Keyūra — The Divine Upper-Arm Ornament
The Keyūra is the divine ornament worn upon the upper arm or shoulder of Bhagavān Śrī Vaikuṇṭhanātha. It occupies a well-defined place in the standard enumeration of the Lord's ābharaṇams as codified in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the Pañcarātra Āgamas, and the Āchāryas' meditative descriptions of the divya-maṅgala-vigraha. The Keyūra is the higher of the two arm ornaments — the other being the Kaṭaka at the wrist — and together they adorn the entire length of Bhagavān's arms from shoulder to wrist.
In Viṣṇu iconography, the Keyūra is typically depicted as a broad armband wrought in gold, set with precious gems, and often fashioned in forms symbolic of divinity — the makara (sea-creature), the lotus, or abstract geometric interlace that speaks to the infinite. The Pañcarātra Āgamas, which govern the construction of Viṣṇu temples and images, prescribe the Keyūra as a mandatory ornament for both the mūlavar (processional) and utsavar (fixed) images, reflecting its status as one of the eternally natural (nitya) ornaments of Bhagavān's form.
Theologically, the Keyūra adorns the very arms that bear the Śārṅga bow, the Kaumodakī mace, the Nandaka sword, and the Pāñcajanya conch — the four divine weapons that protect the cosmos. Āchāryas have meditated upon the ornament-adorned arms of Bhagavān as a synthesis of two complementary truths: His absolute sovereignty (aiśvarya) expressed in the weaponry He bears, and His boundless grace (saulabhya) expressed in the beauty and accessibility of His divine form. The Keyūra, glittering upon that arm, is thus a meeting-point of power and love.