Vyūha

 ( Hindu Philosophical Concepts ) 

Vyūha () 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, and the war formations of Mahabharata.

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Vyūha in Hinduism

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Vyūha in the Upanishads In the Upanishads the word vyūha occurs once, in śloka 16 of the Isha Upanishad:

पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मिन्समूह |

तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ||

Pūṣann ekarṣe yama Sūrya Prājāpatya vyūha raśmin samūha, tejo yat te rūpaṁ kalyāṇatamaṁ tat te paśyāmi yo 'sāv asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi.

"O Sun, sole traveler of the Heavens, controller of all, Sūrya, son of Prajāpati; 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 Bādarāyaṇa, by declaring – utpatty-asambhavāt (उत्पत्त्यसम्भवात्) (Owing to the impossibility of origin) - Brahma Sutras (II.ii.42) refutes the Bhāgavata view that the Catur-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 ( pañcakośa), one moves inwards from the visible layers through more refined invisible layers in search of own true self.

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Vyūha in the Pāñcarātra Āgama: the Vaiṣṇava doctrine of manifestation The Pancaratra, which are based on Ekāyana recension of the Yajurveda, is later than the Vedas but earlier than the Mahabharata. The main āgamas are the Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu), the Shaivism (worship of Shiva) and the Shaktism (worship of Devi 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 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 Vaiṣṇava doctrine of Vyūha or the doctrine of formation.

S.M.Srinivasa Chari (1994). 9788120810983, Motilal Banarsidass. . ISBN 9788120810983

The Chatur-vyūha forms of Viṣṇu 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 – Narāyaṇa (thinking), Vāsudeva (feeling), Sankarśana (willing), Pradyumna (knowing), and Aniruddha (acting) successively. Each divinity controls its specific creative energy.

The six gunas – jnana (omniscience), aishvarya (lordship), shakti (potency), Five Strengths (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.

(1977). 9783447017435, Otto Harrassaowitz. . ISBN 9783447017435

Here, vyūha means – projection; the projection of the svarūpa ('own form') as bahurūpa ('manifest variously').

Julius Lipner (2012). 9781135240608, Routledge. . ISBN 9781135240608

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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:

(2026). 9788131708514, Pearson publication. . ISBN 9788131708514

1. Ardha-chandra-vyūha ('crescent moon formation'),
2. Chakravyuha ('circular formation') a large formation was devised by the in which Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, was trapped never to emerge alive.
3. Garbha-vyūha ('womb-shaped formation'),
4. Makara-vyuha ('crocodile formation'), adopted by Bhishma in the Kurukshetra War
5. Mandala vyuha ('galaxy formation'),
6. Oormi vyuha ('ocean formation'),
7. Shakata-vyūha ('cart-shaped formation'),
8. Sarvatobhadra-vyūha ('grand formation'),
9. Suchi-vyūha ('needle-shaped formation'),
10. Shyena-vyuha (also called Garuda Vyuh) ('eagle formation'). At the commencement of the Kurukshetra War which lasted for eighteen days, the , being aware that Bhishma stood protected by the "makara vyuha" and was ready for battle, they had adopted the invincible "sheyna vyuha" with Bhima leading stationed at the mouth and Arjuna stationed at the neck of the bird-shaped vyuha, and Yudhishthira patrolling the rear.
    (2015). 9788184756814, Penguin U.K.. . ISBN 9788184756814
11. Vajra-vyūha was large a three-fold formation of warriors.

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Vyūha in Buddhism In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the word vyūha means "arrangement", the like of marvelous, supernatural, magical arrangements, or supernatural manifestations.

Julian F.Pas (1995). 9780791425190, SUNY Press. . ISBN 9780791425190

It is also extant in the Pali language, where it means "an array" or "grouping of troops."

(2026). 9788120806047, Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120806047

The term is also found among the titles of some Buddhist texts. 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".

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

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See also

• Hindu texts
• Indian martial arts

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