Vishnu

Marvel

Vishnu of Nirvana is one of the supreme gods of Hinduism in the Marvel Universe. He rules the Hindu gods alongside the creator-force Brahma and the destroyer-force Shiva. Together they form the Trimurti. Major decisions are voted upon by the three with the winning vote being their course of action. Of the three he often comes across as the most peaceful with a strong reverence for life. He is often referred to as the preservation-force. He is a member of the Council of Godheads and often attends meetings with the Trimurti. His role is to preserve the world and protect it from evil forces. He often does this by entering the world in an avatar to slay demons whenever they get too powerful.

One thousand years ago he attended a meeting of the Council of Godheads to discuss the threat of the Celestials. He was selected as a representative alongside Odin and Zeus. He joined them in attacking the Celestials, but relented when the Celestials threatened to destroy the link between his home of Nirvana and Earth. Alongside the other gods he had to vow not to interfere with Celestial plans for the Earth.

In more recent times, the thunder god Thor requested the Devas contribute energy to restore to life the the Asgardian gods who fell battling the Celestials. Vishnu voted to contribute the energies, but was opposed by Brahma and Shiva. Thor eventually forced Shiva to agree to give the energies.

Other interactions include sending Indra to aid a team of thunder and sun gods in battle against the Demogorge at the request of Odin. Alongside Brahma and Shiva he tested Thor for his worthiness to succeed Odin. Vishnu is the supreme god in his realm.

Origins

Vishnu is a four-armed, mighty-limbed god, who is associated with ‘preservation’, and is the veritable hero-figure among the gods of the Hindu pantheon. He is tremendously powerful, maybe the most powerful god there is. His strength, beauty, intellect, shrewdness, leadership and above all attractive personality make him the most loved and also the most worshipped god in the pantheon. The villains fear him greatly. Vishnu’s patent weapon is the Chakra, a circular disc that has immense power to cleave or destroy.

He is a part of the Great Trio – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – to whom the lesser gods led by Indra go for guidance and protection in times of need. He usually provides advice and strategy, but when needed, he takes the field himself.

Vishnu or most manifestations of Vishnu are explicitly represented as exquisitely beautiful and charming in appearance. Vishnu is, as a rule, a paragon of physical beauty and attractiveness. His beautiful figure, delicate features, sweet face, mighty and perfect limbs, powerful torso, – everything is praised in detail. If Vishnu is hailed as a mighty warrior (like Zeus), he is also hailed as a manifestation of great beauty (like Durga). The only time Vishnu was decisively beaten was when he faced off against the ‘Buffalo-demon’ Mahishasura.

Vishnu: Rama

Rama – An incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of Ramayana, the most popular king ever of Indian proverbs and legends, Rama was the prince of the state of Ajodhya. He was a very lovable figure, – beautiful to look at, gentle and mild in his behavior to everyone, brilliant student, a man of character and a very mighty fighter. The people of Ajodhya loved him like their own son. He had three brothers, – Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughna. Lakshman was the one who was always together with his elder brother. Both Rama and Lakshman were very talented warriors and very very strong in the body. With his fine qualities and perfectly handsome looks, Rama was the dream-prince of any princess.

Sita – The princess of Mithila, the daughter of the sage-king Janaka, Sita was the best princess in all India in Rama’s time. Best in terms of everything, be it beauty, qualities, courage, character, or kingly features. To marry her, the suitor had to string a mighty Bow, which Janaka had received as a gift from Shiva himself. The Bow was so mighty that no one could even lift it, let alone bend it or string it.

When Rama went to Mithila along with Lakshman, guided by Vishwamitra, a wise and powerful sage, he tried his hand at the feat. Rama approached the Bow, and lifted it with his mighty arm with great ease. Then he casually strung the Bow, and then with a breathtaking display of strength, he drew the string to taut that with a loud crack like thunder, the Bow broke into two.

Sita married Rama, and her three sisters married his three younger brothers.

There is a less known fact about Sita and the Bow. Every morning, when the princess used to tend the temple of Shiva herself, during cleaning the place she used to lift the Bow with one hand and clean the seat where it rested with the other. No king or prince who came to attempt the stringing feat knew about this little fact. If they did, no one would ever dare marry Sita. Sita was, in fact, an incarnation of Lakshmi.

Vishnu: Krishna

Krishna is another incarnation of Vishnu. He is the most popular avatar which Vishnu has, and also the mos intriguing one. Krishna plays a vastly multifaceted role throughout his life, ranging from fighter, seducer, adviser, adventurer, leader, kingmaker and king. His entire life, especially his childhood-teenage period, is a string of events highlighting his beauty, grace and strength.

Krishna was the brought up from after his birth as the son of Nanda, the king of the Gopa clan, who were by profession milkmen. Their life was centered on animal husbandry. They lived in a place called Gokula.

Krishna was the most beautiful, most appealing, most attractive being ever seen by anyone on earth. From the time when he was but a child, all the Gopinis (female Gopas) were enamored by him. He was too sexy for anyone, and he used to flirt with whole crowds of Gopinis all at once. Even the boys who were his playmates were enraptured by his physical beauty, and they openly sung his praise. Everyone loved him so much that they could die for him. Krishna was the heartthrob of entire Gokula.

Krishna had a complexion of pale blue (Vishnu’s complexion. Rama too was like that). His body was extremely beautiful. This is referred to in every hymn that praises Krishna, which praise his beauty elaborately. His face was more charming than that of the prettiest girl, and his features were more delicate than the tenderest maiden in Gokula. His limbs were perfect in form, muscular and yet cute in the sweetest way. His hands and feet were comparable to beautiful petals from the lotus. His ruby-red lips were adorned with a smile that conquered the world. His magnificent, soft, powerfully built breast was the wildest desire of any Gopini. The posture in which he stood, or sat, or did anything – brought out all his charms and sex appeal to the extreme extent, he had an eloquent, elegant body language that mesmerized all. His postures were proverbial. He was, for all intents and purposes, sensuality personified. The word ‘Krishna’ means ‘one who attracts’. He was Heracles, but he was also Aphrodite. One epithet of Krishna was ‘Madana-mohana’. Madana is the Hindu counterpart of Cupid. Madana-mohana means ‘one who enthralls Madana’.

“gopa madhura gavo madhura

yastir madhura shristhir madhura

dalitam madhuram phalitam madhuram

madhur-adipater akhilam madhuram”

Translation:

His boyfriends are sweet, his tame animals are sweet,

His cane is sweet, his creation is sweet,

His trampling is sweet, his fruition is sweet,

Everything is sweet about the Lord of Sweetness.

Krishna was a brilliant flutist and a virtuoso dancer. The sound of his flute had taken away the sleep from the eyes of every young lady in Gokula. When he danced, it was a scene to stand and watch. His beautiful feet moved like the heart’s desire of all people, and his wonderful body defined perfection and grace for the world to see.

Whenever Krishna killed any demon, he combined his fighting skill with a show of physical supremacy and breathtaking beauty. He slayed all his victims with an air of smiling ease, which made the encounters even more intimidating for the villains and even more arousing for any admiring bystander. The scene of a boy-sized Krishna vanquishing a building-sized monster by sort of thrashing him about was a common sight at Gokula.

When Krishna became a teenager, he naturally became the target for every Gopini. Krishna did not mind, he played with all the Gopinis at once on the bank of the river Yamuna. Not at single girl felt that she was deprived, everyone got Krishna to her heart’s content.

Krishna killed many demons. Two of the most famous of his exploits were the killing of Aristasura and the taming of Kaliya Naag.

Aristasura

Once a demon named Aristasura entered the village like a great bull with a gigantic body and horns, digging up the earth with his hooves. When the demon entered Vrindavana, it appeared that the whole land trembled, as if there were an earthquake. He roared fiercely, and after digging up the earth on the riverside, he entered the village proper. The fearful roaring of the bull was so piercing that some of the pregnant cows and women had miscarriages. Its body was so big, stout and strong that even the wild beasts fled at its sight. All the men and women were afflicted with great fear, and the cows and other animals deserted the village.

The situation became very terrible, and all the inhabitants of Vrindavana began to cry for divine help. Krishna also saw that the cows were running away, and he immediately took charge of the situation. He then appeared before Aristasura and challenged the demon, and the demon gave him battle. Krishna stood before the bull, resting a lithe, muscular arm on the shoulder of a friend, showing off his cool demeanor. Digging the earth with his hooves, Aristasura lifted his tail, and with red, bloodshot eyes he began to charge him. But Krishna immediately caught his horns and tossed him away. Although the demon appeared to be very tired and although he was perspiring, he took courage and got up. Again he charged Krishna with great force and anger. While rushing towards Krishna, he breathed very heavily. Krishna again caught his horns and threw him to the ground, breaking his horns.

Seeing the plight of the fallen demon, Krishna had burst into a ringing laughter. He smiled at his friends, and began to trample the demon’s body, just as one squeezes a wet cloth on the ground. Being thus trampled by Krishna, Aristasura rolled over and began to move his legs violently. Bleeding and passing stool and urine, his eyes starting from their sockets, he slowly died.

Kaliya

Within the river Yamuna there was a great lake, and in that lake the black serpent Kaliya used to live. Because of his poison, the whole area was so contaminated that it emanated a poisonous vapor twenty-four hours a day. If a bird happened to even pass over the spot, he would immediately fall down in the water and die. Due to the poisonous effect of the Yamuna’s vapors, the trees and grass near the bank of the Yamuna had all dried up. Krishna saw the effect of the great serpent’s poison: the whole river that ran before Vrindavana was now deadly.

Krishna planned to encounter the villainous snake one day, and he climbed a tree and dived into the lake directly. Everyone who saw him jump into the deadly water screamed in alarm and rushed to the side of the lake and shouted to him, asking him to come out of the lake immediately. But Krishna did not care, he swam about gracefully. When Krishna was swimming about, he made a tumultuous sound which the Kaliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him, and he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his home. Therefore he immediately came before Krishna. Kaliya saw that Krishna was indeed worth seeing because his body was so beautiful and delicate; but something was amiss. He was smiling with a casual smirk and was playing in the river, making a show of his great strength. Kaliya felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed Krishna with his mighty coils. Seeing the incredible way in which Krishna was enveloped in the coils of the serpent, the affectionate cowherd boys and inhabitants of Vrindavana immediately became stunned out of fear.

For two hours Krishna remained like an ordinary child gripped in the coils of Kaliya, but when he saw that all the inhabitants of Gokula – including his mother and father, the Gopinis, the boys and the cows -were just on the point of death out of anxiety and that they had no shelter for salvation, Krishna immediately set upon freeing himself. He began to flex his body, expanding and hardening his latent muscles and undulating them sinuously, and when the serpent tried to hold him, he felt a great strain. On account of the strain, his coils slackened, and he had no other alternative but to let loose Krishna from his grasp. Kaliya then became very angry, and his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his eyes blazed like fire, and flames issued from his mouth. The great serpent remained still for some time, looking at Krishna. His eyesight was full of poison.

Kaliya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but Krishna moved around him. Suddenly, Krishna pressed down the serpent’s hoods and jumped up on to them. Then he began to dance upon the hoods of the serpent, although they were moving to and fro. While Krishna was dancing on his hoods, Kaliya tried to push him down with some of his other hoods but Krishna parried them all. He began to dash Kaliya with his feet, and this was more than the serpent could bear. Gradually, Kaliya was reduced to struggling for his very life. He vomited all kinds of refuse and exhaled fire. Throwing up poisonous material from within, he began to struggle for existence and tried to raise one of his hoods to kill Krishna. Krishna immediately captured that hood and subdued it by kicking it and dancing on it. The poisons emanating from the mouth of the serpent appeared to be like flower offerings at the beautiful feet of the hero. Kaliya then began to vomit blood instead of poison; he was completely fatigued. His whole body appeared to be broken by the kicks of Krishna.

Kaliya was not killed by Krishna. He was warned severely and let off, and he escaped to the sea with his family.