''Para-Vasudeva'' () is a term found in the

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

tradition of Hinduism. It refers to the supreme and transcendental form of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, from which all of his manifestations emerge. The ''

shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

'' (divine energy) of this form of God is regarded to contribute to the ''

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

as,'' the material appearances of the deity on earth.

Description

The four '' vyuha''s (emanations) of Vasudeva are regarded to have emerged from Para-Vasudeva, identified with

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

, of which

Vāsudeva Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...

is described to possess the full measure of the six ''

guna Guna may refer to: People * Guna people, Indigenous peoples of Panama and Colombia Philosophy * Guṇa, a Hindu philosophical concept * Guṇa (Jainism), a philosophical concept Places * Guna district, in Madhya Pradesh, India ** Guna, Indi ...

''s (qualities) of '' jnana'', '' aishvarya'', ''shakti'', ''bala'', '' virya'', and ''tejas,'' while Samkarshana,

Pradyumna Pradyumna () is the eldest son of the Hindu deities Krishna and his wife Rukmini. He is considered to be one of the four vyuha avatars of Vishnu. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Pradyumna was the reincarnation of Kamadeva, the god of lov ...

, and

Aniruddha Aniruddha () is a character in Hindu mythology, the son of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, and the grandson of Krishna and Rukmini. He is said to have been very much like his grandfather, to the extent that he is considered by some to be a ''Jana ...

possessed only two of these qualities in turn. In the

Puranic Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

tradition, Vāsudeva is identified with

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, Samkarshana with

Balarama Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana. The fir ...

, Pradyumna with the son of Krishna from his chief consort

Rukmini Rukmini (, ) is a Devi, Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. She is described as the chief of Krishna's wives in Dvārakā. Rukmini is revered as the avatar of Lakshmi and is venerated primarily in Warkari, and Haridasa tradition, and ...

, and Aniruddha as the son of Pradyumna. Para-Vasudeva is described to will his consort, Sri-Lakshmi, in her aspects of ''bhuti'' (being) and ''kriya'' (doing) to produce the six qualities, which become the basis of all creation. In the

Gaudiya Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda dist ...

, the

Vallabha Vallabha, also known as Vallabhācārya or Vallabha Dīkṣita (May 7, 1478 – July 7, 1530 CE), was the founder of the Krishna, Kr̥ṣṇa-centered Pushtimarg, Puṣṭimārga sect of Vaishnavism, and propounded the philosophy of Shuddhadvait ...

, and the

Nimbarka Nimbarka, also known as Nimbarkacharya, Nimbaditya or Niyamananda, was a Hindu philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the theology of Svabhavika Bhedabheda, Dvaitādvaita (dvaita–advaita) or dualistic–non-dualistic sometimes kn ...

traditions, Para-Vasudeva refers to

, the ''

Svayam Bhagavan Svayam Bhagavan (; roughly: "God Itself") is a Sanskrit concept in Hinduism, referring to the absolute representation of Bhagavan (the title "Lord" or "God") as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in a monotheistic framework. The concept is ...

'', the absolute representation of God. In the

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

tradition, the term refers to Vishnu.

Literature

In the ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

'', Krishna is described to be the Para-Vasudeva:

References

{{reflist Vaishnavism Forms of Vishnu Forms of Krishna

Description

Literature

See also

References