Sudarshana Chakra
The Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शनचक्र, IAST: Sudarśanacakra) is a divine discus, attributed to Vishnu in the Hindu scriptures.
The Ahirbudhnya Samhita (Sanskrit: अहिर्बुध्न्यसंहिता, IAST: Ahiburdhnyasaṃhitā) is a Hindu Vaishnava text belonging to the Pancharatra tradition.
From the splendour of the sun, Vishvakarma produced three divine objects: the aerial vehicle Pushpaka Vimana, the Trishula of Shiva, and the Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu.
To liberate him from his anguish, Vishnu employed Sudarshana Chakra to cut the corpse of Sati into fifty-one pieces.
[15] A coin dated to 180 BCE, with an image of Vasudeva-Krishna, was found in the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum in the Kunduz area of Afghanistan, minted by Agathocles of Bactria.
Though Chandragupta II issued coins with the epithet vikrama, due to the presence of the kalpavriksha on the reverse it has not been possible to ascribe it to him.
[21][22] The anthropomorphic form of Sudarshana can be traced from discoid weapons of ancient India to his esoteric multi-armed images in the medieval period in which the Chakra served the supreme deity (Vishnu) as his faithful attendants.
In the Kilmavilangai cave is an archaic rock-cut structure in which an image of Vishnu has been hallowed out, holding the Shanka and Chakra, without flames.
[33] Though political turmoil resulted in the disintegration of the Vijayanagara empire, the construction and refurbishing of temples did not cease; with the Nayak period continuing with their architectural enterprises, which Begley and Nilakantha Sastri note "reflected the rulers' awareness of their responsibilities in the preservation and development of all that remained of Hinduism.
[25] Various Pancharatra texts describe the Sudarshan chakra as prana, Maya, kriya, shakti, bhava, unmera, udyama and saṃkalpa.
The beginning and the end of the play is effected through Sudarshana, who in the Ahirbudhanya Samhita is the will of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God.
The Sudarshana manifests in 5 main ways to wit the 5 Shaktis, which are creation, preservation, destruction, obstruction, and obscuration; to free the soul from taints and fetters which produce vasanas causing new births; so as to make the soul return to her natural form and condition which she shares with the supreme lord, namely, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence.
[24] The concept of universal sovereignty possibly facilitated the syncretism of Krishna and Vishnu and reciprocally reinforced their military power and heroic exploits; with the kshatriya hero, Krishna preserving order in the phenomenal world while the composite Vishnu is the creator and upholder of the universe supporting all existence.
[24] Begley notes the evolution of the anthropomorphic iconography of Sudarshana, beginning from early expansion of the Bhagavata sect thus: "In contrast to the relatively simple religious function of the Cakra-Purusa, the iconographic role of the medieval Sudarsana-Purusa of South India was exceedingly complex.
The medieval Sudarsana was conceived as a terrifying deity of destruction, for whose worship special tantric rituals were devised.
The iconographic conception of Sudarsana as an esoteric agent of destruction constitutes a reassertion of the original militaristic connotation of the cakra".
Sudarshana or Chakraperumal is the bali bera (icon that accepts sacrifices, as a representative of the chief deity) of Narasimha,[42] where he stands with 16 arms holding emblems of Vishnu with a circular background halo.
