The Theories of Error in Indian Philosophy,
1978; and Karl H. Potter (ed.), Presup-
positions of India’s Philosophies, 1972.
Vira
(“hero”) In the context of tantra, a
secret, ritually based religious practice,
the vira is one of the modes of ritual
expression. The tantric “hero” is said to
be one who not only partakes of the Five
Forbidden Things (panchamakara)—
wine, fish, meat, parched grain, and sex-
ual intercourse—in their elemental
forms, but also uses this inversion of
normal moral rules as a way to affirm
the ultimate unity of all things in the
universe. Aspirants adopting a heroic
mode will often worshipa powerful but
dangerous deity, in which the ultimate
affirmation of this unity is to affirm one’s
identity with that deity. If one can do
this successfully, it is believed to confer
various powers, but if one fails it is said
to lead to illness, insanity, or death. This
is not a path without hazards, but
through it the heroes quickly attain their
desired goals.
Virabhadra
In Hindu mythology, a powerful being
who is created by the god Shiva to hum-
ble the demigod Dakshaand to destroy
Daksha’s sacrifice. Daksha gives his
daughter, Sati, to marry Shiva, but later
he feels that Shiva has not shown him
proper respect. To humble Shiva,
Daksha plans a great sacrifice and
invites all the gods except Shiva. When
Sati asks her father why he has done so,
Daksha responds with a stream of
abuse, excoriating Shiva as worthless
and despicable. Humiliated by these
public insults, Sati commits suicide—in
some versions, by leaping into the sacri-
ficial fire, and in others by withdrawing
into a yogic trance and giving up her life.
In the most common version of
Virabhadra’s creation, Shiva is so
enraged when he learns of Sati’s death
that he tears out two matted locks (jata)
from his head and dashes them to the
ground. One matted lock takes form as
Virabhadra, and the second takes form
as Bhadrakali, a powerful and terrifying
form of the Goddess. Just as Virabhadra
represents Shiva’s destructive aspect,
Bhadrakali represents the ferocious and
dangerous side of the Goddess, in con-
trast with the gentle and loyal Sati. At
Shiva’s orders, the two demolish
Daksha’s sacrifice, scattering the guests
and destroying the sacred fires, until
Daksha finally repents and worships
Shiva as the supreme deity. Although
Virabhadra’s actions in this story are
destructive, he is and remains Shiva’s
servant, carrying out his divine master’s
commands, a mandate that ultimately
upholds the created order.Viragal
(“Hero-stone”) Stone erected in memory
of a warrior, often the village headman,
who perished in battle while defending
the village cattle from pillage. Such
stones can be found all over the Deccan
region, and Deleury speculates that the
origins of the Maharashtrian god
Vithobalay in such a deified hero, who
was later assimilated into the pantheon
as a form of Vishnu.Viraha
(“separation”) Well-established poetic
genre in classical Sanskritpoetry and in
much of vernacular devotional (bhakti)
poetry. The genre focuses on describing
the pain resulting from the separation of
lover and beloved, whether the separat-
ed lovers are two human beings or devo-
tee (bhakta) and deity. Such separation
is believed to bring on specific physical
symptoms, which the poets describe in
detail—lack of appetite, insomnia,
inability to attend to daily life, or to
think about anyone but the beloved. The
sort of love felt in such separation is
believed to engender an even more
intense love for the beloved than love in
union because the latter is sweetened by
the presence of the beloved, whereas the
former has to stand by itself.Vira