Vaijayanti
{{Short description|Garland in Hindu mythology}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
The Vaijayanti ({{Langx|sa|वैजयन्ति|lit=garland of victory|translit=Vaijayantī}}){{cite book|author=D Dennis Hudson|title=The Body of God Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C&pg=PA168|date=27 August 2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-970902-1|pages=168–}} is a mythological garland or elemental necklace, primarily associated with Vishnu.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-04-25 |title=Vaijayanti, Vaijayantī, Vaijayamti: 19 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vaijayanti |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}} Employed in its worship as a garland, this object is also called the Vaijayantimala, or the Vanamala.{{cite book|author=Prof. Shrikant Prasoon|title=Hinduism Clarified and Simplified|date=17 February 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpiaOv52wp0C&pg=PA235|publisher=V&S Publishers|isbn=978-93-81384-72-5|pages=235–}}{{cite book|author=Rūpagosvāmī|title=The Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DsRb6gjUa1oC&pg=PA575|year=2003|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1861-3|pages=575–}}
Literature
Vaijayanti finds a mention in Vishnu Sahasranama, a stotra dedicated to Vishnu in the Mahabharata, as vanamali (forest flowers):{{cite book|author=V. Ravi|title=Vishnu Sahasranama|date=30 November 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G02pZ6u3Rw4C&pg=PA248|publisher=MANBLUNDER|page=248|id=GGKEY:DRA5CW5BDZX}}
{{Blockquote|text=vanamalī gadī śarṅgī śaṅkhī cakrī ca nandakī
śrīman narayano visnurvasudevo’bhiraksatu}}
The garland of victory is mentioned in the Mahabharata, as made of never-wilting lotuses.{{Vaishnavism}}
In the Skanda Purana, Varuna presents Lakshmi with the garland as a wedding gift.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2020-03-05 |title=The Marriage Festival of Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa [Chapter 14] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-skanda-purana/d/doc371753.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
According to the Vishnu Purana, the garland prominently displays five precious gemstones: emerald, sapphire, ruby, pearl, and diamond. These correspond with the five classic elements commonly named earth, water, fire, air, and ether respectively.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2014-08-30 |title=Dominion over different provinces of creation assigned to different beings [Chapter XXII] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/vishnu-purana-wilson/d/doc115958.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
In the Shiva Purana, Vishnu offers his garland to his son-in-law Kartikeya, before his battle with the asura Taraka.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2018-10-14 |title=Kārttikeya is crowned [Chapter 5] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226125.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
The Garuda Purana includes a prayer known as the Vishnu Panjaram, which includes the following verse: "Taking up Vaijayanti and Srivatsa, the ornament of thy throat do thou protect me in the north-west, O god, O Hayagriva. I bow unto thee".{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2015-04-12 |title=The prayer of Vishnu Panjaram [Chapter XIII] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-garuda-purana-dutt/d/doc122487.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}