Kaumodaki: Meaning
कौमोदकीKaumodaki is the mace (gada) of Vishnu, held in one of his four hands with the discus, conch and lotus. The Mahabharata says the sea god Varuna gave it to Krishna at the burning of the Khandava forest, and the Vishnu Purana reads it as the power of the intellect.
What does it symbolise?
The Vishnu Purana (1.22) gives each of Vishnu's emblems an inner meaning. There the mace stands for buddhi, the intellect: the faculty that decides, steadies and protects. Read this way, Vishnu holding Kaumodaki shows the mind's power to discriminate, held firmly in the service of dharma.
Popular tradition adds a simpler reading: the mace is strength used only to protect, never to oppress, and its weight reminds the devotee that the divine can subdue any force that threatens the world.
