Shenna87P79423 at 00:23, 17 March 2026

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{{Short description|Four emanations of Narayana in Hinduism}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=270|caption_align=center
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| header=''Caturvyūha''<br>The "Four emanations"
| image1 = Chaturvuyha Sankarshan Vasudeva 2nd century CE, Mathura Museum.jpg
| caption1 = The ''Caturvyūha'', showing the four emanation of [[Nārāyaṇa]],<ref name="DS209"/> or later [[Vishnu]].<ref name="CV">{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Pran Gopal |last2=Paul |first2=Debjani |title=Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations |journal=East and West |date=1989 |volume=39 |issue=1/4 |pages=132–136, for the photograph p.138 |jstor=29756891 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> 2nd century CE, [[Art of Mathura]], [[Mathura Museum]].<br>'''Front''': [[Vāsudeva]] (center) and his kinsmen emanating from him. [[Vāsudeva]] is four-armed, and is fittingly in the center with his decorated heavy mace on the side and holding a conch, his elder brother [[Balarama]] to his right under a serpent hood, his son [[Pradyumna]] to his left (lost), and his grandson [[Aniruddha]] on top.<ref name="CV"/>
| image2=Vishnu image rear view, background, Mathura Museum.jpg
| caption2 = '''Back''': [[Kadamba tree]] and branches showing their relationship. The back of the statue shows the trunk of a tree with branches, thus highlighting the genealogical relationship between the divinities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Pran Gopal |last2=Paul |first2=Debjani |title=Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations |journal=East and West |date=1989 |volume=39 |issue=1/4 |page=136 [26] |jstor=29756891 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref>
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'''''Caturvyūha''''' or '''''Chatur-vyūha''''' ({{Langx|sa|चतुर्व्यूह|lit=four emanations|translit=Caturvyūha}}), is an ancient Indian religious concept initially referring to the four earthly emanations ([[vyūha]]s) of the Supreme deity [[Nārāyaṇa]],<ref name="DS209"/> and later [[Viṣṇu]].<ref name="US439">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |page=439 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA439 |language=en}}</ref> The first of these emanations identified with the hero-god [[Vāsudeva]], with the other emanations being his kinsmen presented as extensions of Vāsudeva himself.<ref name="DS209"/> From around the 1st century CE, the Vyuha doctrine (''Vyūhavāda'') developed out of the earlier ''Vīravāda'' cult of the [[Vrishni heroes]], in which the five heroes [[Saṃkarṣaṇa]], [[Vāsudeva]], [[Pradyumna]], [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]] and [[Aniruddha]] had remained mostly human in character.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian History |date=1988 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=978-81-8424-568-4 |page=A222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&pg=SL1-PA222 |language=en}}</ref> Still later, around the 4th century CE, it evolved into the ''Avatāravāda'' system of incarnations of [[Vishnu]], in which Vishnu was the primordial being and the Vrishni heroes had become his avatars.<ref name="JS73">{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Julia |title=Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-43263-2 |pages=73–74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR73 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="US439"/>

==Concept and evolution==
The four earthly emanations, or ''"[[Vyuha]]s"'', are identified as [[Samkarshana]] ([[Balarama]]-Samkarshana, son of [[Vasudeva]] by [[Devaki]]),<ref name="US437">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |pages=436–438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA437 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="jgw127">{{cite book|author=Joanna Gottfried Williams|title=Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qoeAAAAIAAJ |year=1981|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-06498-2|pages=127–131}}</ref> [[Vāsudeva]] [[Krishna]] (son of [[Vasudeva]] by [[Devaki]]),<ref name="US437"/><ref name="jgw127"/> [[Pradyumna]] (son of Vasudeva Krishna by [[Rukmini]]),<ref name="US437" /> and [[Aniruddha]] (son of Pradyumna).<ref name="US436">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |pages=436–440 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA436 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Joanna Gottfried |title=Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India |date=1981 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-06498-0 |page=129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qoeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA129 |language=en}}</ref> They are probably similar the legendary [[Vrishni heroes]] of the [[Mathura]] region, minus [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]] (son of Vasudeva by [[Jambavati]]).<ref name="US437"/>

Originally, several of these earthly deities, particularly [[Vāsudeva]], seem to have formed one of several major independent cults, together with the cults of [[Narayana]], [[Shri]], and [[Lakshmi]], before they later coalesced to form [[Vishnuism]].<ref name="US"/> The actual cult of [[Vishnu]] only developed after these initial cults were established.<ref name="US">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |page=436 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA436 |language=en}}</ref>

The heroes would then have evolved into Vaishnavite deities through a step-by-step process: 1) deification of the Vrishni heroes 2) association with the God [[Narayana]]-[[Vishnu]] 3) incorporation into the [[Vyuha]] concept of successive emanations of the God.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms |journal=Archives of Asian Art |date=1979 |volume=32 |page=50 |jstor=20111096 }}</ref> Epigraphically, the deified status of Vāsudeva in particular is confirmed by his appearance on the coinage of [[Agathocles of Bactria]] (190-180 BCE) and by the devotional character of the [[Heliodorus pillar]] inscription (circa 110 BCE).<ref name="DS51"/> Later, the association with [[Narayana]] ([[Vishnu]]) is suggested by the [[Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions]] of the 1st century BCE.<ref name="DS51">{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms |journal=Archives of Asian Art |date=1979 |volume=32 |page=51 |jstor=20111096 |issn=0066-6637}}</ref>

==Kushan Caturvyuha (2nd century BCE)==
By the 2nd century CE, the "''avatara'' concept was in its infancy", and the depiction of Vishnu with his four emanations (the ''Chatur-vyūha''), consisting in the Vrishni heroes minus Samba, starts to become visible in art at the end of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] period.<ref name="US439"/> Starting with the [[art of Mathura]], Vāsudeva (avatar of [[Vishnu]]) fittingly appears in the center of the sculptural compositions, with his decorated heavy mace on the side and a conch shell in the hand, his elder brother [[Balarama]] to his right under a serpent hood and holding a drinking cup, his son [[Pradyumna]] to his left, and his grandson [[Aniruddha]] on top.<ref name="CV"/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Caturvyuha, Vasudeva with ornate crown and flower necklace, making the Abhaya Mudra.jpg|Vasudeva with ornate crown and flower necklace, making the [[Mudra|Abhaya Mudra]]
File:Caturvyuha, Balarama under his snake hood holding a cup.jpg|[[Samkarsana]]-[[Balarama]] under his snake hood holding a cup
File:Caturvyuha, vasudeva's mace held by one of his supplementary hands.jpg|Vasudeva's mace held by one of his supplementary hands
</gallery>

==Possible Bhita Caturvyuha (2nd century BCE)==
[[File:Bhita Caturvyuha Lucknow Museum.jpg|thumb|The Bhita statue in the [[Lucknow Museum]], with four characters standing around a central axis, has also been proposed as a ''Caturvyuha'',.<ref name="DS39">{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms |journal=Archives of Asian Art |date=1979 |volume=32 |pages=39–54 |jstor=20111096 |issn=0066-6637}}</ref> Vasudeva is standing at the front, and the seated lion, symbol of [[Samkarsana]], is visible on the left.]]
An ancient statue from [[Bhita]] near [[Allahabad]] ({{coord|25.308|81.794|display=inline}}), with four figures facing in four directions, now in the [[Lucknow Museum]], has been proposed to represent the ''Caturvyuha'' concept,<ref name="DS39"/> although interpretations vary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harle |first1=James C. |title=The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent |date=1994 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-06217-5 |page=490, note 34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwcBVvdqyBkC&pg=PA490 |language=en}}</ref> It is dated to the 2nd century BCE on stylistic grounds, being quite similar in style to the monumental [[Yaksha]] statues.<ref name="DS39"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joshi |first1=N. P. |title=Some Unnoticed Finds of Iconographic Interest |journal=East and West |date=1972 |volume=22 |issue=1/2 |pages=41–49 |jstor=29755743 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref>

The main figure is bigger than the others, wears a crown and earrings, as well as an ornate necklace and bracelets, and raises his hand in "[[mudra|abahaya mudra]]", a symbol of deification, and holds jar in the left hand.<ref name="DS39"/> The figure would be [[Vāsudeva]].<ref name="DS39"/><ref name="DS209">{{cite book |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art |date=1997 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10758-8 |pages=209–210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC&pg=PA209 |language=en}}</ref> To the proper right side of the crowned figure appears an unidentifiable face, and below it a seated lion.<ref name="DS39"/> This part could identified with [[Samkarsana]], combining anthropomorphic and [[theriomorphic]] characteristics, and later associated with [[Narasimha]].<ref name="DS39"/> On the proper left side of the crowned figure also appears an unidentifiable face, and below it a boar on a pedestal, standing on its hind legs, with the front legs joint in the ''[[namaskara|namaskāra]]'' gesture of prayer and devotion.<ref name="DS39"/> This could be [[Aniruddha]], later identified with [[Varaha]].<ref name="DS39"/> The figure on the reverse is devoid of ornamentation, the hair is parted in the middle and falls loosely, but both arms are broken, making it impossible to identify their attributes.<ref name="DS39"/> This could be [[Pradyumna]], later associated with [[Rudra]] and the fierce-looking Kāpila.<ref name="DS39"/>

This sculpture of the Caturvyuha shows the Vrishni heroes, but already associates them with their animal form.<ref name="DS39"/> This seems to prefigure the [[Vaikuntha Chaturmurti|Vishnu Chaturmurti]], in which [[Vishnu]], crowned with a halo, is also flanked by the images of [[Narasimha]] and [[Varaha]], with [[Kāpila]] in back as seen in the examples from [[Kashmir]].<ref name="DS39"/>

The general style of the figures is quite similar to that of the early [[Yaksha]]s, and it has been suggested that their role might have been understood as parallel: just as the Yakshas are considered as emanations of the Supreme deity [[Brahman]], the four Vyuhas are similarly emanations of [[Narayana]].<ref name="DS209"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Mathura Museum}}

[[Category:Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Forms of Vishnu]]

Caturvyūha - Revision history

Shenna87P79423 at 00:23, 17 March 2026