Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

11. Visions and Symbols

Fragment ID: 2066

1. Narayana is usually taken as a name of Vishnu – to the Vaishnavas He is the Supreme as Shiva is to the Shaivas. Both are cosmic Personalities of the Divine and both like Brahma have their original place in the overmind, although they take different forms to the human consciousness in the mental, vital and subtle physical planes.

2. Lakshmi is usually golden, not white. Saraswati is white.

3. The snake is simply a symbol of Energy or Power. Narayana in your vision is clearly Vishnu as is shown by the presence of Lakshmi and the single many-hooded snake.

4. Vishnu or Narayana in this image which is a normal Puranic image is the Lord of the waters of Space and Time – the Preserver of the principle of the Universe which he maintains as a seed in himself even in intervals between one creation and another. Out of that seed on his navel (the navel is the central seat of the Vital, the Life Principle) Brahma the creator arises in the Lotus (cosmic consciousness) which grows from it when Vishnu awakens from the intra-cyclic sleep. The snake Ananta is the Energy of the cosmic manifestation of the Infinite in Space-Time.