Nandaka
Nandaka (
In
Legend
According to the Agni Purana, the creator-god Brahma was performing a sacrifice on Mount Meru. The hundred-armed asura Loha obstructed the same. Vishnu manifested before Brahma from the sacrificial fire. Vishnu seized the sword called Nandaka from the asura and unsheathed it. The sword is described as blue-hued with a gem-studded handle. Wielding his mace, the asura drove several heavenly beings from the mountain. Vishnu slew the asura with the sword; the severed parts of the asura's body fell on earth and turned into iron due to their contact with Nandaka. Vishnu blessed the asura that his fallen body-parts will be employed for the manufacture of weapons on earth.[2]
Literature
Vishnu is usually depicted as
Nandaka is mentioned as the sword of Vishnu's
The
In a rare depiction in the Sheshashayi Vishnu panel of the Gupta temple at
Symbolism
The
The Krishna Upanishad equates the sword to the destroyer god Shiva. It says that the 'Great God' (Maheshvara, an epithet of Shiva) takes the form of a flaming sword of knowledge, one that destroys ignorance.[1]
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59477-733-2.
- ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2021-11-14). "The characteristics of the royal fan (cāmara-lakṣaṇa) [Chapter 245]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ISBN 978-0-14-306762-7.
- ^ Desai pp. 14-6
- ^ Desai pp. 102-3
- ]
- JSTOR 3248789.
- ^ The Orissa Historical Research Journal. Superintendent, Research and Museum, Orissa. 1985. p. 88.
- ISBN 978-81-7020-894-5.
References
- Dr. Kalpana Desai (31 December 2013). Iconography of Visnu. Abhinav Publications. GGKEY:GSELHU3JH6D.