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Home > Temples of Kerala > Caturvyuhas CaturvyuhasCaturvyuhasThe Bhagavata or the Pancaratra religion, which preaches the cult of Vishnu-Narayana, puts forth the theory that the Supreme Lord Vishnu has four aspects of manifestation. a. the para or the supreme; Para is the Supreme as He is in all His glory. Vibhava represents the incarnations already dealt with. Arca is the descent of the Lord into the icon ceremonially installed and worshipped in the temples. The Vyuhas or the emanations are four in number. Hence the term caturvyuhas, also called caturmurtis. They are: Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. According to Vaisnava mythologies, while Sri Krishna is Vasudeva, his brother Balarama is Sankarsana. Pradyumna and Aniruddha are Krishnas son and grandson respectively. Historically speaking, it is possible that these Yadava heroes were, in course of time, apotheosized into these Vyuhas. Symbologically, Vasudeva represents Citta (mind-stuff), whereas Sankarsana stands for Ahankara (egoity), Pradyumna for Buddhi (intellect) and Aniruddha for Manas (mind). They represent the cosmic psychological evolution. Later on, these Vyuhas were increased to as many as twenty four. Iconographically, all these Vyuhas are identical in appearance except for the arrangement of the four emblems Sankha, Cakra, Gada and Padma. The Pancaratra theology often adds another aspect of the manifestations, viz, the Antaryamin (the indweller), which obviously, cannot be represented through icons. Article courtsey : Sri Ramakrishna Math Mylapore, Chennai. Related Reading
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