Vishvakarman (विश्वकर्मन्)
This universe is a coherent, systematic output and its architectural prototype founder was Vishvakarma.
परिचयः ॥ Introduction
Vishvakarma was the famous architect, engineer and sculptor of the Gods and as his very name suggests, he was the maker of practically every imaginable product.
He was the son of Prabhasa (eighth Vasu) and Yogasiddhi (sister of Brihaspati). When he had completed his Gurukula-vasa (living in the house of the Guru for education) his Guru and his family made some impossible demands as Guru-dakshina (fees) such as an eternally new house, indestructible clothes and so on. So, he performed penance, pleased Shiva and got divine power by which he became an expert in all fields of arts and crafts.[1]
वैदिकसाहित्ये विश्वकर्मा ॥ Vishvakarma in Vedic Literature
The two hymns of Rigveda i.e. 10.81 and 10.82 refer to Vishvakarma.
Rigveda 10.81 – Seven mantras – The Rishi is Vishvakarma Bhauvana, Devata is Vishvakarma and Metres are Trishtup and Viradrupa.
य इमा विश्वा भुवनानि जुह्वदृषिर्होता न्यसीदत्पिता नः । स आशिषा द्रविणमिच्छमानः प्रथमच्छदवराँ आ विवेश ॥ ya imā viśvā bhuvanāni juhvad ṛṣir hotā nyasīdat pitā naḥ | sa āśiṣā draviṇam icchamānaḥ prathamacchad avarām̐ ā viveśa ||
Meaning: He who sat down as Hotar-priest, the Rishi, or father, offering up all things existing, - He, seeking through his wish a great possession, came among men on earth as archetypal.
किं स्विदासीदधिष्ठानमारम्भणं कतमत्स्वित्कथासीत् । यतो भूमिं जनयन्विश्वकर्मा वि द्यामौर्णोन्महिना विश्वचक्षाः ॥ kiṃ svid āsīd adhiṣṭhānam ārambhaṇaṃ katamat svit kathāsīt | yato bhūmiṃ janayan viśvakarmā vi dyām aurṇon mahinā viśvacakṣāḥ ||
Meaning: What was the station? What was the material? How was (it done)? So that the beholder of all, Vishvakarma (was) the originator and disclosed heaven by his might.
विश्वतश्चक्षुरुत विश्वतोमुखो विश्वतोबाहुरुत विश्वतस्पात् । सं बाहुभ्यां धमति सं पतत्रैर्द्यावाभूमी जनयन्देव एकः ॥ viśvataścakṣur uta viśvatomukho viśvatobāhur uta viśvataspāt | sam bāhubhyāṃ dhamati sam patatrair dyāvābhūmī janayan deva ekaḥ ||
Meaning: Having eyes everywhere, and having a face everywhere, having arms everywhere, and having feet everywhere, he traverses (heaven) with his arms, (earth) with his swift-moving (feet), and exists as a deity without companion originating the heaven and the earth.
किं स्विद्वनं क उ स वृक्ष आस यतो द्यावापृथिवी निष्टतक्षुः । मनीषिणो मनसा पृच्छतेदु तद्यदध्यतिष्ठद्भुवनानि धारयन् ॥ kiṃ svid vanaṃ ka u sa vṛkṣa āsa yato dyāvāpṛthivī niṣṭatakṣuḥ | manīṣiṇo manasā pṛcchated u tad yad adhyatiṣṭhad bhuvanāni dhārayan ||
Meaning: Which was the forest, which the tree, from which they fabricated heaven and earth? Inquire, sages, in your minds what he was stationed in when holding the worlds.
या ते धामानि परमाणि यावमा या मध्यमा विश्वकर्मन्नुतेमा । शिक्षा सखिभ्यो हविषि स्वधावः स्वयं यजस्व तन्वं वृधानः ॥ yā te dhāmāni paramāṇi yāvamā yā madhyamā viśvakarmann utemā | śikṣā sakhibhyo haviṣi svadhāvaḥ svayaṃ yajasva tanvaṃ vṛdhānaḥ ||
Meaning: Grant to your friends, Vishvakarma, at the oblation, your best, your worst and your intermediate forms, and to these do you yourself, possessor of the oblation, becoming augmented in person (by oblations), offer worship.
विश्वकर्मन्हविषा वावृधानः स्वयं यजस्व पृथिवीमुत द्याम् । मुह्यन्त्वन्ये अभितो जनास इहास्माकं मघवा सूरिरस्तु ॥ viśvakarman haviṣā vāvṛdhānaḥ svayaṃ yajasva pṛthivīm uta dyām | muhyantvanye abhito janāsa ihāsmākam maghavā sūrir astu ||
Meaning: Vishvakarma, magnified by the oblation, do you of yourself worship earth and heaven; let other men (who offer no oblations) be everywhere confounded; may he, rich in oblations, be the granter of heaven at this our (yajna).
वाचस्पतिं विश्वकर्माणमूतये मनोजुवं वाजे अद्या हुवेम । स नो विश्वानि हवनानि जोषद्विश्वशम्भूरवसे साधुकर्मा ॥ vācaspatiṃ viśvakarmāṇam ūtaye manojuvaṃ vāje adyā huvema | sa no viśvāni havanāni joṣad viśvaśambhūr avase sādhukarmā ||
Meaning: Let us this day invoke for our protection the lord of speech, the creator of all, who is swift as thought; may he, the bestower of all happiness, the doer of good works, be propitiated by all our oblations, (so as) to grant us his protection. Rigveda 10.82 – Seven mantras – Rishi is Vishvakarma Bhauvana, Devata is Vishvakarma and Metre is Trishtup.
चक्षुषः पिता मनसा हि धीरो घृतमेने अजनन्नन्नमाने । यदेदन्ता अददृहन्त पूर्व आदिद्द्यावापृथिवी अप्रथेताम् ॥ cakṣuṣaḥ pitā manasā hi dhīro ghṛtam ene ajanan nannamāne | yaded antā adadṛhanta pūrva ād id dyāvāpṛthivī aprathetām ||
Meaning: The maker of the senses, resolute in mind, engendered the water, (and then) these two (heaven and earth) floating (on the waters); when those ancient boundaries were fixed, then the heaven and earth were expanded.
विश्वकर्मा विमना आद्विहाया धाता विधाता परमोत संदृक् । तेषामिष्टानि समिषा मदन्ति यत्रा सप्तऋषीन्पर एकमाहुः ॥ viśvakarmā vimanā ād vihāyā dhātā vidhātā paramota saṃdṛk | teṣām iṣṭāni sam iṣā madanti yatrā saptaṛṣīn para ekam āhuḥ ||
Meaning: Vishvakarma, of comprehensive mind and manifold greatness, is all-pervading, the creator, the arranger and the supreme supervisor; him in whom the desires of their (senses) are satisfied with food, they call second line of the mantra: him in whom they delight their forms with water, him, those who are skilled in Vishvakarma.
यो नः पिता जनिता यो विधाता धामानि वेद भुवनानि विश्वा । यो देवानां नामधा एक एव तं सम्प्रश्नं भुवना यन्त्यन्या ॥ yo naḥ pitā janitā yo vidhātā dhāmāni veda bhuvanāni viśvā | yo devānāṃ nāmadhā eka eva taṃ sampraśnam bhuvanā yanty anyā ||
Meaning: He who is our preserver, our parent, the creator (of all), who knows our abodes (and knows) all beings, who is the name-giver of the deities - he is one; other beings come to him to inquire.
त आयजन्त द्रविणं समस्मा ऋषयः पूर्वे जरितारो न भूना । असूर्ते सूर्ते रजसि निषत्ते ये भूतानि समकृण्वन्निमानि ॥ ta āyajanta draviṇaṃ samasmā ṛṣayaḥ pūrve jaritāro na bhūnā | asūrte sūrte rajasi niṣatte ye bhūtāni samakṛṇvann imāni ||
Meaning: Those ancient Rishis who adorned (with light) these beings in the animate and inanimate world, offer to him wealth (of yajna) as praisers with abundant (laudation).
परो दिवा पर एना पृथिव्या परो देवेभिरसुरैर्यदस्ति । कं स्विद्गर्भं प्रथमं दध्र आपो यत्र देवाः समपश्यन्त विश्वे ॥ paro divā para enā pṛthivyā paro devebhir asurair yad asti | kaṃ svid garbham prathamaṃ dadhra āpo yatra devāḥ samapaśyanta viśve ||
Meaning: What was that embryo which was beyond the heaven, beyond this earth, beyond the deities, beyond the asuras, which the waters first retained, in which all the deities contemplated each other?
तमिद्गर्भं प्रथमं दध्र आपो यत्र देवाः समगच्छन्त विश्वे । अजस्य नाभावध्येकमर्पितं यस्मिन्विश्वानि भुवनानि तस्थुः ॥ tam id garbham prathamaṃ dadhra āpo yatra devāḥ samagacchanta viśve | ajasya nābhāvadhyekam arpitaṃ yasmin viśvāni bhuvanāni tasthuḥ ||
Meaning: The waters verily first retained the embryo in which all the deities were aggregated, single deposited on the navel of the unborn (creator), in which all beings abide.
न तं विदाथ य इमा जजानान्यद्युष्माकमन्तरं बभूव । नीहारेण प्रावृता जल्प्या चासुतृप उक्थशासश्चरन्ति ॥ na taṃ vidātha ya imā jajānānyad yuṣmākam antaram babhūva | nīhāreṇa prāvṛtā jalpyā cāsutṛpa ukthaśāsaś caranti ||
Meaning: You know not him who has produced these (beings); (his life) is another, different from yours; wrapped in fog, and foolish speech (do they) wander (who are) gluttonous and engaged in devotion.[2] The mantras 10.81.2 and 10.81.4 ask questions that ‘what was the base (from where he created the world), what was the material (out of which he fashioned the earth), what was the forest and the tree from which heaven and earth were chiselled out’. The Taittirya Brahmana (2.8.9.6) states that the answer to the question in 10.81.4 is that –
ब्रह्म वनं ब्रह्म स वृक्ष आसीद्यतो द्यावापृथिवी निष्टतक्षु:। मनीषिणो मनसा विब्रवीमि वो ब्रह्म अध्यतिष्ठद्भुवनानि धारयन्॥ brahma vanaṁ brahma sa vr̥kṣa āsīdyatō dyāvāpr̥thivī niṣṭatakṣu:। manīṣiṇō manasā vibravīmi vō brahma adhyatiṣṭhadbhuvanāni dhārayan॥
Meaning: Brahma was the forest and the tree from which they chiselled heaven and earth (and worlds).[3]
विश्वकर्मण: कर्माणि ॥ Vishvakarma in Action
Some noteworthy creations of Vishvakarma are[4] –
- Hiranyapura, so called the great remarkable city that belonged to the Daitya’s and the Danava’s was built with much labour by Vishvakarma and devised by Maya, lies in the Patala district.
- Varuna’s trumpet, Shankha, was skilfully fashioned by Vishvakarma from a thousand gold coins.
- Yama’s dwelling, called Samyamana, is described as being marvellously beautiful and his Assembly hall, Sabha, which was built by Vishvakarma shone like bright gold.
- Kubera’s palace (bhavana) which was built by Vishvakarma, shone like the white-yellow cloud and was edged with gold.
- Kubera’s chariot, (vahana or vimana) called Pushpaka, which was built by Vishvakarma, was ornamented with painted edges and went wherever one wished.
Lanka was also Vishvakarma’s brain child. He designed the Sthapatya Upaveda (of the Atharvaveda) and is the presiding deity of the 64 art forms. He has an important role in the Sarvamedha yajna ritual. Sometimes, he is also called as Tvashta. He had also designed armaments like the Agneya-astra.[5]
One day, Sri Krishna, in the form of an animal, was slain by a hunter. A pious King, Indradyumna came upon his bones. Krishna instructed the King to have an image made of him and to place the bones inside. The great artisan Vishvakarma agreed to create the idol, providing that the King would not look at it until it was finished. The impatient King kept pestering Vishvakarma. Finally, after fifteen days he became so annoyed that he stopped his creation, leaving it without hands or feet which became famous as the Lord Jagannatha.
Indra’s fabulous horses were produced by Vishvakarma and he constructed the chariots of the Gods. When his daughter Sanjna was unable to stand the dazzling brightness of her husband Sun, he shaved off one eighth of his rays. With the shavings, Vishvakarma gave Nala material for his work on the bridge and forged metal make weapons for the Gods. He also forged Shiva’s trident, Kartikeya’s spear and Vishnu’s Sudarshana discus.
The Yadavas are the descendants of King Yadu. When Krishna became weary of the battling demons, he assigned the divine architect Vishvakarma the task of building a new kingdom. Upon completion, he led the Yadavas to their new home, the fortress city of Dvarka. Their first King was Ugrasena and the Queen was his spouse Pavanarekha, the mother of the demon Kansa. Many Yadavas perished in the great flood but the survivors became the ancestors of Kings.[6]
According to the Valmiki Ramayana[7], Vishvakarma created a great Vanara by name Nala to help Sri Rama build the bridge to Lanka.
विश्वकर्मा त्वजनयन्, नलं नाम महाहरिम् ॥ (Valmiki Ramayana, 1.17.11) viśvakarmā tvajanayan, nalaṁ nāma mahāharim ॥
मूर्तिविवरणम् ॥ Iconography
Western and Northern India represent Vishvakarma as an elderly and wise man with four arms, a white beard, and his Vahana, a hamsa (goose or swan). The swan as Vahana links his association with the creator god Brahma. He is often depicted seated on a throne with his sons standing nearby.
In Eastern states of India like Jharkhand and West Bengal, he is portrayed as a young, muscular man with a black mustache, and not accompanied by his sons and Vahana elephant, linking him with Indra or Brihaspati. In both regions, the similar aspect is that Vishvakarma is always holding creation tools.[8]
विश्वकर्मण: जयंती ॥ Vishvakarma Jayanti
Vishvakarma Puja is an annual celebration that takes place in September or October, which marks the transition of the Sun from Simha Rashi (Leo) to Kanya Rashi (Virgo). This festival is primarily observed by architects, engineers, and skilled laborers including mechanics, music professionals, factory workers, smiths, welders, and industrial workers from the north and northeast regions of India.[9]
There are many Sanskrit hymns and mantras about Vishvakarma which can be accessed here.
विश्वकर्मण: मंदिरम् ॥ Vishvakarma Temple
The Vishvakarma temple in Guwahati is touted as one of the oldest and few temples in the world dedicated to the Hindu lord. This temple, established in the year 1965, is situated at the base of the popular Kamakhya Temple in the foothills of Nilachal Hills, and was founded by a priest of the Kamakhya temple, called Bhabakanta Sarmah, in association with Mahabir Prasad Dhirasaria. Every year, on September 17, devotees from all across the word gather here in large number to celebrate Vishvakarma Puja.[10]
Thus, let us know our rich roots and be proud of our ancient civilization. We can conclude with the line of Mark Twain, ‘The Indian may seem poor to we rich Westerners but in matters of the spirit it is we who are the paupers and they who are millionaires.’
References
- ↑ Swami Harshananda (2008), A Concise Encyclopaedia of HINDUISM, Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math.
- ↑ H H Wilson (1866), Rgveda Samhita, Delhi: Parimal Publications.
- ↑ P V Kane (1962), History of Dharmasastra, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
- ↑ V Fausboll (1972), Indian Mythology, Varanasi: Bhartiya Vidya Prakashan.
- ↑ Sudhirchandra Sarkar (1388), Pauranika Abhidhana, Kolkata: M C Sarkar & Sons.
- ↑ Charles Russell Coulter (2000), Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities, London: Taylor & Francis.
- ↑ Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Sarga 17
- ↑ Sadrish Dabadi (2023), Vishakarma: The Divine Architect of Devas, https://vedicfeed.com/vishwakarma/: Vedicfeed
- ↑ Sadrish Dabadi (2023), Vishakarma: The Divine Architect of Devas
- ↑ Times Travel Editor (2018), Vishwakarma Puja Special: All about world's oldest Vishwakarma Temple in Guwahati, Guwahati: Travel Trends.