WeaponIconography
Nandaka: Meaning
नन्दकNandaka is the sword of Vishnu. The Vishnu Purana explains it as vidya, true knowledge, sheathed in the scabbard of ignorance. Vishnu is called Nandaki in the Vishnu Sahasranama, and the Tirumala tradition holds the poet Annamacharya to be an embodiment of the sword.
Borne byविVishnu
What does it symbolise?
Tradition holds
The Vishnu Purana (1.22) says that the sword Nandaka is vidya, knowledge, and that its sheath is avidya, ignorance. The image teaches that knowledge cuts away the bonds of ignorance, and that it is drawn out from within.
Because Kalki is pictured with a sword, the blade also carries the hope that disorder will one day be cut away and a new age of dharma begin.
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