THE FAMILY OF VISHNU.

Mt. Meru is the center of the world. At the upper part of this mountain, there is a heaven called Vaikuntha the whole of which is made of gold and jewels. At the pond, lotus flowers of blue, red and white are in full bloom.

In this glorious heaven lived Vishnu and Lakshmi. Garuda served both of them as their vehicle.

The people of the Vishnu sect in Hinduism put the symbolic mark of a 'V ' on their foreheads.



[VISHNU]

One of the three main Indian Gods. The preserver of the universe.

Gentle and merciful Vishnu incarnates as various Gods in order to reform unjustness and vice on the earth. Ten of these incarnations are especially famous and include Krishna, Rama, the prince of the Indian epic "Ramayana", and Buddha. Recently, it is thought that the father of Indian Independence, Mahatma Gandhi, and the poet Rabindranath Tagore are also incarnations of Vishnu.

Vishnu's important weapon is the Cakra discus, a sharp-edged tool which spins rapidly. It is thrown like a boomerang to cut the enemy.

In esoteric Buddhism, Vishnu is painted as "Bichuten" in mandalas, but this is almost unknown.



[KRISHNA]

The God that Indians love and admire most.

Krishna, which means "Black God", has great wisdom and beauty. From childhood, he had mysterious powers and won fame for bravery when he conquered Indra, the Devi land Dragons. He had unrestrained love affairs with 16,000 cowherders, and loved a married woman, Rada, most. He is also expert at
music and dance.

He is an existence embodying the idea of love, "Bhakti", which is totally different from the self-imposed life of strict discipline as a means to reach nirvana.