Yajna (avatar)

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Yajna
God of Sacrifices[1]
Vishnu as Yajna
AffiliationVaishnavism
TextsPuranas

A yajna sacrifice being performed. Vishnu as Yajñeśvara is considered the deity of sacrifice.

Yajna (

Svayambhuva Manu
. His father is Ruci, and his mother is Ākūti.

Literature

The Bhagavata Purana,

Kalpa
) of Vishnu.

Yajna is the son of

Svayambhuva Manu - the first Manu (progenitor of mankind).[4] During the period of Svayambhuva Manu (Svayambhuva Manvantara), there was no qualified Indra, the post of the king of Svarga (Heaven) and the king of gods. So, Vishnu incarnated as Yajna and held the post of Indra.[4][6]

The Bhagavata Purana mentions that Ruchi begot one son and one daughter by his wife, Akuti. Of the two children born of Akuti, the male child was directly an incarnation of Vishnu, and his name was Yajna, which is another name of Vishnu. The female child was a partial incarnation of Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, the eternal consort of Vishnu. Svayambhuva Manu very gladly brought home the beautiful boy named Yajna, and Ruchi, his son-in-law, kept with him the daughter, Dakshina. Later, Yajna married Dakshina and had twelve sons. These twelve devas (gods) are collectively called the Yāmas.[4][7] After Yajna's birth, he lived at the house of his grandfather Svayambhuva Manu. The sons to Yajna and Dakshina are named as Tosha, Pratosha, Santosha, Bhadra, Sânti, Idaspati, Idhma, Kavi, Vibhu, Svahna, Sudeva, and Rocana. They are collectively called as the Tushita gods. Later Yajna is described to become the Indra.[4][8] The Garuda Purana says that he performed many sacrifices.[5]

Another

Harivamsa and Linga Purana relate this to the origin of the constellation (Nakshatra) Mrigashīrsha ("deer-headed"). The creator god Brahma elevated the deer-headed Yajna to the planetary sphere as Mrigashīrsha.[9][10]

Association with sacrifice

Vishnu has been equated to Yajna ("sacrifice") as in the

Bhagavad Gita also associates Vishnu to Yajna (sacrifice). Performing sacrifices is considered equivalent to pleasing Vishnu.[11] The Vishnu Sahasranama ("Thousand names of Vishnu") also relates Yajna as a name of Vishnu.[13]

Notes

  1. ^ "Bhadratanu's Story [Chapter 17]". 31 October 2019.
  2. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (1 January 1970). "Yajneshvara, Yajñeśvara, Yajna-ishvara: 8 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  3. ^ Suresh Chandra. Encyclopaedia of Hindu gods and goddesses. Sarup & Sons. pp. 371, 26.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mani p. 890
  5. ^ a b Bibek Debroy, Dipavali Debroy. The Garuda Purana. Lulu.com. p. 133.
  6. Prabhupada. "Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.12"
    . The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Bhagavata Purana, Book 4: Chapter 1: Verse 6". Vedabase.
  8. ^ Anand Aadhar. "Bhagavata Purana Canto 4, chap. 1:Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu". Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  9. ^ John Dowson. A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology, and religion, geography, history. Asian Educational Services. p. 371.
  10. ^ Horace Hayman Wilson. The Vishnu Purana. Vol. 1. BiblioBazaar, LLC. pp. 176–7, 180.
  11. ^ a b Robert D. Baird. Robert Neil Minor (ed.). Modern Indian interpreters of the Bhagavadgita. SUNY Press. p. 214.
  12. ^ Nagendra Kr Singh. Vedic mythology. APH Publishing. p. 253.
  13. ^ Vijaya Kumar. "Name 445". The Thousand Names of Vishnu. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 558.

References

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