Invitation To World Religion: Vishnu

A moral force in Hinduism are the gods that are prominent in visual art forms and poetries spread throughout India and around the world. These gods organized the teachings of Hindu traditions without the need for so much knowledge compacted into one book. One particular god that is highly significant and is revealed through iconography in religious art is Vishnu,the god of preservation. Vishnu preserves the universe and maintains the cosmic order of Dharma, protecting the moral order in all of existence. Thus we must take into account that his depiction is not just a beautiful icon on display but a force that can provide spiritual meaning into the lives of its followers. We must also understand the idea made in Invitation to World Religion
The most intriguing part about it is his four arms. Its figure is often seen between human and godly, therefore his four arms could indicate his powerful and pervasive nature, that he is concerned in protecting all directions of life. The placement of all arms also provide an insight that his presence remained both in the spiritual world and the physical existence of reality. Specifically in the Web Article, Eisler states the objects in each hand, and hose objects are: “A lotus that represents purity and beauty, a conch shell that stands for the sacred OM sound, mace for strength and the destruction of evil, and a chakra that symbolizes the mind, intelligence, and the end of self-delusion.” The lotus flower signifies not only beauty but compassion, the grace of a flower must be delicate, the conch shell creates an OM sound that call out to spiritual seekers, the mace to protect the good, and the chakra to remain balanced in our energy in all parts of our body. These characteristics benefit many devotees or followers who simply want to strengthen their relationship with the supreme being because they are praying with the deity instead of to it. The iconography helps them meditate by remaining focused on the journey within them to discover their true nature of self by presenting ideas like purity, strength, spirituality and intelligence through concrete
Considering both characteristics and color, its virtues are easily presented and are offered to individuals who are on the path of worshipping because it is an individual act that bring the devotee and the deity together. Brodd states “The sankrit word darshan is the intimate act of both seeing the deity and being looked upon by the divine” (126). The presence of this deity is signified by his godly counter parts and color that displayed him to be considerably different from a human but still resemble the figure of one, that instead of being a higher god that is unreachable, it was a worship that was felt with warmth and