Description of the Supreme Lord Vishnu (Virat rupam)

Description of the Supreme Lord Vishnu (Virat rupam)

When one sits down in control, has subdued one's breath and has conquered one's attachment as also one's senses, one should focus one's attention upon the gross matter of the outer appearance of the Supreme Lord [the virāṭ-rūpa].

His individual body is this gross material world in which we experience all that belongs to the past, the present and the future of this universe in existence.

This outer shell of the universe which we know as a body consisting of seven coverings constitutes the notion of the object of the Universal Form of the Puruṣa [the Original Person] who is the Supreme Lord.

The lower worlds are by the ones who studied it recognized as the soles of His feet [called Pātāla] of which His heels and toes are called Rasātala, His ankles Mahātala while the shanks of the gigantic person are called the Talātala worlds.

The two knees of the Universal Form are called Sutala, the thighs Vitala and Atala and the hips are named Mahītala oh King.

Outer space is accepted as the depression of His navel. The higher, illumined worlds are His chest, with above it the neck called Mahar. His mouth is called Jana while Tapas is the name of the worlds of the forehead with Satyaloka [the world of Truth] as the uppermost of the [middle] worlds of the Original Personality who has a thousand heads.

The gods headed by Indra are His arms, the four directions are His ears and sound is His sense of hearing. The nostrils of the Supreme One are the Aśvinī- Kumāras [a type of demigods] while fragrance is His sense of smell and His mouth the blazing fire.

The sphere of outer space constitutes the pits of His eyes, while the eyeball of the sun makes up His seeing. The eyelids of Viṣhṇu are the day and night, the movements of His eyebrows are the supreme entity [Brahmā and the other demigods], His palate is the director of water [Varuna] and His tongue is the nectarine juice.

They say that the Vedic hymns are the thought process of the Unlimited One that His jaws make up Yamarāja [the Lord of death], His teeth are His affectionand that His smile is the most alluring, unsurpassable material energy [māyā].

Material creation is but the casting of His glance. Modesty is His upper lip, His chin stands for the hankering, religion is His breast and the path of irreligion is Hisback.

Brahmā is His genitals, His testicles are the Mitrā-varunas [the friends], His waist the oceans

and the stack of His bones are the mountains. His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of the Universal Form, oh King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing of the ages, Time, is His movement and the constant operation of the modes of material nature is His activity.

Let me tell you that the hairs on the head of the Supreme Controller are the clouds oh best of the Kurus, and that the intelligence of the Almighty One is the prime cause of the material creation, so one says. His mind, the reservoir of all changes, is known as the moon.

The material principle constitutes His consciousness, so one says, while Lord Śiva is the cause within [His ego, His self-]. The horse, mule, camel and elephant are His nails, and all other game and quadrupeds are represented in the region of His belt.

The singing of the birds is His artistic sense and Manu, the father of man forms the contents of His thought with humanity as His residence. The angelic and celestial beings [the Gandharvas, Vidyādharas and Caranas] constitute His musical rhythm while the remembrance of terrorizing soldiers represents His prowess.

With the intellectuals [brahmins] for the face and the rulers [kṣatriyas] for the arms of the Universal Form, the traders [vaiśyas] are the thighs and the laborers [śūdras, the dark or

'kṛṣṇa'-class] occupy His feet. Through the various names of the demigods He overtakes with the provision of feasible goods [that appease Him] by means of the performance of sacrifices.

All these locations in the Form of the Supreme Lord are explained to us so that anyone who may concentrate the mind on this virāṭ-rūpa Universal Form can attain through intelligence. Beyond Him as such there is nothing else to be found in the gross of matter. He who may be known in so many ways as the Super soul present in all forms, alike a dreamer who sees himself [in different situations], is the one and only Supreme Truth and ocean of bliss. One must direct oneself to Him alone and nothing else if one doesn't want to see oneself degraded by attachments.'