Vayu

{{Infobox deity

| type = Hindu

| image = Vayu Deva.jpg

| caption = Vayu on his Vahana.

| name = Vāyu

| other_names = Anila (अनिल)
Pávana (पवन)
Vyāna (व्यान)
Vāta (वात)
Tanūna (तनून)
Mukhyaprāṇa (मुख्यप्राण)
Bhīma (भीम)
Maruta (मारुत)

| Devanagari = वायु

| Sanskrit_transliteration = Vāyu

| affiliation = Deva

| god_of = God of Air, Wind, and Breath

| member_of = the Pancha Bhuta and Dikpala

| abode = Vayu Loka, Satya Loka

| mantra = Om Vayave Namaha

| siblings =

| parents = * Vishvapurusha (according to the Rigveda){{Cite book |last=Mani |first=Vettam |url=https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/849/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature |date=1975 |publisher=Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |isbn=978-0-8426-0822-0}}

Vishnu and Lakshmi (according to Madhva sect){{cite book|title=Texts in Context: Traditional Hermeneutics in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ryswPhIBcZkC|page=113|author=Jeffrey R. Timm|publisher=SUNY Press|date=1 January 1992|isbn=9780791407967}}{{cite book|title=The Dynamics of Faith: Comparative Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UW1AAAAAIAAJ|page=209|author=Khagendranath Mitra|publisher=University of Calcutta|year=1952|quote=Brahmā and Vāyu are the sons of Vishnu and Lakshmi.}}{{cite book|title=Hinduism, Religion and Way of Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lloqAAAAYAAJ|page=124|author=Satyavrata Ramdas Patel|publisher=Associated Publishing House|year=1980| isbn=9780686997788 |quote=The Supreme Being, Vishnu or Nārāyana, is the personal first cause. He is the Intelligent Governor of the world and lives in Vaikuntha along with Lakshmi, His consort. He and His consort Lakshmi are real. Brahma and Vāyu are His two sons.}}

| children = Mudā Apsaras (daughters)

Hanuman (son)
Bhima (son)

| weapon = *Mace (weapon of Mukhyaprana Vayu)

Goad (weapon of Dikpala Vayu)
Vayavyastra (Vayu's astra)

| consort = * A daughter of Tvashta {{small|(according to the Rigveda)}}{{Cite book |last=Muir |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYRzEAAAQBAJ&dq=V%C4%81yu+wife&pg=PA229 |title=Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of The People of India: Volume Fifth |date=2022-06-06 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-375-04617-0 |language=en}}

Svasti {{small|(according to the Devi Bhagavata Purana)}}{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2013-05-15 |title=On the description of Prakṛti [Chapter 1] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/devi-bhagavata-purana/d/doc57314.html |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
Bharati (according to Madhva sect){{cite book|title=Studies in Indology and Medieval History: Prof. G. H. Khare Felicitation Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8EtAQAAIAAJ|author1=Gaṇeśa Harī Khare|author2=Madhukar Shripad Mate|author3=G. T. Kulkarni|publisher=Joshi & Lokhande Prakashan|year=1974|page=244|quote=In Vayu and other Puranas, Vayudeva (different from Astadikpala Vayu), next to Brahma in grade, is also said to have five heads like Siva and Brahma and his consort is Bharatidevi.}}{{cite book|title=Purandara and the Haridasa Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MK5WAAAAMAAJ|page=200|author=M. V. Krishna Rao|publisher=Karnatak University|year=1966}}

| mount = Chariot drawn by Horses, Gazelle

| Indo-european_equivalent = H₂weh₁yú

}}

Vayu ({{Langx|sa|वायु|translit=Vāyu|lit=Wind/Air}}; {{IPA|sa|ʋaːju}}), also known as Vata ({{Langx|sa|वात|translit=Vāta|lit=Wind/Air}}) and Pavana ({{Langx|sa|पवन|translit=Pávana|lit=Purifier}}),{{Citation | title=The book of Hindu imagery: The Gods and their Symbols |author1=Eva Rudy Jansen |author2=Tony Langham | year=1993 | publisher=Binkey Kok Publications | isbn=978-90-74597-07-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1iASyoae8cMC | quote=God of the wind ... also known as Vata or Pavan ... exceptional beauty ... moves on noisily in his shining coach ... white banner ...}} is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine messenger of the gods. In the Vedic scriptures, Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of gods. He is mentioned to be born from the breath of Supreme Being Vishvapurusha and also the first one to drink Soma.{{Cite book |last1=Jamison |first1=Stephanie W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-PRAwAAQBAJ&dq=v%C4%81yu&pg=PA631 |title=The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India |last2=Brereton |first2=Joel P. |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-937018-4 |language=en}} The Upanishads praise him as Prana or 'life breath of the world'. In the later Hindu scriptures, he is described as a dikpala (one of the guardians of the direction), who looks over the north-west direction.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC&q=Vayu | title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology | isbn=978-0-19-533261-2 | last1=Williams | first1=George M. | date=27 March 2008 | publisher=Oup USA }}{{Cite book |last=Chandra |first=Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfTE6kpz6XEC&q=Vayu |title=Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses |date=1998 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-039-9 |language=en}} The Hindu epics describe him as the father of the god Hanuman and Bhima.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HMXN9h6WX0C&q=Vayu&pg=RA1-PA260 | title=The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series | isbn=9780892813544 | last1=Daniélou | first1=Alain | date=December 1991 | publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co }}

The followers of the 13th-century saint Madhva believe their guru as an incarnation of Vāyu.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkkFCwAAQBAJ|page=187|author=Jeffery D. Long|publisher=Scarecrow Press|date=9 September 2011| isbn=9780810879607 |quote=Born near Udipi in Karnataka, where he spent most of his life, Madhva is believed by his devotees to be the third incarnation or avatāra of Vāyu, the Vedic god of the wind (the first two incarnations being Hanuman and Bhīma).}}{{cite book|title=Religious Debates in Indian Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0hZEAAAQBAJ|page=176|author=Ravi Prakash|publisher=K.K. Publications|date=15 January 2022|quote=According to tradition, Madhvacarya is believed to be the third incarnation of Vayu (Mukhyaprana), after Hanuman and Bhima.}}{{cite book|title=Gayatri: The Profound Prayer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3blDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|page=90|author=R. K. Madhukar|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|date=1 January 2014|isbn=978-8178-22467-1|quote=Vayu is accorded the status of a deva, an important God in the ancient literature. Lord Hanuman, who is considered to be one of the avatars of Vayudeva, is described as Mukhyaprana.}} They worship the wind deity as Mukhyaprana ({{Langx|sa|मुख्यप्राण|translit=Mukhyaprāṇa|lit=Chief Prana}}) and consider him as the son of the god Vishnu.

Connotations

The word for air (vāyu) or wind (pavana) is one of the classical elements in Hinduism. The Sanskrit word Vāta literally means 'blown'; Vāyu, 'blower' and Prāna, 'breathing' (viz. the breath of life, cf. the *an- in animate). Hence, the primary referent of the word is the 'deity of life', who is sometimes for clarity referred to as Mukhya-Vāyu (the chief Vayu) or Mukhya Prāna (the chief of life force or vital force).{{cite book|title=Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSbgGLdGSRIC|page=7839|author=Subodh Kapoor|publisher=Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd|year=2002|isbn = 9788177552577|quote=Mukhya Prana - The chief vital air}}

Sometimes the word vāyu, which is more generally used in the sense of the physical air or wind, is used as a synonym for prāna.{{Citation | author = Raju, P.T. | year = 1954 | title = The concept of the spiritual in Indian thought | journal = Philosophy East and West | volume = 4 | issue = 3 | pages = 195–213 | jstor = 1397554| doi = 10.2307/1397554 | postscript = .}} Vāta, an additional name for the deity Vayu, is the root of vātāvaranam, the Sanskrit and Hindi term for 'atmosphere'.{{Citation | title=Tirtha, the treasury of Indian expressions |author1=Vijaya Ghose |author2=Jaya Ramanathan |author3=Renuka N. Khandekar | year=1992 | publisher=CMC Limited | isbn= 978-81-900267-0-3| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v1tAAAAMAAJ | quote=... God of the winds ... Another name for Vayu is Vata (hence the present Hindi term for 'atmosphere, 'vatavaran). Also known as Pavana (the purifier), Vayu is lauded in both the ...}}

Hindu texts and philosophy

File:Kanishka I and Oado.jpg ruler Kanishka I with deity Oado (Vayu-Vata) on the reverse. Circa 120-150 CE]]

In the Rigveda, Vayu is associated with the winds, with the Maruts being described as being born from Vayu's belly. Vayu is also the first god to receive soma in the ritual, and then he and Indra share their first drink.{{cite book|author=Stephanie Jamison|title=The Rigveda –– Earliest Religious Poetry of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LTRDwAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0190633394|page=47}}Rigveda,Mandala 1,Hymn 2

In the hymns, Vayu is 'described as having "exceptional beauty" and moving noisily in his shining coach, driven by two or forty-nine or one-thousand white and purple horses. A white banner is his main attribute'. Like the other atmospheric deities, he is a 'fighter and destroyer', 'powerful and heroic'.{{Citation | title=Literature in the Vedic age | author=Sukumari Bhattacharji | year=1984 | publisher=K.P. Bagchi | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7soAAAAYAAJ | quote=... The other atmospheric gods are his associates: Vayu-Vatah, Parjanya, the Rudras and the Maruts. All of them are fighters and destroyers, they are powerful and heroic ...}}

In the Upanishads, there are numerous statements and illustrations of the greatness of Vayu. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that the gods who control bodily functions once engaged in a contest to determine who among them is the greatest. When a deity such as that of vision would leave a man's body, that man would continue to live, albeit as a blind man and having regained the lost faculty once the errant deity returned to his post. One by one the deities all took their turns leaving the body, but the man continued to live on, though successively impaired in various ways. Finally, when Mukhya Prāna started to leave the body, all the other deities started to be inexorably pulled off their posts by force, 'just as a powerful horse yanks off pegs in the ground to which he is bound'. This caused the other deities to realize that they can function only when empowered by Vayu, and can be overpowered by him easily. In another episode, Vayu is said to be the only deity not afflicted by demons of sin who were on the attack. This Vayu is "Mukhya Prana Vayu".{{cite book|title=Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mEpAAAAYAAJ|page=158|author1=Shoun Hino|author2=K. P. Jog|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|year=1995| isbn=9788120812833 |quote=Vāyu indicates Mukhya Prāṇa.}} The Chandogya Upanishad says that one cannot know Brahman except by knowing Vayu as the udgitha (the mantric syllable om).Chandogya Upanishad, Adhyaya XVIII, Verse 4; http://www.swamij.com/upanishad-chandogya.htm

Avatars

File:Vayu, the god of wind Statue at Gokarneshwor Mahadev Temple Premises, Gokarna, Kathmandu.jpg

American Indologist Philip Lutgendorf says, "According to Madhva whenever Vishnu incarnates on earth, Mukhya Prana/Vayu accompanies him and aids his work of preserving dharma. Hanuman the friend and helper of Rama in the Treta Yuga, the strongman Bhima in Mahabharata, set at the end of Dvapara Yuga and Madhva in the Kali Yuga. Moreover, since the deity himself does not appear on earth until the end of kali age, the incarnate Vayu/Madhva serves during this period as the sole 'means' to bring souls to salvation".{{Sfn|Lutgendorf|2007|p=67}} Vayu is also known as Pavana and Matharishwa.

In the Mahabharata, Bhima was the spiritual son of Vayu and played a major role in the Kurukshetra War. He utilised his huge power and skill with the mace for supporting Dharma.

The first avatar of Vayu is considered to be Hanuman. His stories are told in Ramayana. Since Hanuman is the spiritual son of Vayu he is also called Pavanaputra 'son of Pavana' and Vāyuputra. Today, Pavan is a fairly common Hindu name.
The second avatar of Vayu is Bhima, one of the Pandavas appearing in the epic the Mahabharata.{{cite web | url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01068.htm | title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section LXVII}}
Madhvacharya, is considered as the third avatar of Vayu. Madhva declared himself as an avatar of Vayu and showed the verses in Rigveda as a proof.History of the Dvaita School and Its literature, pg 173{{cite web|url=http://raghavendramutt.org/articles/balittha-suktha-text|publisher=raghavendramutt.org|title=Balittha Suktha -Text From Rig Veda|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924052648/http://raghavendramutt.org/articles/balittha-suktha-text|archive-date=24 September 2016|df=dmy-all}}{{cite book|title=Indian Philosophy & Culture, Volume 15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xz9VcNLuyhsC|page=24|publisher=The Institute|year=1970}} Author C. Ramakrishna Rao says, "Madhva explained the Balitha Sukta in the Rigveda as referring to the three forms of Vayu".{{cite book|title=Madhva and Brahma Tarka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiA1AAAAIAAJ|page=9|author=Chintagunta Ramakrishna Rao|publisher=Majestic Press|year=1960}}

Buddhism

In East Asian Buddhism, Vayu is a dharmapāla and often classed as one of the Twelve Devas ({{langx|ja|十二天|translit=Jūniten}}) grouped together as directional guardians. He presides over the northwest direction.{{cite web|title=Twelve Heavenly Deities (Devas) |url=https://www.narahaku.go.jp/english/collection/512-0.html |website=Nara National Museum, Japan|access-date=4 May 2023}}

In Japan, he is called Fūten (風天). He is included with the other eleven devas, which include Taishakuten (Śakra/Indra), Katen (Agni), {{proper name|Enmaten}} (Yama), Rasetsuten (Nirṛti/Rākṣasa), Ishanaten (Īśāna), Bishamonten (Vaiśravaṇa/Kubera), Suiten (Varuṇa) Bonten (Brahmā), Jiten (Pṛthivī), Nitten (Sūrya/Āditya) and Gatten (Candra).{{cite web |title=juuniten 十二天 |url=http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/j/juuniten.htm |website=JAANUS |access-date=23 January 2019}}

References

=Bibliography=

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{{Citation|title=Saints and Sages of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fa3XAAAAMAAJ|first=G. R.|last=Sholapurkar|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan|year=1992|isbn = 9788121700498}}