Who is the mother of Lord Vishnu?

Your answer is, “He is sui generis”. That is a cop out. You are just afraid to identify His mother;

I also do not know His mother, but I know He was born of a mother.

Now, let us shift to Lord Brahma. Where does he sit (in calendar art, or some idol somewhere)? On a lotus flower. Where does the lotus stem from? Look at the picture below (sourced from Google);

The lotus stems from, note this carefully, the navel of Lord Vishnu. All of us know that the umbilical cord connects the foetus to the mother, in which everything to and from the mother flows.

Others must have noted this point, asked this question, and satisfied themselves that calendar art cannot be wrong (after all these are hanging in the walls of every Hindu home).

I dare. The lotus on which Lord Brahma sits stems from the navel of Lord Vishnu, and hence, Lord Vishnu must have had a mother. As far as I know, Hindu scriptures neither ask nor answer if asked this question.

Was there a reason for seating Lord Brahma as is being done? To make him a dependent on Lord Vishnu? Also seen in the above, Lord Vishnu is holding Lord Shiva in his right hand, presumably saving Lord Shiva from sinking in the “Milk of Ocean”. Some may argue that the ocean is far away, beyond all oceans. I do not accept this. Yet, the ocean is not white. So, was milk in those days no different than water now? If your looked at the sizes of the three lords, Shiva is the smallest, slightly bigger is Brahma, and, of course, the largest of the three is Vishnu. Do we hold on to this hierarchy?

Living in Srirangam and prior to that having spent a year in Kanchipuram (on the street leading east up to the main gopuram) I have to say, yes.

Lord Ekambareswarar, during one of the ten days of the brahmotsavam dedicated to Him, comes all the way to the temple entrance of Lord Varadaraja Perumal (to pay His respects?). That is OK.

But, on that procession, no Vaishnavite will come down from the elevated platforms (say, about 1.5-2 m) of the houses they live in to the street level. But, every single one of them will be at street level and prostrate during the procession of Lord Varadarajar during His ten days. These devotees are desperate to gain the Lord’s blessing. And, they do not believe that Lord Shiva is authorized to give such blessings.

The often repeated, Sanskrit phrase, “Vasudeva Kutumbakam” is defenestrated!

Raghuram Ekambaram

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