Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/223

* VISHNU. 175 VISION. epic gives him n (li(iu>aiiil ikiiucs, most of which are ejiithets dcsciibiiig liim as all-glorious, all- powerful, the savior, the preserver, or the very great one. There is, however, another aspect of Vishnu, which may be ealleil his ])hi!osophieal form. In this form Vishnu becomes a mere name { inter- changeable with iirahma or Siva) of the All-god as philosophically conceived. As such Vislinu is not a deniinrge, which in all sectarian forms is his real position, but a being without parts or passions, having no attril)utes save those of being and knowledge. He is the name of the world- spirit out of which comes and into which returns all the transient group of phenomena which have no real existence and are due merely to ignorance on the part of those who live conditioned by these phenomena. This is the Vishnu of the Vedanta (q.v.), dill'ering both from the Krishna-Vishnu of the sectary and from the Vishnu of the Tri- murti, or triad of the co-equal supreme gods. Since Vishnu may be and is worshiped under any of these conceptions, he comes nearest to the all- sufficing notion of God, and his cult appeals alike to the grosser intellect of the sectary and to the most refined thought of the logician. In all of these phases may be seen a survival of the primi- tive sun-god. On the one hand the identification of the sun's place with the place of departed spirits led to a mystic conception of the god, whose at- tribute of light was further identified with that of goodness. On the other hand, the fructifying power of the sun led to the apotheosis of the gen= crative power in man as in nature, and it is this function w-hich is the chief element in Krishna worship, Krishna being renowned as the amorous shepherd whose thousand wives or mistresses are his principal delight. In sharp contrast to Siva. Vishnu is at all times a kindly god, and his cult is indicative of this fact. To him are offered no bloodj- sacrifices. He desires only the sacrifice of fruit and vege- tables, milk and honey. The esoteric rites in honor of his human incarnations are also blood- less, though licentious in their debased form. On the whole he is a deity of light and joy. Gay banners and brilliant illuminations are seen at his feasts, and his many temples are crowned with flowers, not with the skwHs of victims. Under the form of Juggernaut, or .Tagannath (q.v.), the savior of the world, he has been credited with- taking pleasure in human sacrifice, but this is a gross error. The sacred scriptures of Vishnu are of two Borts. The first are the few early texts which express a belief in Vishnu as the supreme god. Such expressions of belief are ahvays incidental in the first instance, and they would not be of influence if it were not for the later evolution of Vishnu into the All-god. The earliest Upanishads (q.v.) and the still earlier Brahnianas (q.v.) do not recognize Vishnu as in any way a siiprenie deity. The second class of scriptures includes the Bhnimfad-yitCi ( q.v. I, in which for the first time Krishna appears as Vishnu incarnate on earth, and the Vtstiti Purnna^. of which there are several, the oldest being called simply Vifitiu Piirfiiin, and the most po])ular being the Bhrifjii- rnio Prirnnn. These, tocether Avith a supplement to the Mnhdhhilrritfi called the UnrirnnAa (q.v.) or genenlog;v' of Krishna (as Vishnu), in which are fold marvelous tales of Krishna's youthful exploits, are the clas.sic texts in honor of tlm god, though each of the Vishnu sects' (see Vaish- N.WA.S) has scriptures of its own. Consult: Muir, Oiifiinal S<iitsl:yil Texts (London, 1S58- (i.'i) ; Hopkins, Iicli(jions of India (Boston, 18!);')) ; .lacdonell, Vcdic Mijlhiiloyy (Strassburg, 18117), and see Vishnu in Plate of Hindu Df.ities, in the article India. VISIBLE SPEECH. A scientific form of universal al|iliabctics, devised by A. Melville Bell (q.v.) in 1848, which is equally adapted to every nation and spoken language. There is not a phonetic element in any language that cannot be reduced to its established standard of articu- late correctness and accurately represented. Hence, visible speech, correctly written and read, pre- sents and acts respectively the same linguistic sounds in every country. Human speech, however, consists of certain movements of the throat, tongue, and lips, associated in difTerent coun- tries with different sets of letters, so that one may know the letters perfectly in connection with a certain language, and yet be unable to pro- nounce them in some other language. This is effec- tively obviated by visible speech, as it consists in a form of writing which depicts the actual move- ments of the organs of speech, and inasmuch as these organs are alike in all men, and the effect of every action is the same in all mouths, the symbols used in graphically giving their requisite movements result in a strictly luiiform standard of pronunciation in every language, regardless of lim.'uistic differences and local peculiarities. For the characters employed in the system, see Deaf JIite. VIS'IGOTHS. See Goths. VISION, or Sight. That sense which gives us knowledge of our surroimdings through the medium of the eye and includes impressions of form, of colorless light (black, white, and gray), and of color. The function of the eye is the re- ception of stimuli im])arted by means of vibra- tions of the surrounding ethereal medium (luininiferous ether), and the transference of corresponding stimuli to the optic nerve; the latter serves to transmit the resulting nerve- excitations to the occipital lobes of the brain, where they are concomitant with sensations of sight. The Connection op the Eyeball with the Brain. ( For a description of the eyeball, see Eye.) The eyeball is connected w ith the brain by a slen- der ccu'd of nerve filaments, the optic nerve, de- struction of which causes blindness. This nerve passes through a small opening in the apex of the orbit and thus reaches the interior of the skull ; after passing along the base of the brain a short distance, the optic nerves. of the two sides unite, a part of the fibres decussating and passing to the opposite side, a portion continuing upon the same side as the eye from which they arise. Penetrating the substance of the brain, the fibres of the optic nerve finally terminate in nerve cells of the gray covering at a region situ- ated in the median and posterior aspect of the brain, known as the visual cortical area. The Formation of Imaoe.s. DifTuse light gives rise merely to the impression of luminosity. In order to see objects distinctly, light must he col- lected so as to produce a sharply defined image upon the retina ; this process constitutes focus-