My favourite God is Bhagavan Vishnu. And my favourite Goddess is Mahalakshmi Devi. Coming to their speciality, even the Vedas cannot describe their speciality fully; But, I will try to tell their speciality as per what is in my limited mind. But this alone isn’t Bhagavan Vishnu. Some people say, Lord Vishnu just looks like any other devata, but no, that’s not the whole picture. He is unique and special among all.
SPECIALITY IN ATTRIBUTES
He is full of all auspicious attributes. He possesses zero flaws. In the Bhagavata, during Lakshmi Svayamvara, Lakshmidevi comes with a varamala to garland Her husband. But Lakshmidevi sees dosha in every devata. She doesn’t point out a particular devata, but She still indirectly tells the doshas of the devatas. For example, She says, “Some are great in everything, but they still become angry. Will such people keep me, who is soft-hearted, happy? (Brahma).”
“Some have gained control over kaama, but got bewildered by an enchanting lady (Shiva). Some people have done great penance, but still quarrel, and some even drink. How can I stay with them? (Brihaspatyacharya and Shukracharya). Some people are great, but they kidnapped someone else’s wife (Chandra).” Like this. At last, She saw Lord Vishnu, who was sitting on the Mandara Parvata, in the form of Ajita. He had no desire at all. Lakshmidevi went to Him and said, “He is the perfect one. He doesn’t have any flaws in Him.”
“Those who say Rama obtained brahmahatya dosha, and installed Shivalinga after killing Ravana don’t know that Rama is flawless. Because He is the one who, at the time of Pralaya, does the samhaara of everyone, including even the brahmins. So, think: how many Shivalingas must He install for those Brahmins? Infinite, but does He do that? No. He joyfully sleeps on the banyan leaf. The people who think Krishna, the husband of our beloved Rukmini Devi, was lustful don’t know the true nature of Krishna.”
“Because if Krishna was lustful, then would great sages like Narada, Durvasa, etc. come to Krishna’s Dwaraka? The people who say Krishna has birth and death don’t know that Krishna is unborn. Because can Devaki hold such a Lord, in whose belly the whole universe is present? (Antastham yasya vishvam - VSN). No. So, He appears and is beyond birth and death. He is the only one who is even present after Pralaya.” Saying thus, Lakshmidevi garlanded Lord Vishnu and married Him.
She wanted a husband who never dies, who is never under anyone, who is the Supreme. So, She chose Lord Vishnu as Her husband. SriJagannatha Dasaru says that Lakshmidevi, in each second, sees new auspicious qualities in Lord Vishnu. He is always ever new for Lakshmidevi. He provides joy to Lakshmidevi; thus, He is known as Eesha.
SPECIALITY IN INCARNATIONS
Lord Vishnu has many incarnations. Generally, only 10 incarnations are known to us, though there are others as well. But we do not know all of them. The Vishnu Sahasranama itself praises Him as ‘Anantarooponantashreerjitamanyurbhayaapaha’; notice here the word Anantaroopa, which means He is infinite in form. He has five forms: Vaasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Narayana. He has 10 forms: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vaamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki. He has 24 forms: Keshava, Narayana, Maadhava, Govinda, Vishnu, Madhusudana, Trivikrama, Vaamana, Sridhara, Hrishikesha, Padmanabha, Daamodara, Sankarshana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Purushottama, Vaasudeva, Adhokshaja, Narasimha, Achyuta, Janardana, Upendra, Srihari, SriKrishna.
Not only this, He has 51 forms, which are known as the Maatruka roopas. He even has 100 roopas, like Aja, Turya, Vedavyasa, Gharma, Jhaatitaara, Matsya, Rama, Krishna, etc. He has 1000 forms: namely, Vishva, Vishnu, Vashatkaara, etc. Like this, He has infinite incarnations. He has gyaana avatars like Vedavyasa, Hayagriva, Aitareya, Kapila Vaasudeva, etc. And the speciality here is that there is no difference between the forms of Lord Vishnu. All are equal in all aspects, such as knowledge, strength, valor, beauty, opulence, mood, etc. Plus, Lakshmidevi also has infinite forms, which are wives for the infinite forms of Lord Vishnu.
SPECIALITY IN ALL-PERVASIVENESS
Lord Vishnu is all-pervading. That’s why He is known as Vishnu. Here, the speciality is that He is present everywhere. In His belly, the whole Brahmanda is present. In each of His hair strands, there are infinite Brahmandas. In those Brahmandas, He is present everywhere, and in everyone. Within those Lord Vishnus, who are present everywhere, in their hair strands too, there are infinite universes, and in each universe Lord Vishnu is present everywhere, in every human, every atom, every animal, every species, be it living or non-living. So, this goes on till eternity. This is the sheer and massive all-pervasiveness of Lord Vishnu. Even Lakshmidevi is always present with Lord Vishnu in all these pervading forms.
SPECIALITY IN OPULENCE
He Himself is the husband of Lakshmidevi, the Goddess of fortune and opulence. If you see opulence, He is the husband of Sridevi. If you see it in terms of ownership, He is the husband of Bhudevi. If you see it in terms of power, He is the husband of Durgadevi (Lakshmidevi Herself says She is Durga in the Lakshmi Tantra). Even though He is the husband of Sri, Bhu, and Durga, who are presiding deities of Satva, Rajas, and Tamas gunas, He is unaffected by these gunas. He doesn’t possess material qualities like birth, death, illness, weakness, etc. Therefore, He is known as Nirguna. The Vedas describe Him as the one who doesn’t suffer from any unauspiciousness; He doesn’t possess any flaws. If you see it in terms of purity, He is the father of Ganga. If you see it in terms of knowledge, He is Vedavyasa and Hayagriva Himself. If you see in terms of time, He Himself is Kaala naamaka Bhagavan, or time Himself.
If you see it in terms of beauty, He is the father of Kaamadeva. Lakshmidevi, while pressing the feet of Lord Vishnu, constantly gazes at Lord Vishnu’s toenails, which shine like a flawless diamond. Lakshmidevi thinks, if His one toenail is so beautiful, then how beautiful He Himself must be? If you see it in terms of superiority, He is the father of Brahmadeva, the creator. If you see it in seniority, He is the master of all the devatas. In terms of His abode, Vaikuntha is the Parampada, as the Rigveda itself says, “Tadvishnoh paramam padam, sadaa pashyanti soorayah”. Therefore, in the vidhis after the antya sanskara, we pray for the soul of the deceased to reach Vishnuloka or Vaikunthaloka.
Even the Mahabharata states that after Bhuloka (where we stay) comes Bhuvarloka (space), Svarloka (swarga, yamaloka, varunaloka, kuberaloka, etc.), Janoloka, Tapoloka (where Sanakaadi rishis stay). Then comes Satyaloka (which is the home of Brahmadeva. Here, the Dikpaalaka devatas, Lord Shiva with Umadevi, and Lakshminarayana are also there). After that comes the Vaikunthaloka. Lord Vishnu has three houses: Shvetadveepa, Anantasana, and Vaikuntha. That’s why He is known as Tridhaama or Trikakubdhaama. This Vaikuntha is Lakshmidevi Herself; therefore, it is eternal.
She is eternally inseparable from Lord Vishnu. She is present in Lord Vishnu’s heart (Yagya abhimaani Lakshmidevi), in the ornaments which Lord Vishnu wears, in the Chakra (in the form of Durga), in the Shankha (as Sridevi), in the Padma (as Bhudevi). She is present in the Peetambara of Lord Vishnu. She is present on His left thigh. She is present as half of Him (Dakshinadevi).
She is present in front of Him, praising Him with Vedic hymns (Vedaabhimaani Lakshmi). She is present as Sridevi on His left, Bhudevi at His right, and Durgadevi in front of Him. She is present as the whole Vaikuntha Herself. During Pralaya, when Lord Vishnu assumes His baalaroopa and sleeps on the banyan leaf, it is Sridevi who is the ksheerasagara; it is Bhudevi who is the banyan leaf, and it is Durgadevi who is the darkness spread over there. Thus, Lakshmidevi is inseparable from Narayana.
There are many, but if I keep on going, the answer itself will be a whole Purana. I think this much is sufficient.
Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!
