Vishnu
About This Book
Vishnu is the god who preserves the world, and he does it by repeatedly stepping into it in different forms. This short book from Devdutt Pattanaik asks the questions that most readers of Hindu stories eventually run into. Just how many avatars does Vishnu have? Is the Buddha counted among them? What does Vishnu share with the Bodhisattva of Buddhist thought? And what is each of these forms meant to stand for? The book looks closely at the link between Vishnu and the Goddess. One belief holds that he descends to earth whenever the Goddess is suffering, as Parashurama for Renuka and as Ram for Sita. Another says that each time he takes an avatar, the Goddess is born as well. Then there is the avatar who goes on a rampage and wipes out the Kshatriyas, yet also tries to protect the weeping earth goddess who appears before him in the form of a cow. Pattanaik also considers whether the sequence of avatars has anything in common with Darwin's theory of evolution, and he draws out the symbolism running through Vishnu's many personas. It is a brief, approachable read in the Devlok series, suited to anyone who wants to understand the stories and ideas behind one of Hinduism's central deities.
ISBN: 9789385990687
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