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Vrishni heroes

Vrishni heroes
Vrishni heroes on the coinage of Agathocles of Bactria, circa 190-180 BCE: Samkarshana, with Gada mace and plow, and Vāsudeva, with Shankha (a pear-shaped case or conch) and Chakra wheel.[1][2][3] This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the two deities.[4] Another variation [1].[5]
The five Vrishni heroes Saṃkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Samba, Aniruddha standing around enthroned Narasimha. Kondamotu Vrishni heroes relief, 4th century CE, Hyderabad State Museum. The Vrishni heroes remained major divinities until the 5th century CE, when they lost preeminence to Vishnu.[6][7]

The Vrishni heroes (IAST: Vṛṣṇi vīras), also referred to as Pancha-viras (IAST: Pañca vīras; 'the five heroes'), are a group of five legendary, deified heroes who are found in the literature and archaeological sites of ancient India.[8][9] Their earliest worship is attestable in the clan of the Vrishnis near Mathura by 4th-century BCE.[8][10][11] Legends are associated with these deified heroes, some of which may be based on real, historical heroes of the Vrishni clan.[1][12] Their early worship has been variously described as cross-sectarian, much like the cult of the Yakshas, related to the early Bhagavata tradition of Hinduism, and with possible links to Jainism as well.[13] They and their legends – particularly of Krishna and Balarama – have been an important part of the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.[8][14][9]

The Vrishnis were already known in the late Vedic literature. They are also mentioned by Pāṇini in Astadhyayi verse 6.2.34, while Krishna is referred to as Krishna Varshneya ("the Vrishni") in verse 3.187.51 of the Mahabharata.[15] Beyond texts, their importance in ancient India is attested by the ancient inscriptions found near Mathura and coins discovered in the ruins of Ai-Khanoum (Afghanistan), bearing images of the two main Vrishni heroes, with Greek and Brahmi legends.[8]

The cult of the Vrishni heroes existed as an independent cult in Mathura, as suggested by the Mora Well Inscription, and was then amalgamated very progressively into Vaishnavism.[16] The deification of the Vrhisni heroes centered around the cult of Vasudeva-Krishna, known as Bhagavatism.[17] Epigraphical evidence suggests that their legends and worship swiftly expanded to other parts of India by the start of the common era.[11][18][19] The Vrishni heroes are generally identified as Samkarshana (Balarama-Samkarshana, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi and Devaki),[1][15] Vāsudeva (Vāsudeva-Krishna, another son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi and Devaki),[1][15] Pradyumna (son of Vāsudeva-Krishna and Rukmini),[1] Samba (son of Vāsudeva-Krishna and Jambavati),[1] and Aniruddha (son of Pradyumna).[18]

Probably as late as the 1st century CE, the cult of the Vrishni heroes (Vīravāda) retained more importance than the Vyuha doctrine (Vyūhavāda), the subsequent cult of emanations that evolved from the Vrishni hero cult.[20] Still later, it evolved into the Avatāravāda system of incarnations of Vishnu.[21] Overall, according to Doris Srinivasan, "the absorption of the Vrishni hero into the Vaishnava worship is very gradual. The amalgamation process was preceded and concurrent with a cult of several Vrishni heroes".[22]

The Vrishni heroes also have distinct individual qualities: Vāsudeva is also associated with gentleness and strength, Samkarsana with knowledge, Pradyumna with female power, Samba with male power and Aniruddha with ferociousness and sovereignty.[23]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. pp. 436–438. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
  2. ^ Srinivasan, Doris (1979). "Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms". Archives of Asian Art. 32: 50. ISSN 0066-6637. JSTOR 20111096.
  3. ^ Joshi, Nilakanth Purushottam (1979). Iconography of Balarāma. Abhinav Publications. p. 22. ISBN 978-81-7017-107-2.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference DS215 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2019. p. 44. ISBN 978-93-88414-31-9.
  6. ^ Indian History. Allied Publishers. 1988. p. A-224. ISBN 978-81-8424-568-4.
  7. ^ Austin, Christopher R. (2019). Pradyumna: Lover, Magician, and Son of the Avatara. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-19-005411-3.
  8. ^ a b c d Doris Srinivasan (1997). Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art. BRILL Academic. pp. 211–220, 236. ISBN 90-04-10758-4.
  9. ^ a b R Champakalakshmi (1990). H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy (ed.). Essays on Indian History and Culture. Mittal Publications. pp. 52–60. ISBN 978-81-7099-211-0.
  10. ^ Gavin D. Flood (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0.
  11. ^ a b Christopher Austin (2018). Diana Dimitrova and Tatiana Oranskaia (ed.). Divinizing in South Asian Traditions. Taylor & Francis. pp. 30–35. ISBN 978-1-351-12360-0.
  12. ^ Srinivasan, Doris (1979). "Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms". Archives of Asian Art. 32: 49–50. ISSN 0066-6637. JSTOR 20111096.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference SRQ211 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Lavanya Vemsani (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. ABC-CLIO. pp. 23–25, 239. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.;
    For their regional significance in contemporary Hinduism, see: [a] Couture, André; Schmid, Charlotte; Couture, Andre (2001). "The Harivaṃśa, the Goddess Ekānaṃśā, and the Iconography of the Vṛṣṇi Triads". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 121 (2): 173–192. doi:10.2307/606559. JSTOR 606559.; [b] Doris Srinivasan (1979). "Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms". Archives of Asian Art. 32: 39–54. JSTOR 20111096.
  15. ^ a b c Joanna Gottfried Williams (1981). Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India. BRILL. pp. 127–131. ISBN 90-04-06498-2.
  16. ^ "The absorption of the Vrishni heroes into the Vaishnava mainstream is very gradual. The amalgamation process was preceded and concurrent with a cult of the several Vrishni heroes. Inscriptional evidence indicates the existence of such cult in Mathura." in Srinivasan, Doris (1981). Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0.
  17. ^ Srinivasan, Doris (1981). Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0.
  18. ^ a b Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. pp. 436–440. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
  19. ^ Williams, Joanna Gottfried (1981). Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India. BRILL. p. 129. ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0.
  20. ^ Indian History. Allied Publishers. 1988. p. A222. ISBN 978-81-8424-568-4.
  21. ^ Shaw, Julia (2016). Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD. Routledge. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-1-315-43263-2.
  22. ^ Srinivasan, Doris (1981). Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India. BRILL. p. 129. ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0.
  23. ^ "Gentleness and strength are associated with Vasudeva, knowledge with Samkarsana, (Narasimha) female power with Pradyumna (Varaha) and ferociousness and sovereignty with Aniruddha (Kapila)." Kamalakar, G.; Veerender, M. (1993). Vishnu in Art, Thought & Literature. Birla Archeological & Cultural Research Institute. p. 92.
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