#prajapati

Hindu Mythology & Deities

- Hindu deities (15)-

Asuras - Virochana

Virochana has been regarded as the king of the Asuras since ancient times in Indian mythology and Buddhist tales. Virochana was grandson of Hiranyakashipu, son of Prahlada and father of Bali. He is an Asura of the Daitya tribe.

According to the Chandogya Upanishad (VIII.7.2-8.5), he and Indra went to Prajapati to learn about the atman (self) and lived there, practising brahmacharya for thirty-two years. Later Virochana was killed by Indra.

The truth that Virochana and Indra heard from Prajapati was that "the image of the body with beautiful ornaments and reflected in water and mirrors, that is the ego, that is Brahman (the truth of the universe). When Virochana heard this, he was satisfied and went home.

But Indra noticed this lie, because a blind man cannot see the reflection of water. He went back to Prajapati and asked him more questions. Prajapati said, "Yes," and upon hearing this, Indra trained with Prajapati for another 32 years.

The next principal Brahman he heard was, "The dream is the Atman." At first Indra was convinced and went home, but he stopped and said, "If you have a nightmare, that can't be an atman."

When he returned to his master, he said, "Yes," and after a few more years of practice, Indra finally got the true answer that the "selflessness" in his dreams was the atman.

The Asura is a generic term for the god or demon race in Indian mythology, Brahmanism and Hinduism (*Please click → Asuras)

インド神話と神様たち

−ヒンドゥー教時代からの神々(15)–

アスラ族・ヴィローチャナ

ヴィローチャナは、インド神話や仏教説話で古くから、アスラ（阿修羅）族の王とされる。

ヴィローチャナはアスラ王ヒラニヤカシプの孫にあたり、プラフラーダの子である。アスラ王バリの父である。ダイティヤ族のアスラである。

チャーンドーギア・ウパニシャッド・第8章において、デーヴァ神群の王インドラ（帝釈天）、アスラ族の王ヴィローチャナが「本当のアートマン（自我）とは何か」という真理を求め創造主（プラジャーパティ）の元を訪れ32年間修業したたとある。その奥義を得てヴィローチャナは満足し、アスラたちに伝えたという。

ヴィローチャナとインドラがプラジャーパティに聞いた真理とは「美しい飾りをつけ、水や鏡に映る身像、それこそ自我であり、梵（宇宙の真理）である」というものであったという。ヴィローチャナはこれを聞いて満足して帰ったという。

ところが、インドラはこの嘘（盲目の人は水面の姿を見ることができない）に気がつきプラジャーパティの元に戻り、プラジャーパティにまた質問すると、プラジャーパティは「そうだ」と言い、それを聞いたインドラは、さらにプラジャーパティの元で32年間修行した。

次に聞いた梵は「夢こそアートマン」という答えであった。最初納得して帰ったインドラだが、ふと足を止めて「悪夢を見たらそれがアートマンである。そんなのがアートマンであるはずがない」としてまた師のところに戻ると、師は「そうだ」といい、さらに数年間修業し最終的には夢の中にある「無我」こそアートマンという真なる答えをインドラはようやく得る。

November 29, 2020

As I sit here this afternoon, watching the steam rise from my thermos of green tea, I find myself mentally revisiting recent interactions. Over these past couple of weeks, I can so plainly see how the lunar energies are stirring old traumas — surfacing as feelings, memories, or even ailments within the body. I’ve especially been holding space for a few of my younger ones as they move through these waves, helping them to feel, to speak, and to listen for the subconscious messages that arrive through dreams.

This weekend’s lunar eclipse falls in the sign of Taurus. We may find ourselves drawn inward, preoccupied with the themes of comfort, pleasure, and stability. Naturally, this aligns with the season’s rhythms of gathering and reflection — times that can bring joy for some, and unease or longing for others. We each have our own stories tied to what this season awakens.

This eclipse unfolds in the constellation of Rohini, the fertile star of expansion and ascent. Often called The Star of Ascent, Rohini embodies the creative power of fertility, beauty, and growth. It is said to bestow wisdom through a direct connection to the Source of creation itself — Brahma. Here, there is both vigor and grace, a receptivity to nourishment through the senses and the artistry of life itself.

Because a lunar eclipse briefly veils the emotional mind (Moon) beneath the shadow of the physical world (Earth), we may feel a shift in our internal navigation — particularly around matters of work, business, and material security. Anything tied to our sense of comfort and stability may come under review. Paradoxes once hidden can surface now, allowing us to see more clearly and to choose differently, guided by a new angle of perception.

The energetic imprint of an eclipse can linger for months, its influence extending well beyond the day itself. It is the Universe’s way of redirecting the course — sometimes gently, sometimes not —toward greater alignment.

As I’ve sat with this energy, I’ve felt a deep appreciation for life and the web of connections it offers. There is an abiding reverence for those who continue to walk the path of growth and change — it is not easy work, and such acknowledgment is sacred.

To my family near and far, I send love. May this season bring your home the blessings of nourishment, both physical and spiritual.

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Sivan, the first to emerge from the indus waters of chaos and the first to bathe in it. The nameless horned god from the indus river valley, Sivan is an enigmatic and mysterious figure. No readable records survive detailing their existence, much less any of the Indus River Valley’s religion. Though the reconstruction efforts have been similarly limited, researchers have been able to provide a possible primitive framework of the mystifying mythology.

The basis for the belief system is thought to reside in water, possibly seen as an encompassing life force and/or the primordial waters of chaos. The horned god himself is a ubiquitous feature in art from the Indus River Valley culture, commonly accompanied by animals like the bull, Rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, goats, fish and other animals, sometimes even depicted with plants as well. In particular the horned god was heavily associated with the bull, gharial and the unicorn-like mythic beast. Sivan was also likely related to the mother goddess, likely a wife or consort of some kind, statuettes of this goddess were plentiful though unlike the horned god her possible appearance in the culture’s seals cannot be determined, possibly being depict as a half tiger god.

One seal in particular shows a horned beast emerging from a wavy star-like shape, in my interpretation this could be a record of a cosmogenic myth of the horned god emerging from chaos, however this cannot be proven.

Similarly another series of seals seem to tell a story as well, in which two men confront a woman, two tigers then appear and force the men up trees before another man holds back the two beasts. The man could’ve been a representation of Sivan, as other seals depicting these events show the man as having hooves and horns. However any conclusion gathered is entirely conjecture, as these scenes could be totally unrelated events.

The horned god himself was likely a god of nature, a pervasive life force that fueled living beings.

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The name I gave the Indus River Valley’s horned god, Sivan, is another rendering of the Hindu god Shiva. An older name used by Dravidians, Sivan carries the “An” termination seen in both Dravidian and Tamil languages. This etymology is seen in ancient Tamil literature through the name Āndivanam, an ancient form of Shiva. While some contest the idea, It has been greatly interpreted over the centuries that the horned god of the Indus River Valley was possibly a “prototype shiva” or a predecessor whose worship evolved into the Shiva we have today. Shiva’s equivalent and manifestation in Vedic mythology, Rudra, is believed to have most likely have been derived and fused with the pre-Vedic Shiva and maybe the horned god.

Another of the trimutri, Vishnu, may in some form also originate from Sivan. Narayana, the name Vishnu has while resting on the cosmic waters, has the same entomological An as Āndivanam, likely descending from it. This tracks with Sivan’s association with water, as the many public and private baths were found to house many seals and depictions of animals and the horned god, These replaced the typical temples as places of worship, and along with the lingam-esque phalic stones were also a means of worship. This water centric worship could’ve carried over to the Vedic Soma and Varuna as well as the modern Hindu cosmic ocean Karanodaka.

The seals detailing the Horned god’s combat against the tigers had been noted by researchers as being heavily reminiscent of the Sumerian Gilgamesh, possibly indicating a possible development or the sharing of an archetype. However, this figure may not have even been the horned god, as while some depictions do have horns, others don’t. Even the gender of the figure is debated, as some believe that it’s actually the goddess instead.

The Indus Sivan may have shared a similar role to modern Hindu Brahman, an ultimate universal force, a concept that is directly shared by the modern Dravidians, who view Shiva as the supreme Para Brahman.

The Dravidian’s found in southern India are known to descend from the Indus River Valley civilization, with many researchers believing that their mythology could’ve retained significant elements from the Indus River Valley civilization.

The Indus River Valley factually predates the oncoming of Vedic Mythology and the likely arrival of the Proto-indo-Europeans. In all likelihood the Vedic and later Hindu mythos likely formed out of a cultural fusion between Proto-indo-European elements and the Indus River Valley mythos, gathering and absorbing the other splintered tribal traditions of India.

Some have posited an even earlier origin for this “proto-shiva”. The Bhimbetka rock shelters contain numerous pieces of cave art, with the oldest of them dating to around 10,000 BC. One of them, though very faded, seems to represent a figure holding a trident staff. Some have claimed that this figure actually represents Shiva or the “proto-Shiva”, pointing to the trident shared by the two with further evidence in the presence of other dancing figures. However critics instead insist that this is taken out of context with the rest of the nearby art, as it likely represented a hunter instead.

It should be noted that all of this is simply conjecture and speculation. Due to their complete lack of writing and enigmatic archaeological evidence, no hypothesis is concrete.