Vyūha ( Sanskrit: व्यूह) means - 'to arrange troops in a battle array (formation)', 'to arrange, put or place in order, to dispose, separate, divide, alter, transpose, disarrange, resolve (vowels syllables etc.)'. Its root is व्यः which means - a 'cover' or 'veil'. This word also refers to emanation and to the manifest power of Lord Vishnu. It has different meanings depending on the doctrine of the treatise and the context, such as revealing of the knowledge of Vedas, manifestation of Vishnu or Buddha, and the war formations of Mahabharata.

Vyūha in Hinduism

Vyūha in the Upanishads

In the Upanishads the word ''vyuha'' occurs once, in śloka 16 of the

Isha Upanishad The ''Isha Upanishad'' (Devanagari: ईशोपनिषद् IAST ') is one of the shortest Upanishads, embedded as the final chapter (''adhyāya'') of the Shukla Yajurveda. It is a ''Mukhya'' (primary, principal) Upanishad, and is known i ...

: :पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मिन्समूह , :तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि , , Pūṣannēkarṣē yama sūrya prājāpatya vyūha raśminsamūha tējō yattē rūpaṁ kalyāṇatamaṁ tattē paśyāmi yō̕sāvasau puruṣaḥ sō̕hamasmi :"O Sun, sole traveler of the Heavens, controller of all,

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...

, son of

Prajapati Prajapati ( sa, प्रजापति, Prajāpati, lord and protector of creation) is a Vedic deity of Hinduism. In later literature, Prajapati is identified with the creator god Brahma, but the term also connotes many different gods, depe ...

; remove thy rays and gather up the burning light. I behold thy glorious form; I am he, the Purusha within thee." In this passage ''vyūha'' means "remove" (to a distance). The sage declares that the Truth is concealed in the Vedas, covered by a golden lid or vessel Badarayana, by declaring – utpattyasambhavāt (उत्पत्त्यसम्भवात्) (Owing to the impossibility of origin) - Brahma Sutras (II.ii.42) refutes the

Bhagavata The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

view that the ''Chatur-vyūha'' forms originate successively from Vasudeva, for any origin for the soul is impossible, an implement cannot originate from its agent who wields it. Whereas in a ''vyūha'' an army re-sets its different able warriors and weaponry into a specific arrangement as per battle demands, the Supreme Being re-sets the contents of consciousness through yogamaya with each formation concealing yet another formation. The five layers of matter (''prakrti'') that constitute the human body are the five sheaths (''panchakosa''), one moves inwards from the visible layers through more refined invisible layers in search of own true self.

Vyūha in the Pāñcarātra Āgama: the Vaiśnava doctrine of manifestation

The Pāñcarātra Āgama, which are based on ''Ekāyana'' recension of the Śukla Yajurveda, is later than the Vedas but earlier than the Mahabharata. The main '' āgamas'' are the '' Vaiśnava'' (worship of Vishnu), the '' Śaiva'' (worship of Shiva) and the '' Śākta'' (worship of

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

or Shakti) ''āgamas''; all ''āgamas'' are elaborate systems of Vedic knowledge. According to Vedanta Desika, the ''Pāñcarātra āgama'' teaches the five-fold daily religious duty consisting of – ''abhigamana'', '' upādāna'', ''ijyā'', ''

svādhyāya (Devanagari: ) is a Sanskrit term which means self-study and especially the recitation of the Vedas and other sacred texts. It is also a broader concept with several meanings. In various schools of Hinduism, ''Svadhyaya'' is a Niyama (vir ...

'' and '' yoga'', the name of this ''āgama'' is derived on account of its description of the five-fold manifestation of the Supreme Being viz, ''para'' (supreme or the transcendental form), ''vyūha'' (formation or manifestation as the four ''vyūha''), ''vibhava'' (reincarnation or descent to earth as avtāra), ''arcā'' (visible image of God) and ''antaryāmi'' (cosmic form of God). Lakshmi accompanies Vishnu in His '' Chatur-vyūha'' (four-fold manifestation) as Vāsudeva (creator), Saṅkarṣaṇa (sustainer), Pradyumna (destroyer), and Aniruddha (spiritual knowledge promulgator). This is the ''Vaiśnava'' doctrine of ''Vyūha'' or ''the doctrine of formation''. The Chatur-vyūha forms of Vishnu are related to four of the six causes of creation which six are God Himself as the final cause of creation and His five aspects – Narāyana (thinking), Vāsudeva (feeling), Samkarśana (willing), Pradyumna (knowing), and Aniruddha (acting) successively. Each divinity controls its specific creative energy. The six gunas – '' jnana '' (omniscience), '' aishvarya '' (lordship), '' shakti '' (potency), ''

bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...

'' (force), '' virya '' (virtue) and ''tejas'' (self-sufficiency), acting in pairs and in totality, are the instruments and the subtle material of pure creation. ''Vyūhas'' are the first beings created, and they represent the effective parts of a coherent whole. Here, ''vyūha'' means – projection; the projection of the ''svarūpa'' ('own form') as ''bahurūpa'' ('manifest variously').

Vyūha in the Mahabharata: battle formations

The Mahabharata and the Manu Samhita list by name and formation many ''vyūhas'' ('battle formations'), some were small in size and others, gigantic, such as: # ''Ardha-chandra-vyūha'' ('crescent moon formation'), # ''Chakra-vyūha''('circular formation') a large formation was devised by the Kauravas in which

Abhimanyu Abhimanyu is a legendary warrior from the ancient Hindu history ''Mahabharata''. He was born to the third Pandava prince Arjuna and the Yadu princess Subhadra, who was Krishna's younger sister. The ''Sambhava Parva'' of the Adi Parva sta ...

, son of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

, was trapped never to emerge alive. # ''Garbha-vyūha'' ('womb-shaped formation'), # ''Makara-vyuha'' ('crocodile formation'), adopted by

Bhishma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic M ...

in the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War ( sa, कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध ), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the ''Mahabharata ( sa, महाभारत )''. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle be ...

# ''Mandala vyuha'' ('galaxy formation'), # ''Oormi vyuha'' ('ocean formation'), # ''Shakata-vyūha'' ('cart-shaped formation'), # ''Sarvatobhadra-vyūha'' ('grand formation'), # ''Suchi-vyūha'' ('needle-shaped formation'), # ''Shyena-vyuha'' (also called ''Garuda Vyuh'') ('eagle formation'). At the commencement of the Kurukshetra War which lasted for eighteen days, the Pandavas, being aware that Bhishma stood protected by the "makara vyuha" and was ready for battle, they had adopted the invincible "sheyna vyuha" with

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The ''Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. Af ...

leading stationed at the mouth and

stationed at the neck of the bird-shaped vyuha, and Yudhishthira patrolling the rear. # ''Vajra-vyūha'' was large a three-fold formation of warriors.

Vyūha in Buddhism

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the word ''vyūha'' means "arrangement", the like of marvelous, supernatural, magical arrangements, or supernatural manifestations. It is also extant in the Pali language, where it means "an array" or "grouping of troops." The term is also found among the titles of some

Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

. In Pure Land Buddhism, the character of Amitābha Buddha is elaborated upon in both the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra and the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. The term "Sukhāvatīvyūha" may translated as "description of

Sukhāvatī Sukhavati (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Sukhāvatī''; "Blissful") is a pure land of Amitābha in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism. It is also called the Land of Bliss or Western Pure Land, and is the most well-known o ...

". The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra has been translated as "The Basket’s Display".

References