the original king Vikramāditya who later on passed into legends. [Bhattacharya based his article Orientalist Bhandārkar’s History of the Deccan]
Vikramorvasie Kālidāsa’s play Vikramorvasīyam; second of his three extant dramas.
Villa Francisco (‘Poncho’) (1878-1923), guerrilla leader of Mexico. In 1909 he joined Francisco Madero’s uprising against dictator Porfirio Diaz. In 1913, he joined Venustiano Carranza (q.v.)’s successful revolt against Dictator Huerta; but rivalry between them led to his escape from Mexico & assassination.
Villars Claude-Louis-Hector, duc de Villars (1653-1734), marshal of France, the last great general of Louis XIV, his most successful commander in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Villars was defeated by Marlborough (q.v.) & Eugene of Savoy at Malplaquet (1709), but thereafter he successfully defended the French frontier.
Vincent, Sir Howard Charles Edward (1849-1908); he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1885 & retained the seat until his death.
Viola character in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy Twelfth Night.
Virādha in Ramayana, a Rākshasa who attacked Rama in the Dandaka forest.
Virāngana Kāvya twenty-one Bengali epistolary poems by M. Madhusudan Dutt.
Virasena/ Verosegn in Kālidāsa’s Mālavikāgnimitram, brother of Queen Dhārinie.
Virāt(a) king of Matsya, where the Pandavas took refuge in their year of Ajñāta-vāsa. Virāṭa fought on their side in the war & was killed by Droṇāchārya.
Virāt/ Virât/ Virāt (Purusha)/ Virat Vaisvanara the Universal or Cosmic Soul; “God practical”; Lord of Waking-Life, who governs, preserves & maintains the sensible creation which Hiraṇyagarbha (q.v.) has shaped.
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 BC) Roman poet, author of Aeneid.
Viriathus (d.139 BC), leader of a Lusitanian rebel movement around 130 BC, in the Roman province of Farther Spain; he inflicted a series of severe defeats on Roman forces from c.147-139 BC. The rebellion collapsed soon after his assassination.
Vishn(o)u “Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva, are only three Powers & Personalities of the One Cosmic Godhead…. All three are often spoken of as creating the universe – even Shiva who is by tradition the Destroyer.” [SABCL 22:390-91; s/a The Great Gods)] ― In the Veda, Vishnou is the All-pervading Godhead, the Divine’s Personality of Consciousness, the wide-moving One, that which has gone abroad triply extending himself as Seer, Thinker, & Former in the Superconscient Bliss. Vishnu takes various Avatāras in every Yuga (q.v.) to protect & preserve the worlds threatened with evil, chaos, & destructive forces which is why in Vaishnavism, he is identified with the Brahman, the Supreme & also known as Nārāyana, Jagannātha, Vāsudeva, Viṭhobā, & Hari. His popular Avatāras are those as Rāma & Krishna. The Bhāgavata Purana, like all Puranas, discourses on cosmology, genealogy, geography, music, dance, yoga & culture. Puranic legends of Vishnu have inspired plays & dramatic arts that are acted out over festivals, particularly through performance arts such as the Sattriya, Manipuri dance, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Kathak, Bharatanātyam, Bhāgavata Mela & Mohiniyāttam. The Saṇgam literature refers to an extensive regional collection in Tamil language, mostly from the early centuries of the Common Era. Sri Krishna as Vishnu avatar is the primary subject of two post-Saṇgam Tamil epics Sīlapathikaram & Manimekalai, each of which was probably composed about the 5th century.
Vishnuchitta Vaishnava saint-poet of South India. The foremost among the Alwārs, he is generally known as Périyalwār (“Great Alwār”).
Vishnu Purana is one of the eighteen Mahā Purāṇas. It was the one he went through carefully, Sri Aurobindo said in an evening talk with disciples, for it describes most perfectly all the aspects of the Puranic scriptures.
The Vishnu Purana opens as a conversation between sage Maitreya & his guru, Rishi Parāshara (q.v.), with the sage asking, “What is the nature of this universe & everything that is in it?” More than any other major Purana, it presents its contents in the Panchalakshana format: Sarga, cosmogony, Pratisarga, cosmology, Manvantara, cosmic cycles, Vamsha, deals with gods & sages, & Vamshānu-charitam with chief human vamshas, dynasties or rather lines of human development.
The first Amsha (book) of this Purana deals with the creation, maintenance & destruction of the universe from which came the evolutionary theories of Sāṅkhya. It describes Vishnu as all that is & all that is not. It mentions all his epithets: Hari, Janārdana, Mādhava, Achyuta, Hrishikesha & others. The second book deals with the creation of our earth, its seven continents & seven oceans, mounts Meru, Mandāra & other major mountains, & Bhāratavarsha along with its numerous rivers & diverse people. The seven continents are named Jambu, Plaksha, Salmala, Kusha, Krauncha, Saka & Pūshkara, each surrounded by different types of liquids – salt water, fresh water, wine, sugarcane juice, clarified butter, liquid yoghurt, & milk. The third book describes the manvantaras; Manu’s ages or evolutionary cycles in which every Yuga (era, age) starts, matures & then dissolves. Six manvantaras, states the text, have already passed, & the current age belong to the seventh. In each Yuga (see Yugas), asserts the text, the Vedas are arranged into four, & it is challenged – this has happened twenty eight times already. In each manvantara, a Veda Vyāsa appears & he diligently organizes the eternal knowledge, with the aid of his students. Be diligent in the service of the gods, sages & guru, asserts the Purana, seek the welfare of all creatures, one’s own children & of one’s own soul. Anyone, regardless of his varṇa or stage of life, who lives a life according to the above duties, is the best worshipper of Vishnu. The fifth, the longest with 38 chapters, is dedicated to the life & works of Sri Krishna & its narration similar to that in Bhāgavata Purāṇa, of the Harivamsha in Mahābhārata, & several other Puranas. The sixth & last, the shortest with eight chapters, asserts that Kali Yuga is vicious, cruel & filled with evilness that create suffering, yet it is excellent because one can refuse to join the evil, devote oneself to Vishnu & thus achieve salvation. For the Jīva has a nature of its own: pure, composed of happiness & wisdom; the elements of ignorance, impurity & pain belong to Prakriti. The five Yamas, five Niyamas, Pranayama & Pratyahāra, compassion, truth, honesty, disinterestedness, self-restraint, yoga, meditation, contemplative devotion on Vishnu brings liberation, absorption in Vishnu, union with Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. Other chapters, esp. in 5th & 6th books, gave rise to various forms of Vedanta.
Vishwadevas/ Viswadevas/ Visve Devah/ Visvadevas the All-gods or all the gods; the universal collectivity of the divine powers.
Vis(h)wamitra born a Kshatriya, son of King Kushika or Kusinabha; by intense tapasyā he realised the Brahman & became one of the seven great Brahma-Rishis. He composed most of the hymns in the 3rd Mandala of the Rig-Veda, especially for his Gāyatri mantra. The Vishwāmitra of legend describes his persistent struggle for supremacy with Vasishtha & their reconciliation. Other legends describe his relationships with Rishi Jamādagni, Trishanku, Harishchandra, Lord Rama, & the Apsarā Menaka – resulting in the birth of Shakuṇtalā.
The Vision an English monthly magazine issued from Anandashram (Kanhangad, Kerala). Started in 1933, it contains the teachings of Swami Ramdas.
Visnagar a town in Baroda State, c.20 km NE of Mehsāna, c.20km NW of Vijāpur (q.v.), & c.20km north of Gojāria. All three are now part of the Mehsāna district with Mehsāna as district headquarters as it was in Baroda State.
Vishvakarman “doing or wroughting all”. A personification of the creative power of Twashtri (q.v.), in Rāmāyana, he builds the city of Lanka. He reveals the sciences of architecture & mechanics to men & is the patron deity of workmen, artisans, & artists.
Viṭhobā an incarnation of Vishnu who is the Ishta-Devatā of the Varkari sect of Mahārāshṭra & Karṇātaka. Tukārām the most famous poet-saint of that community was a senior contemporary of Shivaji on whom his songs of bhakti & teaching had a great influence.
Vittoria Corombona The White Devil of Vittoria Corombona a tragedy by J. Webster based on some events in Italy in 1581-85. Vittoria, tried for adultery & murder of her husband is sentenced to confinement, whence her lover Duke of Brachiano, carries her off & marries her but, in the end, she is killed & he is poisoned.
Vivas(w)vān “the bright one”, epithet of the Sūrya Deva.
Vivekacudāmaṇi spiritually & ethically inspiring verses by Ādi Shankarāchārya.
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) born Narendra Nath Dutta, educated at the General Assembly’s Institution, he took B.A. from Calcutta University in 1884, & was studying law when he became a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, & took up sanyāsa. He was received by princes & peasants of all the places he went to. In 1893 the Raja of Rāmnād sent him as Representative of Hinduism to the Parliament of Religions at Chicago & in 1896 he went to England & lectured on Vedantism. He returned to India in 1897, & founded the Ramakrishna Mission. Adding to the catholicity & universalism of the religious teachings of Sri Ramakrishna he added an emphasis on social service which was to be effected by improving character & developing the spirit of self-sacrifice. In 1897, Swami Vivekananda spent two months in Kashmir; the next year too, as his childhood love for Shiva deepened, he spent two months there & made his pilgrimage to Amarnāth. During those months, he realised that the concept of Hara-Gauri (Shiva & his Shakti Pārvati or Umā) manifesting in one physical body as Ardha-Nāreshwar signified the supreme synthesis of Vairāgya & the worship of the Divine Mother, the Ādya Shakti. He understood, he added, for the first time the concept of Ganga falling on Shiva’s head & meandering in & out amongst His matted locks, & her streams, waterfalls & rivers, uttering, as they find their way down to the plains below, uttering the eternal cry “Vyom! Vyom! Hara! Hara1”. On 25th July 1898, he joined the thousands of pilgrims en route to Amarnāth. On 2nd August 1898, his body covered with ashes, his face aflame & his body trembling with devotion he entered the shrine of Amarnāth & prostrated in adoration before the Lord. A profound mystical experience came to him, of which he never spoke, beyond saying that Shiva had appeared before him as Amarnāth (the Eternal Lord) & granted him the boon of Ichcha-mrityu, to die when he himself willed it. Shri Ramakrishna had prophesied regarding this disciple of his: “When he realizes who & what he is, he will no longer remain in the body!” In an evening talk with disciples, Sri Aurobindo explained that “When one says an amsha of a God manifests in a certain man, it is the man who develops into that God.” Following the pilgrimage to Amarnāth, the Swami’s devotion became concentrated on the Mother. During these days, he told his close disciples, that wherever he turned, he was conscious of the Presence of the Mother, as if she were a person in the room. His meditation on Kali became intense. One evening he had a vision of Her & feverishly wrote down his famous poem “Kali the Mother”, then went into Bhāva-samādhi.
In 1898, when Ashwini Kumar Dutt who met him at Almora in the Himalayas asked him, “But have you no faith in what the Congress is doing?” Swamiji replied: “No, I have not. But, of course, something is better than nothing, & it is good to push the sleeping nation from all sides to wake it up. Can you tell me what the Congress is doing for the masses? Do you think merely passing a few resolutions will bring you freedom? I have no faith in that. The masses must be awakened first.... But the essence of my religion is strength. The religion that does not infuse strength into the heart is no religion to me, be it of the Upanishads (Jñāna), the Gita (Karma) or the Bhāgavatam (bhakti). Strength is religion, & nothing is greater than strength.”
In 1900, he returned from the West, with broken health. In December 1901, when Tilak came to attend the annual Congress Session in Calcutta, he visited the Swami, who in spite of his bad health went to receive him at the ghāt. The two had a heart to heart talk at the Math. “Self-help,” the Swami told him, “should form the basis of our politics. Methods of obstruction, effective enough to bring our rulers to their knees cannot be eschewed.” In 1908, both Tilak & Sri Aurobindo were arrested & jailed. Thirty years later, in December, in a talk with his disciples, Sri Aurobindo said that the leaders of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal in his time were either yogis or disciples of yogis, behind whom was working the influence of Sri Ramakrishna & Swami Vivekananda. The movement with the secret societies became so formidable that in any other country with a political past it would have led to something like the French Revolution. In another talk he revealed: “It was Vivekananda, who used to come to me in Alipore Jail; he explained the Intuitive plane to me. For about two to three weeks, he gave me instructions regarding Intuition.”
Rajagopalachari, a Gandhian-turned-nationalist admitted: “Swami Vivekananda saved Hinduism & saved India. But for him we would have lost our religion & would not have gained our freedom.”
[Buckland; Bhattacharya; Karandikar; Internet on the Swami’s visits in Kashmir by Publication Department of Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Belur Math, Kolkata; World Union, Pondicherry, June 1995, p.22; Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo, A.B. Purani, 2007]
Volapuk a language invented in 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German cleric. Its grammar made it difficult to learn & it lost out to its more successful competitor Esperanto, which appeared in 1887.
Volsungsaga heroic saga of the Volsungs, descendants of Volsi, a legendary Icelandic king, based on earlier poetic data & probably compiled in 12th or 13th cent.
Voltaire Francois-Marie-Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778), French philosopher known for his crusade against tyranny, bigotry, & cruelty, & his wit, satire, & critical acumen. He produced more than fifty volumes & a huge correspondence.
Voronoff Serge (1866-1951), French surgeon & pathologist, specialist in transplantation of animal glands for thyroid deficiency & rejuvenation.
Vredenburg, E. wrote an article to Rupam (q.v.) on pictorial tradition in Indian art.
Vricōdar ‘Wolf-belly’, epithet of Bhīma, referring to his capacity to eat.
Vriddha Kshātra king of Sindhu & the father of Jayadratha.
Vrikas ‘the tearers’/ ‘wolves’ in Veda; occult enemies of human progress.
Vrindāvana/ Brindaban/ Brindabon/ Brindavan(a) The name Vrindāvana is derived from Vrinda, another name for the sacred Tulsi (basil) plant. It was named after Vrinda Devi, one of Krishna’s consorts. Four temples were built after Akbar’s visit, namely, Madan Mohan, Govinda Deva, Gopinath, & Jugal Kishore.
Vrishoparvan/ Vrishopurvan son of Rishi Kashyapa & Danu. He had a daughter named Surmishthā
Vrishny descendant of Yadu & ancestor of the Vrishnis or Vārshneyas.
Vrishtahavya a Vedic Rishi whose sons were the Upastutas.
Vritra/ Ahi Vritra/ Vritras in Veda, the Coverer who holds back the Light & the Waters, it hides from us our full powers & activities. Vritra, the Serpent (Ahi), is the grand adversary, for he obstructs with his coils of darkness all possibility of divine existence & divine action. Indra, the king of the gods, is constantly at war with him. The Vritras are powers & forces of Vritra that fulfil his function.
Vulcan Roman God of fire, particularly in its destructive aspects as volcanoes or conflagrations. Poetically he is given all the attributes of the Greek Hephaestus (q.v.).
Vuthsa/ Udaian/ Udayan Udayan (6th cent. BC) was king of Vatsa & was commonly called Vatsa rāja. He was a direct descendant of the Pandavas, & his capital was Kauśāmbi.
Vyārā now a small tribal town c.20 km east of Baroda at the foot of the hill on which was built the strategically located fort of Songadh (q.v.).
Vyās(a)/ Krishna Dvypaiana Vyāsa/ Krishna Dwypaiana Vyāsa/ Krishna of the Island/ Dwaipayana/ Dwypaian/ Veda Vyāsa The term Vyāsa means “an arranger”; Veda Vyāsa is the sage who compiled the Vedas. A son of Rishi Parāsara & Satyavati, he was known Krishna Dvaipāyana – Krishna (for his dark skin) of Dvaipāyana (of the dweepa, island in the Yamuna on which he was born). He composed the Mahābhārata with his trikāla-dhrīṣṭi; hence he himself appears in it (as Valmikie in his Rāmāyana). Sri Aurobindo: “We see no reason to disbelieve that the great sage Vyāsa, possessing supreme Yogic powers, was capable of imparting this divine vision to Sanjaya. If we are not incredulous about the wonderful power Western hypnosis, why should we be incredulous about the power of the great Vyāsa with his incomparable knowledge? In every page of history & in every activity of human life there is available ample evidence that a powerful man can impart his power to another. Heroic men of action like Napoleon & Ito prepared collaborators in their work by imparting their own power to fit recipients. Even a very ordinary Yogin having obtained some special power can impart his power to another for a little while or for a special purpose, what to speak of the great Vyāsa who was the world’s most accomplished genius & a man of extraordinary Yogic realisation.” [Introduction to the Message of the Gita, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 2017, p.53]