Lord Vishwakarma or Vishvakarma ¦ Family and children ¦ Creator Of The Universe

Vishwa means world or universe. Karman means the doer or creator. The general meaning of the word is creator of the universe. The word also means all doing or all creating. Vishwakarma has been both the architect and the divine engineer of the universe since the beginning of time. In the early texts, the word Vishwakarma was originally used as an epithet for any powerful He was identified with Prajapati. That time the craftsman deity was known as Tvashtha. In later scriptures, Lord Vishwakarma is sometimes identified with Tvashtha and is accredited as the craftsman deity. If you want to know more about Tvashtha then you can check out this video. The link is also given in the description. We find the mention of Vishwakarma in almost all the major Hindu scriptures like Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. According to the Vedas, when the universe is created, it is Vishwakarma who gave the form to the formless. To go from formless to form, we need an engineer or an architect. He was the key player who separated heaven and earth. He also divided the earth into seven islands, oceans and hills. It is mentioned in Puranas that the Trishul, Trident of Shiva, Sudarshan Chakra of Vishnu, Vajra, Thunderbolt of Indra, Hal, Plough of Balaram, most of the other famous weapons were all made by God Vishwakarma. Actually to create any form in this universe, we need a Vishwakarma. While studying his family, we found that most major scriptures gave different interpretations. We are trying to show some of them here. According to Mahabharata, Vishwakarma is the son of Prabhas, one of the eight Vasus and Varastri, a sister of Devguru Brihaspati. In Vishnu Puran, we find the same parents' names of Vishwakarma i.e. Prabhas and Varastri. Here, Vishwakarma has four sons. They are Ajay Kapad, Ahir Budhna, Swashtra and Rudra. Swashtra has a son named Vishwaroop. According to Bhagavad Puran, Daksha married Asikni and gave birth to 60 daughters. Vasu is one of them. Vasu married Dharma and gave birth to several children. One son of them is also called Vasu. Vishwakarma is the son of this Vasu with Angirasi. Vishwakarma married Kriti who begot Chakshushmanu in her womb. Chakshushmanu had two children named Vishwadeva and Sadyagana. In most Puranas, Vishwakarma is the inventor of innumerable kinds of handicrafts, the architect of the gods, the maker of all kinds of ornaments and the most famous sculptor. He was the maker of many famous cities as well as all kinds of chariots of the Devas. According to many texts, the craftsman deity Vishwakarma, also known as Swashtra, had two children, Sangya and Sushiras or Vishwaroop. The Puranic scriptures like the Markandeya Puran, Matsya Puran and the Kurma Puran mention her look alike's name as Chhaya. Both of them married the sun god Vivasvan. However, in Bhagwat Puran, Chhaya is Sangya's biological sister. In Vaman Puran, Vishwakarma is described as the husband of the celestial nymph Vritachi. Their children are a son Nala and four daughters, Sangya, Swaroopa, Bahirsmati and Chitrangada. While Sangya married to Surya, Swaroopa and Bahirsmati were married to King Priyabrata, brother of King Uttanapada. Chitrangada fell in love with Prince Surat, son of King Sudev. But due to Vishwakarma's curse, they couldn't marry. Nala was the one who helped Lord Ram in building the bridge across the ocean to reach Lanka. In another version, Vritachi and Vishwakarma had five or seven sons. They are Manu, Maya, Swashtra, Shilpi, Vishwagya, Nala and Neel. Generally, Vishwakarma is depicted in two types of looks. In one type, he is depicted as an aged wise man with a white beard. He has four hands, carrying a measuring tape or a measuring scale, tamandal and a book. Usually, he is seated on a throne and his sons stand near him. Here, his vahana or mount is hamsa, goose or swan, suggesting his close association with Brahma, the creator god. In another look, he is depicted as a young muscular man with a black moustache and is not accompanied by his sons. An elephant is his vahana or mount, suggesting his association with Indra or Brihaspati. Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated on the last day of the Hindu month of Bhadra. On this day, generally workers don't do any mechanical work and only worship their tools, offering prayers to Vishwakarma to protect them, keep their livelihoods secure and bring them success. The five groups among the Vishwakarma community celebrate this auspicious day to honour their patron god.