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{{short description|Animal or mythical entity that a particular Hindu deity uses as vehicle}}
{{about|the Hindu deities|the aircraft prototype|Airbus A³ Vahana}}
{{redirect|Animal vehicle|the album by The Axis of Awesome|Animal Vehicle}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2016}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]}}
[[File:Ashta-Matrika.jpg|300px|thumb|The eight [[Matrikas]] riding different vahanas like (top row, second from left to right) Garuda, a peacock, Nandi bull, a hamsa (goose/swan); (bottom row, from left) buffalo, elephant and lion]]
'''''Vahana''''' ({{lang-sa|वाहन}}, {{IAST|Vāhanam}} or '''animal vehicle''', literally "that which carries, that which pulls") denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular Hindu deity is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vahana is often called the deity's "mount". Upon the partnership between the deity and his vahana is woven much [[Hindu iconography|iconography]] and [[Hindu mythology|mythology]]. Deities are often depicted riding (or simply mounted upon) the vahana. Other times, the vahana is depicted at the deity's side or symbolically represented as a divine attribute. The vahana may be considered an [[:wikt:accoutrement|accoutrement]]<ref>Accoutrement = "that which accompanies".</ref> of the deity: though the vahana may act independently, they are still functionally emblematic or even [[:wikt:syntagmatic|syntagmatic]] of their "rider". The deity may be seen sitting or standing on the vahana. They may be sitting on a small platform called a ''[[howdah]]'', or riding on a saddle or bareback.<ref name="GLOSSARY">[http://ganapati.club.fr/anglais/aglossaryv.html#vahana Glossary: Vahana]. Undated. Accessed August 10, 2007.</ref> ''Vah'' in [[Sanskrit]] means ''to ride along the land''.

==Symbolism==
In Hindu [[iconography]], positive aspects of the vehicle are often [[emblem]]atic of the deity that it carries. [[Nandi bull|Nandi]] the bull, vehicle of Shiva, represents strength and virility. [[Shri Dinka murti|Dinka]] the mouse, vehicle of [[Ganesha]], represents speed and sharpness. [[Parvani]] the peacock, vehicle of [[Kartikeya]], represents splendor and majesty. The [[hamsa (bird)|hamsa]], vehicle of [[Saraswati]], represents wisdom, grace and beauty.

However, the vehicle animal also symbolizes the evil forces over which the deity dominates. Mounted on Parvani, Kartikeya reins in the peacock's vanity. Seated on Dinka the rat (Mushika), Ganesha crushes useless thoughts, which multiply like rats in the dark. [[Shani]], protector of property, has a vulture, raven or crow in which he represses thieving tendencies. Under Shani's influence, the vahana can make even malevolent events bring hope.

==Origin folklore==
[[File:Bhagavata Purana manuscript, 18 century.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=An old-looking paper manuscript page with Sanskrit text and colorful illustrations|A Bhagavata Purana manuscript page depicting the story of [[Atri]] and [[Anasuya]] meeting the [[Trimurti]] riding on their respective vahanas. (PhP 4.1.21-25). (Paper, late 18th century, [[Jaipur]]).]]
The vehicle of a deity can vary according to the source, the time, and the place. In popular tradition, the origin of each vehicle is told in thousands of different ways.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=February 2015}} Three examples:

:*While the god [[Ganesha]] was still a child, a giant mouse began to terrorize all his friends. Ganesha trapped him with his [[pasha (Hinduism)|lasso]] and made him his mount. Mushika was originally a [[gandharva]], or celestial musician. After absent mindedly walking over the feet of a [[rishi]] (sage) named Vamadeva, Mushika was cursed and transformed into a mouse. However, after the rishi recovered his temper, he promised Mushika that one day, the gods themselves would bow down before him. The prophecy was fulfilled when the mouse became the vahana of Ganesha.

:*Before becoming the vehicle of Shiva, Nandi was a deity called [[Nandikeshvara]], lord of joy and master of music and dance. Then, without warning, his name and his functions were transferred to the aspect of Shiva known as the deity [[Nataraja]]. From half-man, half-bull, he became simply a bull. Since that time, he has watched over each of Shiva's temples, always looking towards him.

:*[[Kartikeya]], the war-god known as Murugan in [[Southern India]], is also mounted on a peacock. This peacock was originally a demon called [[Surapadma]], while the rooster was called the angel[Krichi]. After provoking Murugan in combat, the demon repented at the moment his lance descended upon him. He took the form of a tree and began to pray. The tree was cut in two. From one half, Murugan pulled a [[rooster]], which he made his emblem, and from the other, a peacock, which he made his mount. In another version, Karthikeya was born to kill the demon, [[Tarakasura]]. He was raised by the [[Krittika]]s and led the divine armies when he was 6 days old. It is said that after defeating Tarakasura, the god forgave him and transformed him into his ride, the peacock.

==Origin theories==

The vahana and deity to which they support are in a reciprocal relationship. Vahana serve and are served in turn by those who engage them. Many vahana may also have divine powers or a divine history of their own. Case in point, the aforementioned Nataraja story, represents a [[WIKTIONARY:conflation|conflation]] of Hindu gods with local gods, [[Syncretism|syncretizing]] their mythos as their territories began to overlap. According to one source, "they could be a synthesis between [[Vedas|Vedic]] deities and [[indigenous peoples|autochthonous]] [[Dravidian people|Dravidian]] totemic deities.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

==Compared to other belief systems==
The animal correspondences of Hindu vehicles are not consistent with [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]], or other belief systems which may tie a particular animal to a particular deity. For example, the goddess [[Lakshmi]] of the Hindus has elephants, or an owl, or (a rare instance of a non-animal vehicle) the lotus blossom as her vehicle. The goddess [[Athena]] of ancient [[Greece]] also had an owl as her emblematic familiar, but the meanings invested in the owls by the two different belief systems are not the same, nor are the two goddesses themselves similar, despite their mutual identification with owls.

Lakshmi is, among other things, primarily the goddess of wealth, and her owl is a warning against distrust and isolationism, even selfishness. Athena, though also a goddess of prosperity, is primarily the goddess of wisdom, and her owl symbolizes secret knowledge and scholarship. Perhaps due to their shared geography, the Greco-Roman interpretation is paralleled in [[Roman Catholic]] [[iconography]], in which [[St. Jerome]], most famed for editing the [[New Testament]], is often (though not always) depicted with an owl as a symbol of wisdom and scholarship.<ref name="NMSU">[http://artdepartment.nmsu.edu/faculty/zarursite/retablo/col-saints.html The Collection: St. Jerome] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022221000/http://artdepartment.nmsu.edu/faculty/zarursite/retablo/col-saints.html |date=2012-10-22 }}, gallery of the religious art collection of [[New Mexico State University]], with explanations. Accessed August 10, 2007.</ref> Depending on the tribe, [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] religious iconography attributes a wide range of attributes to the owl, both positive and negative, as do the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] and [[Russia]]n cultures, but none parallel the Hindu attributes assigned to the owl as Lakshmi's divine vehicle.<ref name="OP">[http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Mythology&title=Owls+Lore+Culture&page=3 Owl and Mythology], p. 3. Accessed August 10, 2007.</ref>

Some hold that similar analyses could be performed cross-culturally for any of the other Hindu divine vehicles, and in each case, any parallels with the values assigned to animal totems in other cultures are likely to be either coincidence, or inevitable (as in linking bulls to virility), rather than evidence of parallel development. In [[dialectic]], this is countered by the retort that each totem or vahana, as an aspect of ''[[ishta-devata]]'' (or an ''ishta-devata'' or ''[[asura]]'' in its own right), has innumerable ineffable teachings, [[insight]]s and [[Prajna (Vedic)|spiritual wisdom]]; comparative analysis yields benefit, though knowledge and understanding is not served by collapsing their qualities into homogenous [[Sign (semiotics)|signification]].

== List of Vahanas ==


{| class="wikitable"
! Vahana
! Deities associated
! Image
|-
| [[Mouse]]
|| [[Ganesha]] ||[[File:Thajavur Ganesha.jpg|130x130px|Ganesha riding his mouse]]
|-
| [[Horse]] ||[[Kalki]],[[Revanta]], [[Chandra]] , [[Indra]] , [[Surya]] , [[Khandoba]] ||[[File:Shri Surya Bhagvan bazaar art, c.1940's.jpg|150x150px]]
|-
| [[Garuda]] || [[Vishnu]], [[Krishna]], [[Rama|Ram]], [[Vaishnavi (Matrika goddess)|Vaishnavi]] || [[File:Garuda by Hyougushi in Delhi.jpg|frameless|149x149px]]
|-
| [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]] || [[Shiva]], [[Matrikas|Maheshvari]], [[Ishana|Ishan]]|| [[File:SaivismFlag.png|frameless|100x100px]]
|-
|| [[Sheep|Ram]] || [[Agni]] , [[Mangala]] || [[File:Agni 18th century miniature.jpg|frameless|150x150px]]
|-
| [[Peacock]] || [[Kartikeya]] , [[Matrikas|Kaumari]] || [[File:Murugan by Raja Ravi Varma.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[Dog]] || [[Bhairava]] || [[File:Bhairava Brahma.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[hamsa (bird)|Hamsa]] || [[Brahma]]<ref name="GLOSSARY"/> [[Brahmani]], [[Saraswati]], [[Gayatri]], [[Vishvakarman]]|| [[File:Hamsa, the swan vehicle of Brahma (6124587167).jpg|frameless|112x112px]]
|-
| [[Makara (Hindu mythology)|Makara]] || [[Ganga (goddess)|Ganga (pictured)]],, [[Varuna]], [[Khodiyar]] || [[File:Ganga Kalighat 1875.jpg|161x161px]]
|-
| [[Tiger]] ||[[Chandraghanta]], [[Kushmanda]], [[Durga]], [[Rahu]], [[Ayyappan|Ayyapan]] || [[File:Ayyappa Swamy bazaar art, c.1950's.jpg|112x112px]]
|-
| [[Lion]] ||[[Skandamata]], [[Katyayani]], [[Parvati]] , [[Budha]], [[Chandi]]ka, [[Mariamman]], [[Kamakhya]], [[Pratyangira|Narasimhi]], [[Kaushiki]], [[Jagaddhatri]], [[Durga]]|| [[File:Goddess Parvati and her son Ganesha.jpg|frameless|142x142px]]
|-
| [[Elephant]] || [[Indra]] , [[Lakshmi]], [[Sachi|Shachi]], [[Brihaspati]]|| [[File:Indra deva.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[Parrot]] || [[Meenakshi]], [[Kama]] , [[Rati]]|| [[File:Kamadeva1.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[Antelope]] || [[Chandra]] , [[Vayu]] || [[File:Vayu Deva.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[Domestic Asian water buffalo|Water buffalo]]|| [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]] , [[Varahi]]|| [[File:Yama on buffalo.jpg|100px]]
|-
| [[Cat]]<ref>Margaret Stutley's ''The Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography'' , p. 127</ref> || [[Shashthi]] || [[File:Shashthi Arnab Dutta.jpg|143x143px]]
|-
| [[Donkey]] || [[Kalaratri|Kaalratri]], [[Shitala]] , [[Kali (demon)]], [[Alakshmi]]|| [[File:Kalighat Shitala.jpg|frameless|118x118px]]
|-
| [[Owl]] || [[Lakshmi]],<ref name="GLOSSARY"/><ref name="HDLak">[http://www.hindudevotion.com/lakshmi.html Hindu Devotion: Lakshmi]. Accessed August 10, 2007.</ref> || [[File:Lakshmi 02349.JPG|100px]]
|-
| [[Vulture]] || [[Ketu (mythology)|Ketu]] , Shani || [[File:Ketu graha.JPG|100px]]
|-
| [[Crow]] || [[Shani]], [[Dhumavati]] || [[File:Dhumavati.JPG|100px]]
|-
| [[Tortoise]] || [[Yamuna]] || [[File:Yamuna, personificazione del fiume sacro yamuna, IX sec.JPG|130x130px]]
|-
|[[Cockerel]] || [[Bahuchara Mata]] || [[File:Bahuchara Devi.jpg|143x143px]]
|-
| [[Cow]] ||[[Dattatreya]], [[Shailaputri]], [[Mahagauri]], [[Bhumi (goddess)|Bhumi]] || [[File:Ravi Varma-Dattatreya.jpg|117x117px]]
|-
| [[Snake]] || [[Manasa]] || [[File:Manasa Devi.jpg|100px|]]
|-
| Corpse || [[Chamunda]] || [[File:The Hindu Goddess Chamunda LACMA M.80.3.jpg|100px]]
|-
|[[Mongoose]]
|[[Kubera]]
|[[File:SAMA Kubera 1.jpg|frameless|133x133px]]
|-
| [[Man]]|| [[Nirṛti (god)|Nirrti]], Nirrta , Kubera, Bhadrā Devi
||[[File:Nirrtti.jpg|100px]]
|-
|[[Jackal|Jackel]]
|[[Shivadooti]]
|
|-
|}

These correspondences are not always consistent. Ganesha, for example, is sometimes shown with a peacock as his vehicle. Even more rarely, the elephant-headed Ganesh may be seen riding another elephant, or a lion, or a many-headed serpent (See [[Ganesha#Vahanas|Ganesha's Vahanas]]).<ref name="GANAPTI">[http://ganapati.club.fr/anglais/adetform2.html Forms of Ganesh: The Mouse Mount and Other Ganesh Mounts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302140610/http://ganapati.club.fr/anglais/adetform2.html |date=2007-03-02 }}. Accessed August 10, 2007.</ref>

The ''vahana'', the mount or vehicle of a deity, serves the function of doubling a deity's powers. The vahana also represents the devotee's mind which allows the deity to guide the devotee. Durga the warrioress could not have destroyed the demon [[Mahishasura]] without the aid of her vehicle, lion, which was given by her father Himalaya, for the stated purpose. Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, dispenses both material and spiritual riches from her mount, Uluka the owl. Ganesha, remover of obstacles, cannot go everywhere despite his elephant-like strength. However, his vehicle, Mushika the mouse, who can crawl into the smallest crevice or Akhuketana the rat, who can survive just about anywhere, can assist Ganesha to overcome the greatest obstacles.

==See also==
* [[Hindu deities]]
* [[Hindu iconography]]
* [[Hindu mythology]]
* [[List of Hindu deities]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Vahana}}{{wikiversity|Yoga oracle#129 Power Animal}}
* [http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/vehicles/index.htm Holy Vehicles], an illustrated list. Accessed August 10, 2007.
* [http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-vehicles.htm Hindu Deities and Their Vehicles], a partial list at About.Com. Accessed August 10, 2007.
* [http://www.hinduwebsite.com/vehicles.asp Symbolism of the Vehicles of Gods and Goddesses]. Accessed August 10, 2007.

{{Hindu Culture and Epics}}

[[Category:Hindu deities]]
[[Category:Hindu iconography]]
[[Category:Animals in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hindu legendary creatures]]

Vahana - Revision history

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