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{{short description|One of the principal deities in Hinduism}}
{{Infobox deity
{{Other uses}}
| type = Hindi
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox deity <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology-->
| type = Hindu
| image = File:God Vishnu.jpg
| name = Vishnu
| caption = Vishnu bearing his four attributes
| affiliation = [[Parabrahman]], [[Trimurti]], [[Brahman]], [[Bhagavan]], [[Ishvara]], [[Dashavatara]]
| deity_of = God of Preservation
God of Time, The Protector of Good, Bestower of [[Karma]]<ref>https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Indian_Civilization_and_Culture/KItocaxbibUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=vishnu+supreme+being+vaishnavism&pg=PA112&printsec=frontcover</ref>
[[Para Brahman]], the Supreme Being<ref>{{cite book |author=Wendy Doniger|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440 |url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0-87779-044-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/1134 1134]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of World Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbibAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA445|year=2008|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59339-491-2 |pages=445–448}}</ref>{{Sfn|Soifer|1991|p=85}}
| abode = * [[Vaikuntha]] ([[Narayana]])       
* [[Causal Ocean]] ([[Mahavishnu]])
* [[Garbhodaka Ocean]] ([[Garbhodaksayi Vishnu]])
* [[Kshira Sagara]] ([[Ksirodakasayi Vishnu]])
| mantra = * [[Om Namo Narayanaya]]
* [[Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya]]
*Hari Om
| weapon = * [[Sudarshana Chakra]] (Discus)
* [[Panchajanya]] ([[Shankha|Conch]])
* [[Kaumodaki]] ([[Gada (weapon)|Mace]])
* [[Sharanga]] (Bow)
* [[Nandaka]] (Sword)


| image = File:Lord of Gods Vishnu.jpg
<ref name=jones492>{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|pages=491–492}}</ref>
| name = Vishnu
|caption = A painting of Vishnu
| script_name = Devanagari
| script = विष्णु
| Sanskrit_transliteration = {{IAST|Viṣṇu}}
| affiliation = [[Parabrahman]] ([[Vaishnavism]]), [[Trimurti]], [[Bhagavan]], [[Ishvara]], [[Dashavatara]]
| deity_of = God of Preservation, Reality, [[Karma]] restoration and [[Moksha]]; The Protector of Good; Para Brahman, Supreme Being ([[Vaishnavism]])<ref>{{cite book |author=Wendy Doniger|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440 |url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0-87779-044-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/1134 1134]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of World Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbibAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA445|year=2008|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59339-491-2 |pages=445–448}}</ref>
| abode = [[Vaikuntha]], [[Kshira Sagara]]
| mantra = Om Namo Narayanaya, [[Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya]]
| weapon = Discus ([[Sudarshana Chakra]]), [[Gada (weapon)|Mace]] ([[Kaumodaki]]), [[Shankha|Conch]] ([[Panchajanya]]),<ref name=jones492>{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|pages=491–492}}</ref>
| consort = [[Lakshmi]]
| consort = [[Lakshmi]]
| mount = [[Garuda]],<ref name=jones492/> [[Shesha]]
| mount = [[Garuda]],<ref name=jones492/> [[Shesha]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/shesha | title=Shesha, Sesa, Śeṣa, Śeṣā: 34 definitions | date=23 August 2009 }}</ref>
| festivals = [[Holi]], [[Ram Navami]], [[Krishna Janmashtami]], Narasimha Jayanti, [[Diwali]], [[Onam]], [[Vivaha Panchami]], [[Vijayadashami]], [[Anant Chaturdashi]], [[Devshayani Ekadashi]], [[Prabodhini Ekadashi]] and other [[ekadashi]]s, [[Kartik Purnima]], [[Tulsi Vivah]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Muriel Marion Underhill|title=The Hindu Religious Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb9Zc0yPVUUC |year=1991|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0523-7|pages=75–91}}</ref>
| festivals = [[Holi]], [[Rama Navami]], [[Krishna Janmashtami]], [[Narasimha Jayanti]], [[Deepavali]], [[Onam]], [[Vishu]], [[Vivaha Panchami]], [[Vijayadashami]], [[Ananta Chaturdashi]], [[Shayani Ekadashi]], [[Prabodhini Ekadashi]] and other [[ekadashi]]s, [[Kartik Purnima]], [[Tulasi Vivaha]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Muriel Marion Underhill|title=The Hindu Religious Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb9Zc0yPVUUC |year=1991|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0523-7|pages=75–91}}</ref>
| symbols = [[Shaligram]], [[Dvaravati sila]], [[Nelumbo nucifera|Lotus]]
| symbols = [[Padma (Vishnu)|Padma]] (Lotus), [[Shaligram|Shaligrama]], [[Dvaravati sila]]
| siblings = [[Parvati]]<!--(in some traditions)-->
| siblings = [[Parvati]] or [[Durga]] (ceremonial sister; according to [[Shaivism]])
| member_of = [[Trimurti]]
| member_of = [[Trimurti]]
| other_names = [[Narayana]], Hari, Lakshmikanta, Padmanābh, Mukunda
| other_names = [[Hari]], [[Narayana]], [[Madhava (Vishnu)|Madhava]], [[Keshava]], [[Achyuta]], [[Janardana]], various others ([[Vishnu Sahasranama]])
| children =  
| children = *[[Kamadeva]]
*18 sons (from Lakshmi)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stephen-knapp.com/prayers_to_goddess_lakshmi.htm | title=Prayers to Goddess Lakshmi }}</ref>
*[[Devasena]] and [[Sundaravalli]] (Tamil tradition)
*[[Mangala]] and [[Narakasura]] (from Bhudevi)
*[[Ayyappan]] (as Mohini)
| day = [[Thursday]]
}}
{{Infobox Hindu term|sa=विष्णु ({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|as=বিষ্ণু ({{IAST|Biṣṇu}})|bn=বিষ্ণু ({{IAST|Biṣṇu}})|gu=વિષ્ણુ ({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|hi=विष्णु
({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|kn=ವಿಷ್ಣು ({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|mr=विष्णु ({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|or=ବିଷ୍ଣୁ ({{IAST|Biṣṇu}})|te=విష్ణు ({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|ta=விஷ்ணு
({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})|ml=വിഷ്ണു 
({{IAST|Viṣṇu}})}}
 
'''Vishnu''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɪ|ʃ|n|uː}} {{respell|VISH|noo}}; {{Lang-sa|विष्णु<!--Do not remove, WP:INDICSCRIPT doesn't apply to WikiProject Hinduism-->|Viṣṇu|lit=the pervader}}, {{IPA-sa|ʋɪʂɳʊ|pron}}), also known as '''Narayana''' and '''Hari''', is one of the [[Hindu deities|principal deities]] of [[Hinduism]]. He is the supreme being within [[Vaishnavism]], one of the major traditions within contemporary [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Comparative Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jb0rCQD9NcoC|page=38|author=Kedar Nath Tiwari|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications|year=1987|isbn = 9788120802933}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Pratapaditya Pal|title=Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 BCE- 700 CE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clUmKaWRFTkC |year=1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05991-7|pages=24–25}}</ref>
 
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the [[Trimurti]], the [[triple deity]] of [[Para Brahman|supreme divinity]] that includes [[Brahma]] and [[Shiva]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Orlando O. Espín|author2=James B. Nickoloff|title=An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k85JKr1OXcQC&pg=PA539|year=2007|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5856-7|page=539}}</ref><ref name="Flood 1996, p. 17">[[Gavin Flood]], ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Hinduism.html?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C An Introduction to Hinduism]'' (1996), p. 17.</ref>  In [[Vaishnavism]], Vishnu is the [[Para Brahman|supreme being]] who creates, protects, and transforms the [[Hindu cosmology|universe]]. In the [[Shaktism]] tradition, the Goddess, or [[Adi Shakti]], is described as the supreme [[para brahman|Para Brahman]], yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. [[Tridevi]] is stated to be the energy and creative power ([[Shakti]]) of each, with [[Lakshmi]] being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ|page=236|author=David Leeming|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=17 November 2005|isbn=978-0190288884}}</ref> He is one of the five equivalent deities in [[Panchayatana puja]] of the [[Smarta tradition]] of Hinduism.<ref name="Flood 1996, p. 17" />
 
According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of [[Ishvara]] is with qualities ([[Saguna Brahman|Saguna]]), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute [[Brahman]], and the primal [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self) of the universe.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC|page=16|author1=Edwin Bryant|author2=Maria Ekstrand|publisher=Columbia University Press|date=23 June 2004|isbn=978-0231508438}}</ref> There are many both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Vishnu. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient being sleeping on the coils of the serpent [[Adishesha]] (who represents time) floating in the primeval ocean of milk called [[Kshira Sagara]] with his consort, [[Lakshmi]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OIzDwAAQBAJ|title=In the Lost City of Sri Krishna: The Story of Ancient Dwaraka|page=737|author=Vanamali|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=20 March 2018|isbn=978-1620556825}}</ref>
 
Whenever the world is threatened with evil, chaos, and destructive forces, Vishnu descends in the form of an [[avatar]] ''(incarnation)'' to restore the [[Hindu cosmology|cosmic order]], and protect ''[[dharma]]''. The [[Dashavatara]] are the ten primary [[avatar]]s ''(incarnations)'' of Vishnu. Out of these ten, [[Rama]] and [[Krishna]] are the most important.<ref name="Zimmer 1972 p. 124">{{cite book|last1=Zimmer|first1=Heinrich Robert|author-link1=Heinrich Zimmer|title=Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-01778-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTfNMQP81nAC|page=124|year=1972}}</ref>
 
==Nomenclature==
Vishnu (or Viṣṇu, {{Lang-sa|विष्णु}}) means 'all pervasive'<ref>[[Vishnu Sahasranāma]], translated by [[Swami Chinmayananda]]. Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. pp. 16–17.</ref> and, according to [[Medhātithi|Medhātith]] ({{circa|1000}} CE), 'one who is everything and inside everything'.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p84">{{cite book|author=Klaus K. Klostermaier|title=Hinduism: A Short History|url=https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oneworld|isbn=978-1-85168-213-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos/page/83 83]–84}}</ref> [[Vedanga]] scholar [[Yaska]] (4th century BCE) in the [[Nirukta]] defines Vishnu as ''viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā'' ('one who enters everywhere'); also adding ''atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati'' ('that which is free from fetters and bondage is Vishnu').<ref name="VishwaBagchee12">{{cite journal|last=Adluri|first=Vishwa|author2=Joydeep Bagchee|date=February 2012|title=From Poetic Immortality to Salvation: Ruru and Orpheus in Indic and Greek Myth|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/918fe25c13f6b3926c690a2b970b369f5848c599|journal=History of Religions|volume=51|issue=3|pages=245–246|doi=10.1086/662191|jstor=10.1086/662191|s2cid=56331632}}</ref>
 
In the tenth part of the ''[[Padma Purana]]'' (4-15th century CE), Danta (Son of [[Bhima|Bhīma]] and King of [[Vidarbha]]) lists 108 names of Vishnu (17.98–102).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21961|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART.10|last=N.A.|date=1956|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21961/page/n201 3471]–3473}}</ref> These include the ten primary avatars (see ''Dashavarara'', below'')'' and descriptions of the qualities, attributes, or aspects of God.
 
The ''[[Garuda Purana]]'' (chapter XV)<ref>{{Cite book|last=N.A.|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20541|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 1|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20541/page/n54 44]–71}}</ref> and the "[[Anushasana Parva]]" of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' both list over 1000 names for Vishnu, each name describing a quality, attribute, or aspect of God. Known as the ''[[Vishnu Sahasranama]]'', ''Vishnu'' here is defined as 'the omnipresent'.
 
Other notable names in this list include :
 
* [[Hari]]
* Lakshmikanta
* [[Jagannatha]]
* [[Janardana]]
* [[Govinda]]
* [[Hrishikesha]]
* Padmanabha
* Mukunda
 
== Iconography ==
[[File:Vishnu Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin Arnab Dutta 2010.JPG|alt=|thumb|A statue of Vishnu.|left|261x261px]]
 
Vishnu iconography shows him with dark blue, blue-gray or black coloured skin, and as a well-dressed jewelled man. He is typically shown with four arms, but two armed representations are also found in Hindu texts on artworks.<ref name="KossakWatts2001p30"/><ref name="Rao1993p73"/>
 
The historic identifiers of his icon include his image holding a conch shell ([[shankha]] named [[Panchajanya]]) between the first two fingers of one hand (left back), a [[chakra]] – war discus named [[Sudarshana]] – in another (right back). The conch shell is spiral and symbolizes all of interconnected spiraling cyclic existence, while the discus symbolizes him as that which restores dharma with war if necessary when cosmic equilibrium is overwhelmed by evil.<ref name="KossakWatts2001p30"/> One of his arms sometimes carries a ''gada'' (club, mace named [[Kaumodaki]]) which symbolizes authority and power of knowledge.<ref name="KossakWatts2001p30"/> In the fourth arm, he holds a lotus flower (''[[Padma (Vishnu)|padma]]'') which symbolizes purity and transcendence.<ref name="KossakWatts2001p30">{{cite book|author1=Steven Kossak|author2=Edith Whitney Watts|title=The Art of South and Southeast Asia: A Resource for Educators |year= 2001 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=orBAYzCRJhIC |publisher= Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn= 978-0-87099-992-5|pages= 30–31, 16, 25, 40–41, 74–78, 106–108}}</ref><ref name="Rao1993p73">{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu iconography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJD-KresBwIC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0878-2|pages=73–115}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&pg=PA137 137], 231 (Vol. 1), 624 (Vol. 2)}}<br />{{*}}{{cite book|title=Vol. 1|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC|via=Google Books|last1=James g. Lochtefeld |first1=Ph. D. |date=15 December 2001 }}<br />{{*}}{{cite book|title=Vol. 2|isbn= 978-0-8239-2287-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive|last1= Lochtefeld |first1= James G. |year= 2002 }}</ref> The items he holds in various hands varies, giving rise to twenty four combinations of iconography, each combination representing a special form of Vishnu. Each of these special forms is given a special name in texts such as the ''Agni Purana'' and ''Padma Purana''. These texts, however, are inconsistent.<ref name=bidyabinod>P.B.B. Bidyabinod, Varieties of the Vishnu Image, Memoirs of Archaeological Survey of India, No. 2, Calcutta, pages 23-33</ref> Rarely, Vishnu is depicted bearing the bow [[Sharanga]] or the sword [[Nandaka]]. He is depicted with the [[Kaustubha]] gem in a necklace and wearing [[Vaijayanti]], a garland of forest flowers. The [[shrivatsa]] mark is depicted on his chest in the form of a curl of hair. He generally wears yellow garments.
 
Vishnu iconography show him either in standing pose, seated in a [[yoga]] pose, or reclining.<ref name="Rao1993p73"/> A traditional depiction of Vishnu is that of him reclining on the coils of the serpent [[Shesha]], accompanied by his consort [[Lakshmi]], as he "dreams the universe into reality."<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fred S. Kleiner|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlVeuxIgjwQC&q=vishnu+ananta&pg=PA22|year=2007 |publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0495573678|page=22}}</ref>
 
== The Trimurti ==
{{Main|Trimurti}}
[[File:Trimurti_ellora.jpg|thumb|The [[Trimurti]] at [[Ellora]], with Vishnu in the middle.|left]]
Particularly in [[Vaishnavism]], the Trimurti (also known as the '''Hindu Triad''' or '''Great Trinity''')<ref>See Apte, p. 485, for a definition of ''Trimurti'' as 'the unified form' of Brahmā, {{IAST|Viṣṇu}} and Śiva, as well as the use of phrase "Hindu triad."</ref><ref>See: Jansen, p. 83, for the term "Great Trinity" in relation to the Trimurti.</ref> represents the three fundamental forces ([[Guṇa|''guṇas'']]) through which the universe is created, maintained, and destroyed in [[Hindu cosmology|cyclic succession]]. Each of these forces is represented by a Hindu deity:<ref>For quotation defining the Trimurti see: Matchett, Freda. 2003. "'The Purāṇas'." In ''Flood'', p. 139.</ref><ref>For the Trimurti system having Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva as the transformer or destroyer see Zimmer (1972) p. 124.</ref>
 
* '''[[Brahma]]:''' presiding deity of [[Rajas]] (passion, creation)
* '''Vishnu:''' presiding deity of [[Sattva]] (goodness, preservation)
* '''[[Shiva]]:''' presiding deity of [[Tamas (philosophy)|Tamas]] (darkness, destruction)
The trimurti themselves are beyond three gunas and are not affected by it.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-03-06|title=Shiva: The Auspicious One|url=https://iskconnews.org/shiva-the-auspicious-one/|access-date=2022-02-12|website=ISKCON News|language=en}}</ref>
 
In Hindu tradition, the trio is often referred to as '''Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh'''. All have the same meaning of three in One; different forms or manifestations of [[One]] person the [[Supreme Being]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/1/2/23/en|title=Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 2 Verse 23|publisher=Vedabase.net|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123213949/http://vedabase.net/sb/1/2/23/en|archive-date=23 November 2010|access-date=2011-11-30|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
 
==Avatars==
{{Main|Avatar|Dashavatara}}
[[File:The God Vishnu in Three Incarnations. Northern India (Mathura), Gupta period, mid-5th century AD. Boston Museum.jpg|thumb|Vishnu and his [[avatar]]s (''[[Vaikuntha Chaturmurti]]''): Vishnu himself or [[Krishna]] in human form, [[Narasimha]] as a lion, [[Varaha]] as a boar. [[Art of Mathura]], mid-5th century CE. [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Boston Museum]].<ref name="CS">For English summary, see page 80 {{cite journal|last1=Schmid|first1=Charlotte|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1997_num_52_1_1401|title=Les Vaikuṇṭha gupta de Mathura : Viṣṇu ou Kṛṣṇa?|journal=Arts Asiatiques|date=1997|volume=52|pages=60–88|doi=10.3406/arasi.1997.1401}}</ref>]]
The concept of the avatar (or incarnation) within Hinduism is most often associated with Vishnu, the preserver or sustainer aspect of God within the Hindu [[Trimurti]]. The avatars of Vishnu descend to empower the good and to destroy evil, thereby restoring [[Dharma]] and relieving the burden of the Earth. An oft-quoted passage from the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' describes the typical role of an avatar of Vishnu:
{{Blockquote|<poem>
Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,
and for the establishment of righteousness,
I come into being age after age.
</poem>|''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' 4.7–8|
|source=}}
 
[[Vedas|Vedic]] literature, in particular the ''[[Puranas]]'' ('ancient'; similar to [[encyclopedia|''encyclopedias'']]) and ''[[Itihasa]]'' ('chronicle, history, legend'), narrate numerous [[avatar]]s of Vishnu. The most well-known of these avatars are [[Krishna]] (most notably in the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', and ''[[Mahabharata]]''; the latter encompassing the [[Bhagavad Gita]]), and [[Rama]] (most notably in the ''[[Ramayana]]''). Krishna in particular is venerated in [[Vaishnavism]] as the ultimate, primeval, [[Transcendence (religion)#Hinduism|transcendental]] source of all existence, including all the other [[demigod]]s and gods such as Vishnu.
 
=== The ''Mahabharata'' ===
In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', Vishnu (as [[Narayana]]) states to [[Narada]] that He will appear in the following ten incarnations:
 
{{blockquote|Appearing in the forms of a swan [Hamsa], a tortoise [<nowiki/>[[Kurma]]], a fish [<nowiki/>[[Matsya]]], O foremost of regenerate ones, I shall then display myself as a boar [<nowiki/>[[Varaha]]], then as a Man-lion ([[Narasimha|Nrisingha]]), then as a dwarf [<nowiki/>[[Vamana]]], then as [[Parashurama|Rama]] of Bhrigu's race, then as [[Rama]], the son of Dasaratha, then as [[Krishna]] the scion of the Sattwata race, and lastly as [[Kalki]].|source=Book 12, Santi Parva, Chapter CCCXL (340), translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, 1883-1896<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c039.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCXL|website=sacred-texts.com|access-date=2019-12-12}}</ref>|author=|title=}}
 
=== The Puranas ===
Specified avatars of Vishnu are listed against some of the [[Puranas]] in the table below. However, this is a complicated process and the lists are unlikely to be exhaustive because:
 
* Not all Puranas provide lists ''per se'' (e.g. the Agni Purana dedicates entire chapters to avatars, and some of these chapters mention other avatars within them)
* A list may be given in one place but additional avatars may be mentioned elsewhere (e.g. the Bhagavata Purana lists 22 avatars in Canto 1, but mentions others elsewhere)
*Manava Purana, the only Upa Purana listed 42 avatars of Vishnu.
* A personality in one Purana may be considered an avatar in another (e.g. Narada is not specified as an avatar in the Matsya Purana but is in the Bhagavata Purana)
* Some avatars consist of two or more people considered as different aspects of a single incarnation (e.g. Nara-Narayana, Rama and his three brothers)
 
{| class="wikitable"
!Purana
!Avatars
!Names / Descriptions (with chapters and verses) - [[Dashavatara]] lists are in bold
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Agni Purana|Agni]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/AgniPuranaUnabridgedEnglishMotilal|title=Agni Purana Unabridged English Motilal (vol 1.)|last=J. L. Shastri|first=G. P. Bhatt|date=1998-01-01|pages=[https://archive.org/details/AgniPuranaUnabridgedEnglishMotilal/page/n8 1]–38}}</ref>
|12<ref group="lower-alpha">Rama and his brothers are considered as one unit. Volume 3, Chapter 276 also lists the same incarnations. [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]], [[Pradyumna]], and [[Aniruddha]] have not been counted; a list of the ''[[Dashavatara]]'' is provided in chapter 49.</ref>
|[[Matsya]] (2), [[Kurma]] (3), [[Dhanvantari]] (3.11), [[Mohini]] (3.12), [[Varaha]] (4), [[Narasimha]] (4.3-4), [[Vamana]] (4.5-11), [[Parashurama|Parasurama]] (4.12-20), [[Rama]] (5-11; one of the 'four forms' of Vishnu, including his brothers [[Bharata (Ramayana)|Bharata]], [[Lakshmana|Laksmana]] and [[Shatrughna|Satrughna]]), [[Krishna]] (12), [[Sugata|Buddha]] (16), [[Kalki]] (16)
|-
|'''10<ref name=":0" group="lower-alpha">Rama and his brothers are considered as one unit. Volume 3, Chapter 276 also lists the same incarnations. [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]], [[Pradyumna]], and [[Aniruddha]] have not been counted; a list of the ''[[Dashavatara]]'' is provided in chapter 49.</ref>'''
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Buddha, and Kalki (Chapter 49)
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Bhagavata Purana|Bhagavata]]
|22<ref group="lower-alpha">Others such as Hamsa, Ajita, [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]], [[Pradyumna]], and [[Aniruddha]] are mentioned elsewhere but have not been counted. For a complete list, see [[Bhagavata Purana#Avatars of Vishnu|Bhagavata Purana]]</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=CHAPTER THREE|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/3/|access-date=2019-10-31|website=vedabase.io|language=en}}</ref>
|[[Four Kumaras|Kumaras]], Varaha, [[Narada]], [[Nara-Narayana]], [[Kapila]], [[Dattatreya]], [[Yajna (avatar)|Yajna]], [[Rishabhanatha|Rsabha]], [[Prithu|Prthu]], Matsya, Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Nrsimha, Vamana, Parashurama, [[Vyasa]]deva, Rama, [[Balarama]] and Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki (Canto 1, Chapter 3).
|-
|20<ref name=":1" group="lower-alpha">Others such as Hamsa, Ajita, [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]], [[Pradyumna]], and [[Aniruddha]] are mentioned elsewhere but have not been counted. For a complete list, see [[Bhagavata Purana#Avatars of Vishnu|Bhagavata Purana]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/7/|title=CHAPTER SEVEN|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2019-10-31}}</ref>
|Varaha, Suyajna (Hari), Kapila, Dattātreya, Four Kumaras, Nara-Narayana, Prthu, Rsabha, [[Hayagriva]], Matsya, Kurma, Nṛsiṁha, Vamana, [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]], Dhanvantari, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki (Canto 2, Chapter 7)
|-
|[[Brahma Purana|Brahma]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20270|title=BRAHMA PURANA PART. 4|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20270/page/n222 970]}}</ref>
|15
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, [[Hayagriva]], Buddha, Rama, Kalki, [[Shesha|Ananta]], Acyuta, Jamadagnya ([[Parashurama]]), [[Varuna]], [[Indra]], and [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]] (Volume 4: 52.68-73)
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Garuda Purana|Garuda]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20541|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20541/page/n33 1]–6}}</ref>
|20<ref name=":2" group="lower-alpha">Kumara is more likely to be the Four Kumaras (one unit) than - as the translator believes - [[Kartikeya|Karttikeya]], one of [[Shiva|Shiva's]] sons and the Hindu god of war</ref>
|Kumara, Varaha, Narada, Nara-Narayana, Kapila, [[Dattatreya|Datta]] (Dattatreya), Yajna, Urukrama, Prthu, Matsya, Kurma, Dhanavantari, Mohini, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Vyasadeva, Balarama, Krishna, and Kalki (Volume 1: Chapter 1)
|-
|'''10'''<ref name=":2" group="lower-alpha" />
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki (Volume 1, Chapter 86, Verses 10–11)
|-
|10<ref name=":2" group="lower-alpha" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12942|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 3|last=N.A|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref>
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Rama,  Parasurama, Krishna, [[Balarama]], Buddha, and Kalki (Volume 3, Chapter 30, Verse 37)
|-
|[[Linga Purana|Linga]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/LingaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart2|title=Linga Purana - English Translation - Part 2 of 2|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1951|pages=[https://archive.org/details/LingaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart2/page/n281 774]}}</ref>
|'''10'''<ref group="lower-alpha">These avatars are stated to incarnate 'for the good of the world' in every cycle of [[yuga]]s; It is also stated that there are other avatars due to the curse of [[Bhrigu|Bhrgu]]</ref>
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Rama, Parasurama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki (Part 2, Chapter 48, Verses 31–32)
|-
|[[Matsya Purana|Matsya]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45856|title=The Matsya Puranam|last=Basu|first=B. D.|date=1916|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45856/page/n157 137]–138}}</ref>
|10<ref group="lower-alpha">[[Narada]], [[Samba (Krishna's son)|Samba]], [[Pradyumna]], and [[Aniruddha]], etc., have not been counted</ref>
|3 celestial incarnations of [[Dharma]], Nrishimha, and Vamana; and 7 human incarnations of [[Dattatreya]], [[Mandhatri|Mandhitri]], Parasurama, Rama, Vedavyasa (Vyasa), Buddha, and Kalki (Volume 1: Chapter XLVII / 47)
|-
|[[Naradiya Purana|Narada]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12976|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 4|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12976/page/n152 1486]}}</ref>
|'''10'''
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Trivikrama (Vamana), Parasurama, Sri-Rama, Krisna, Buddha, Kalki (Part 4, Chapter 119, Verses 14–19), and Kapila<ref name=jacobsen08>{{cite book |year=2008 |surname=Jacobsen |given=Knut A. |author-link=Knut A. Jacobsen |title=Kapila, Founder of Sāṃkhya and Avatāra of Viṣṇu: With a Translation of Kapilāsurisaṃvāda |place=New Delhi |publisher=[[Munshiram Manoharlal]] |isbn=978-81-215-1194-0 |pages=9–25}}</ref>
|-
|[[Padma Purana|Padma]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12949|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 7|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12954|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 9|last=N.A|date=1956|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref>
|'''10'''
|'''Part 7:''' [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]] (66.44-54) and [[Brahma]] (71.23-29) name 'Matsya, Kurma, and Varaha. Narasimha and Vamana, (Parasu-)rama, Rama, Krsna, Buddha, and Kalki'; '''Part 9:''' this list is repeated by [[Shiva]] (229.40-44); Kapila<ref name=jacobsen08 />
|-
|[[Shiva Purana|Shiva]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/SivaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart4|title=Siva Purana - English Translation - Part 4 of 4|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1950}}</ref>
|'''10'''
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, 'Rama trio' [Rama, Parasurama, Balarama], Krishna, Kalki (Part 4: Vayaviya Samhita: Chapter 30, Verses 56-58 and Chapter 31, verses 134–136)
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Skanda Purana|Skanda]]
|14<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13008|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 7|last=N.A|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13008/page/n295 285]–288}}</ref>
|Varaha,  Matsya, Kurma, Nrsimha, Vamana, Kapila, Datta, Rsabha, Bhargava Rama (Parashurama), Dasarathi [[Rama]], Krsna, Krsna Dvaipayana (Vyasa), Buddha, and Kalki (Part 7: Vasudeva-Mamatmya: Chapter 18)
|-
|'''10'''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20778|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.15|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref>
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Trivikrama (Vamana), Parasurama, Sri-Rama, Krisna, Buddha, and Kalki (Part 15: Reva Khanda: Chapter 151, Verses 1–7)
|-
|Manavā
|42
|[[Adi Purusha]], Kumaras, Narada, Kapila, Yajna, Dattatreya, Nara-Narayana, Vibhu, Satyasena, Hari, Vaikunta, Ajita, Shaligram, Sarvabhauma, Vrishbha, Visvaksena, Sudhama(not krishna's friend Sudama), Dharmasetu, Yogeshwara, Brihadbhanu, Hamsa, Hayagriva, Vyasa, Prithu, Vrishbha deva, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balrama, Krishna, Buddha, [[Venkateswara]], [[Dnyaneshwar]], [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|Chaitanya]], Kalki
|-
|[[Varaha Purana|Varaha]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12962|title=THE VARAHA PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12962/page/n23 13]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12972|title=THE VARAHA PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, DELHI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12972/page/n308 652]}}</ref>
|'''10'''
|Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki (Chapter 4, Verses 2–3; Chapter 48, Verses 17–22; and Chapter 211, Verse 69)
|-
| colspan="3" |{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
|}
 
===Dashavatara===
[[File:Vishnu Avatars.jpg|thumb|[[Hindu]] god Vishnu (centre) surrounded by his avatars namely (counter-clockwise, from left-top) [[Matsya]]; [[Kurma]]; [[Varaha]]; [[Narasimha]]; [[Vamana]]; [[Parashurama]]; [[Rama]]; [[Krishna]]; [[Gautama Buddha in Hinduism|Buddha]] and [[Kalki]], [[Raja Ravi Varma]] oleograph]]
{{Main|Dashavatara}}
The ''Dashavatara'' is a list of the so-called ''Vibhavas'', or '10 [primary] [[Avatar]]s' of Vishnu. The [[Agni Purana]], [[Varaha Purana]], [[Padma Purana]], [[Linga Purana]], [[Naradiya Purana|Narada Purana]], [[Garuda Purana]], and [[Skanda Purana]] all provide matching lists. The same ''Vibhavas'' are also found in the ''Garuda Purana'' ''Saroddhara'', a commentary or ‘extracted essence’ written by Navanidhirama about the Garuda Purana (i.e. not the [[Puranas|Purana]] itself, with which it seems to be confused):
{{blockquote|The [[Matsya|Fish]], the [[Kurma|Tortoise]], the [[Varaha|Boar]], the [[Narasimha|Man-Lion]], the [[Vamana|Dwarf]], [[Parashurama|Parasurama]], [[Rama]], [[Krishna|Krisna]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], and also [[Kalki]]: These ten names should always be meditated upon by the wise. Those who recite them near the diseased are called relatives.|source=''Garuda Purana Saroddhara'', Chapter VIII, Verses 10-11, translated by E. Wood and S.V. Subrahmanyam<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45762|title=The Garuda Purana|last=Subrahmanyam|first=S. V.|date=1911|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45762/page/n74 62]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/gpu/gpu10.htm|title=The Garuda Purana: Chapter VIII. An Account of the Gifts for the Dying|website=sacred-texts.com|access-date=2019-10-31}}</ref>|author=Navanidhirama|title=}}
 
Apparent disagreements concerning the placement of either the [[Sugata|Buddha]] or [[Balarama]] in the ''Dashavarara'' seems to occur from the ''Dashavarara'' list in the [[Shiva Purana]] (the only other list with ten avatars including Balarama in the Garuda Purana substitutes Vamana, not Buddha). Regardless, both versions of the ''Dashavarara'' have a scriptural basis in the canon of authentic [[Vedas|Vedic]] literature (but not from the ''Garuda Purana'' ''Saroddhara'')''.''
 
===Perumal===
{{Main|Perumal (deity)}}
[[File:Malekallu Tirupathi-balaji, Arsikere.jpg|thumb|[[Venkateswara|Venkatesvara]], one of the forms of Perumal (Vishnu)]]
Perumal ({{Lang-ta|பெருமாள்}})—also known as Thirumal ({{Lang-ta|திருமால்|links=no}}), or Mayon (as described in the Tamil scriptures)— was accepted as a manifestation of Vishnu during the process of the syncretism of South Indian deities into mainstream Hinduism. He is a popular [[Hinduism|Hindu]] deity among [[Tamils|Tamilians]] in [[Tamil Nadu]], as well among the [[Tamil diaspora]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/mal.html|title=Devotion to Mal (Mayon)|website=University of Cumbria, Division of Religion and Philosophy|access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Who's who in non-classical mythology|last=Sykes, Egerton|others=Kendall, Alan, 1939-|date=4 February 2014|isbn=9781136414442|edition=2nd|location=London|oclc=872991268}}</ref> Revered by the [[Sri Vaishnavism|Sri Vaishnava]] denomination of Hinduism, Perumal is venerated in popular tradition as [[Venkateswara|Venkateshwara]] at [[Tirupati]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishna |first=Nanditha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnXXAAAAMAAJ&q=perumal+venkateshwara+temple |title=Balaji-Venkateshwara, Lord of Tirumala-Tirupati: An Introduction |date=2000 |publisher=Vakils, Feffer, and Simons |isbn=978-81-87111-46-7 |pages=56 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam|Sri Ranganathaswamy]] at [[Srirangam]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ayyar |first=P. V. Jagadisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLSGFW1uZboC&q=perumal+srirangam+temple |title=South Indian Shrines: Illustrated |date=1982 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0151-2 |pages=453 |language=en}}</ref>
 
==Literature==
{{Infobox
| title = Vishnu icons across cultures
| image =
{{image array|perrow=2|width=125|height=125
| image1 = KINGS of BAKTRIA. Agathokles. Circa 185-170 BC. AR Drachm (3.22 gm, 12h). Bilingual series. BASILEWS AGAQOKLEOUS with Indian god Balarama-Samkarshana.jpg|caption1=180 BCE [[Indo-Greek]] coin of [[Agathocles of Bactria|Agathocles]].
| image2 = VishnuGandhara.JPG| caption2 = [[Vishnu Nicolo Seal]], {{nowrap|4th–6th}} century CE, [[Gandhara]].
| image3 = Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 036 2.jpg| caption3 = 13th century [[Cambodia]]n Vishnu.
| image4 = Statue of Vishnu, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (IM 127-1927) - 20090209.jpg| caption4 = India
| image5 = Beikthano (Vishnu) Nat.jpg| caption5 = [[Myanmar]]
| image6 = Vishnu Kediri.jpg| caption6 = [[Indonesia]]
}}
|caption =The iconography of Hindu god Vishnu has been widespread in history.
}}
}}
'''Lord '''Maha Vishnu'''''' is the Supreme Godhead of [[Vaishnavism]] (Para Brahman or Nirguna Brahman) in [[purana]]s . He is called Swambhagwan in the [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. Vishnu is one of the three main [[Deity|gods]] in [[Hinduism]] and the Absolute Supreme being in the Vaishnava tradition. Vishnu is one of the members in the [[trimurti]] in Hinduism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vishnu|title=Vishnu {{!}} Hindu deity|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref> Vishnu is the preserver god, which means he protects the universe from being destroyed and keeps it going. According to this [[religion]], he has come to earth in nine forms (called [[avatar]]s) so far, with [[Kalki|one yet to come]] at the end of [[Kali Yuga]] to destroy evil. His most famous incarnations are [[Rama]], [[Krishna]], [[Parashurama]] And [[Narasimha]]. Vishnu's wife is [[Lakshmi]], the goddess of fortune.
Lord Vishnu is usually shown with light blue skin and four arms. The Lord holds a lotus (Padma), the Indestructible Mace Of Lord Vishnu ([[Kaumodaki]]), a conch (Shankha) and the Unstoppable Disc Of Lord Vishnu ([[Sudarshana Chakra]]) in each of his four hands. He is known to take many guises, but the three main forms of Vishnu are Mahavishnu Karanodakshayi Vishnu (Mahavishnu), Garbhodaksayi Vishnu and [[Kshirodakashayi Vishnu]]. The latter two are the expansion of Karanodakshayi Vishnu.


== Avatars ==
===Vedas===
There are 10 [[Avatar]]s of Vishnu (in the order they appeared):
Vishnu is a [[Rigvedic deities|Rigvedic deity]], but not a prominent one when compared to [[Indra]], Agni and others.<ref name="Gonda1969p1">{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|author-link=Jan Gonda|title=Aspects of Early Viṣṇuism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8urRsuUJ9oC |year=1969|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1087-7|pages=1–2}}</ref> Just 5 out of 1028 hymns of the [[Rigveda]] are dedicated to Vishnu, although he is mentioned in other hymns.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p84" /> Vishnu is mentioned in the [[Brahmana]] layer of text in the Vedas, thereafter his profile rises and over the history of Indian scriptures, states [[Jan Gonda]], Vishnu becomes a divinity of the highest rank, one equivalent to the Supreme Being.<ref name="Gonda1969p1" /><ref name="Macdonell1898p167">{{cite book|author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Mythology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7Meabtj8mcC |year=1898|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1996 Reprint)|isbn=978-81-208-1113-3|pages=167–169}}</ref>
* [[Matsya]] ([[Fish]])
* [[Kurma]] ([[Turtle]])
* [[Varaha]] ([[Boar]])
* [[Narasimha]] (half [[lion]], half [[man]])
* [[Vamana]] ([[Dwarf]] / Short man)
* [[Parashurama]] (Fierce man / [[Hunter]])
* [[Rama]] (Developed man / Ideal man / Fighter)
* [[Krishna]] (Cowherd Prince)


Though a minor mention and with overlapping attributes in the Vedas, he has important characteristics in various hymns of Rig Veda, such as 1.154.5, 1.56.3 and 10.15.3.<ref name="Gonda1969p1" /> In these hymns, the Vedic scriptures assert that Vishnu resides in that highest home where departed [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self) reside, an assertion that may have been the reason for his increasing emphasis and popularity in Hindu [[soteriology]].<ref name="Gonda1969p1" /><ref name="Macdonell1898p10">{{cite book|author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7Meabtj8mcC |year=1898 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1996 Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1113-3|pages=9–11, 167–169}}</ref> He is also described in the Vedic literature as the one who supports heaven and earth.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p84" />


Different branches of Hindu tradition accept two different figures as the 9th avatar of Vishnu:
{{Verse translation|तदस्य प्रियमभि पाथो अश्यां नरो यत्र देवयवो मदन्ति । उरुक्रमस्य स हि बन्धुरित्था विष्णोः पदे परमे मध्व उत्सः ॥५॥ ऋग्वेद १-१५४-५|5. Might I reach that dear cattle-pen of his, where men seeking the gods find elation, for exactly that is the bond to the wide-striding one: the wellspring of honey in the highest step of Viṣṇu.|lang=sa|attr1=RV. 1.154.5<ref name="ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं १.१५४ - विकिस्रोतः">"[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%82_%E0%A5%A7.%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%AB%E0%A5%AA ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं १.१५४ - विकिस्रोतः]". ''sa.wikisource.org''. Retrieved 17 June 2020.</ref>|italicsoff=off|attr2=translated by Stephanie Jamison, 2020<ref name="Jamison, Stephanie 2020">Jamison, Stephanie (2020). ''The Rigveda''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0190633395}}.</ref>}}


* [[Balarama]] (Psychical Advanced Man)
{{Verse translation|आहं पितॄन्सुविदत्राँ अवित्सि नपातं च विक्रमणं च विष्णोः ।
* [[Jagannath]] (Abstract Form)
बर्हिषदो ये स्वधया सुतस्य भजन्त पित्वस्त इहागमिष्ठाः ॥३॥ ऋग्वेद १०-१५-३|3. I have found here the forefathers good to find and the grandson and the wide stride of Viṣṇu.
:* [[Buddha]] (Intellectual and scientific man)
Those who, sitting on the ritual grass, share in the pressed soma and the food at (the cry of) “svadhā,” they are the most welcome arrivals here.|lang=sa|attr1=RV 10.15.13<ref name="ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं १.१५४ - विकिस्रोतः"/>|italicsoff=off|attr2=translated by Stephanie Jamison, 2020<ref name="Jamison, Stephanie 2020"/>}}
* [[Kalki]] (future avatar, has not appeared yet)
{{commonscat|Vishnu}}


== Icons ==
In the Vedic hymns, Vishnu is invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing the symbol of evil named [[Vritra]].<ref name="Klostermaier2000p84" /><ref name="Macdonell1898p18" /> His distinguishing characteristic in Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in [[Mandala 7]] refer to Vishnu. In section 7.99 of the Rigveda, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra. In the Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is [[Surya]] or [[Savitr]] (Sun god), who also bears the name ''Suryanarayana''. Again, this link to Surya is a characteristic Vishnu shares with fellow Vedic deities named Mitra and Agni, wherein different hymns, they too "bring men together" and cause all living beings to rise up and impel them to go about their daily activities.<ref name="Macdonell1898p29">{{cite book|author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7Meabtj8mcC |year=1898|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1996 Reprint)|isbn=978-81-208-1113-3|pages=29–32}}</ref>
Lord Vishnu holds items in his four hands. The Lord holds a conch in the upper left hand, which represents victory. He holds the Sudarshan Chakra in the upper right hand, which represents spiritual energy. In his lower left hand, a lotus (flower) represents peacefulness and in his lower right hand, the Kaumodaki  represents the Lord's powers.


[[File:Avatars of Vishnu.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Lord Vishnu/Krishna Reveals His True Form To Arjuna]]
In hymn 7.99 of Rigveda, Indra-Vishnu is equivalent and produce the sun, with the verses asserting that this sun is the source of all energy and light for all.<ref name="Macdonell1898p29" /> In other hymns of the Rigveda, Vishnu is a close friend of Indra.<ref name="Nilakanta Sastri 1980">Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1980). ''Advanced History of India'', Allied Publishers, New Delhi.</ref> Elsewhere in Rigveda, Atharvaveda and Upanishadic texts, Vishnu is equivalent to Prajapati, both are described as the protector and preparer of the womb, and according to Klaus Klostermaier, this may be the root behind the post-Vedic fusion of all the attributes of the Vedic [[Prajapati]] unto the avatars of Vishnu.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p84"/>


==Temples of Vishnu (Mahavishnu)==
In the ''[[Yajurveda]]'', [[Taittiriya Aranyaka]] (10.13.1), "[[Narayana sukta]]", Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of "Narayana Suktam" mentions the words ''paramam padam'', which literally mean 'highest post' and may be understood as the 'supreme abode for all Selfs'. This is also known as '''Param Dhama''', '''Paramapadam''', or '''Vaikuntha'''. Rigveda 1.22.20 also mentions the same ''paramam padam''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Brahmapurāṇa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J2c6-tAt4vwC |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|year=1989|page=106|author1=Renate Söhnen-Thieme |author2=Renate Söhnen |author3=Peter Schreiner |isbn=9783447029605}}</ref>
[[File:Kodlamane Vishnumurthy Temple.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Kodlamane Shree Vishnumurthy Temple]] ]]
[[Kodlamane Shree Vishnumurthy Temple]] : of Serenity and Mystery,<ref>Akshatha Vinayak, [http://www.nativeplanet.com/travel-guide/vishnumurthy-temple-near-idagunji-002423.html "Shree Vishnumurthy Temple Of Serenity and Mystery"], ''Native Planet'', 6-10-2016</ref> is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is ancient [[Tirth Kshetra]].  There is no other place like this anywhere in [[Brahamanda]].


== Powers and Abilities ==
In the [[Atharvaveda]], the mythology of a boar who raises goddess earth from the depths of cosmic ocean appears, but without the word Vishnu or his alternate avatar names. In post-Vedic mythology, this legend becomes one of the basis of many cosmogonic myth called the [[Varaha]] legend, with Varaha as an avatar of Vishnu.<ref name="Macdonell1898p18">{{cite book|author=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7Meabtj8mcC |year=1898|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1996 Reprint)|isbn=978-81-208-1113-3|pages=18–19}}</ref>
''Note that all these abilities are from Bhagavata Purana And Vishnu Purana''


Omniverse manipulation/Absolute Manipulation/Meta Manipulation/Preservation: As the preserver, Vishnu can control anything and everything. The power to protect everything from anything is the reason why he is also called the Supreme protector of his devotes.<ref name="sacred-texts.com">{{Cite web|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book I: Chapter II|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp036.htm|access-date=2021-01-27|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>
====Trivikrama: The Three Steps of Vishnu====
{{multiple image|total_width=450
| header=The Three Strides of Vishnu
| align = right
| image1 = Trivikram Vishnu - Gupta Period - ACCN 70-58 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5411.JPG
| image2 = Le temple de Changu Narayan (Bhaktapur) (8567815983).jpg
| image3 = Badami Cave Temples 35.jpg
| footer = The depiction of the "three strides of Vishnu" is common in [[Hindu art]], wherein his leg is shown raised like a gymnast, symbolizing a huge step. Left: Trivikrama in the [[Art of Mathura]], [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] period. Center: at a temple in [[Bhaktapur]], Nepal; Right: at 6th-century [[Badami cave temples]], India.
}}


Absolute destruction: In the Vishnu purana, Vishnu is also described as the creator, destroyer, and preserver. As the destroyer, he can even destroy infinity or the omniverse.<ref name="sacred-texts.com"/>
Several hymns of the Rigveda repeat the mighty deed of Vishnu called the ''Trivikrama'', which is one of the lasting mythologies in Hinduism since the Vedic times.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p85">{{cite book |author=Klaus K. Klostermaier |year=2000|title=Hinduism: A Short History |url=https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos |url-access=registration |publisher=Oneworld |isbn=978-1-85168-213-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos/page/84 84]–85}}</ref> It is an inspiration for ancient artwork in numerous [[Hindu temple]]s such as at the [[Ellora Caves]], which depict the Trivikrama legend through the Vamana avatar of Vishnu.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alice Boner|title=Principles of Composition in Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doQLZ21CGScC&pg=PA96|year=1990|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0705-1|pages=96–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Bettina Bäumer|author2=Kapila Vatsyayan|title=Kalātattvakośa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8f38pN2lvhIC&pg=PA251|year=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidas |isbn=978-81-208-1044-0|page=251}}</ref> ''Trivikrama'' refers to the celebrated ''three steps'' or "three strides" of Vishnu. Starting as a small insignificant looking being, Vishnu undertakes a herculean task of establishing his reach and form, then with his first step covers the earth, with second the ether, and the third entire heaven.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p85" /><ref>{{cite book |author=J. Hackin |title=Asiatic Mythology: A Detailed Description and Explanation of the Mythologies of All the Great Nations of Asia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HAZrFhvqnTkC&pg=PA130| year=1994|publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0920-4|pages=130–132}}</ref>


Omni-Creation Or Absolute Creation: As the creator in Vishnu purana, Vishnu has the power to create everything, even infinity and beyond.<ref name="sacred-texts.com"/> The power to have limitless power upon seeing the Supreme form of lord Vishnu arjuna describes him having infinite prowess or power.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|title=The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section XXXV (Bhagavad Gita Chapter XI)|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06035.htm|access-date=2021-01-27|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>  
{{blockquote|
<poem>
विष्णोर्नु कं वीर्याणि प्र वोचं यः पार्थिवानि विममे रजांसि ।
यो अस्कभायदुत्तरं सधस्थं विचक्रमाणस्त्रेधोरुगायः ॥१॥…


The Lord has the power to do absolutely everything, even creating something that is bigger than infinity itself. In Chapter 11 Of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna/Vishnu shows Arjuna everything—all of creation: time, space, past, present, future, omniverse, fictional and real human beings, and more. It is beyond human imagination to actually comprehend it.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
''viṣṇōrnu kaṃ vīryāṇi pra vōcaṃ yaḥ pārthivāni vimamē rajāṃsi |''
''yō askabhāyaduttaraṃ sadhasthaṃ vicakramāṇastrēdhōrugāyaḥ ||1||''


Omniscience: The power to have infinite wisdom experience and knowledge.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mukundananda|first=Swami|title=Chapter 7, Verse 26 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda|url=https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/7/verse/26|access-date=2021-01-27|website=www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org|language=en}}</ref>  
I will now proclaim the heroic deeds of Visnu, who has measured out the terrestrial regions,
who established the upper abode having, wide-paced, strode out triply…
</poem>
|Rigveda 1.154.1|Translated by [[Jan Gonda]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|title=Viṣṇuism and Śivaism: a comparison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1YIAQAAIAAJ|year=1970|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1474280808 |pages=71–72}}</ref>|source=}}


Omnipresent: The power to be everywhere at every time including beyond the omniverse in both past present and future.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mukundananda|first=Swami|title=Chapter 13, Verse 14 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda|url=https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/13/verse/14|access-date=2021-01-27|website=www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org|language=en}}</ref> When Lord Krishna/Vishnu shows his Supreme appearance, it is described being everywhere, yet people can't see it because they don't have the divine vision. Only Maharishis/sages, gods, Sanjaya, and arjuna are able to see this Vishvarupa.  
The Vishnu Sukta 1.154 of Rigveda says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to the mortals and the third is the realm of the immortals. The Trivikrama describing hymns integrate salvific themes, stating Vishnu to symbolize that which is freedom and life.<ref name="Klostermaier2000p85"/> The [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] elaborates this theme of Vishnu, as his herculean effort and sacrifice to create and gain powers that help others, one who realizes and defeats the evil symbolized by the Asuras after they had usurped the three worlds, and thus Vishnu is the saviour of the mortals and the immortals ([[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]]).<ref name="Klostermaier2000p85"/>


Formless: Vishnu's true form is described as formless, infinite, boundless, inapplicable, without shape and color, according to Vishnu Purana.<ref name="sacred-texts.com"/>
===Brahmanas===
{{Quote box
| quote = '''To what is One'''
<poem>
Seven germs unripened yet are heaven's prolific seed:  
their functions they maintain by '''Vishnu's''' ordinance.
Endued with wisdom through intelligence and thought,
they compass us about present on every side.


Absolute immortality: Chapter 1 of Vishnu purana describes Vishnu being boundlessly above the concept of death idea and life.<ref name="hinduonline.co">http://hinduonline.co/scriptures/puranas/vishnupurana.html</ref>
What thing I truly am I know not clearly:  
mysterious, fettered in my mind I wonder.
When the first-born of holy Law approached me,
then of this speech, I first obtain a portion.
(...)


Absolute Transcendence/Being Above All Things: The Vishnu Purana also describes Vishnu being above all descriptions such as logic, time, space, etc.<ref name="hinduonline.co"/>                                       He is an infinite dimensional being according to Vishnu Sahasranamam.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vishnu Sahasranāma - Wikipedia|url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu_Sahasran%C4%81ma|access-date=2021-05-11|website=en.m.wikipedia.org|language=en}}</ref>
They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni,
==References==
and he is heavenly-winged Garutman.
To what is One, sages give many a title.
</poem>
| source = — ''[[Rigveda]] 1.164.36-37, 46''<ref>{{cite book|author=Klaus K. Klostermaier|title=A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CVviRghVtIC |year=2010|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-8011-3|pages=103 with footnote 10 on page 529}}</ref><ref>See also, Griffith's Rigveda translation: [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_1/Hymn_164 Wikisource]</ref>
| bgcolor = #FFE0BB
| align = right
}}
The ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'' contains ideas which Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism has long mapped to a pantheistic vision of Vishnu as supreme, he as the essence in every being and everything in the empirically perceived universe. In this Brahmana, states Klaus Klostermaier, Purusha Narayana (Vishnu) asserts, "all the worlds have I placed within mine own self, and my own self has I placed within all the worlds."<ref name="klostermaier86" /> The text equates Vishnu to all knowledge there is (Vedas), calling the essence of everything as imperishable, all Vedas and principles of universe as imperishable, and that this imperishable which is Vishnu is the all.<ref name="klostermaier86">{{cite book|author=Klaus K. Klostermaier|title=Hinduism: A Short History|url=https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos|url-access=registration| year=2000| publisher=Oneworld| isbn=978-1-85168-213-3| pages=[https://archive.org/details/hinduismshorthis0000klos/page/85 85]–87}}</ref>
 
Vishnu is described to be permeating all object and life forms, states S. Giora Shoham, where he is "ever-present within all things as the intrinsic principle of all", and the eternal, transcendental self in every being.<ref>{{cite book|author=S. Giora Shoham|title=To Test the Limits of Our Endurance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_hOAQAAIAAJ |year=2010|publisher=Cambridge Scholars |isbn=978-1-4438-2068-4|page=116}}</ref> The Vedic literature, including its Brahmanas layer, while praising Vishnu do not subjugate others gods and goddesses. They present an inclusive pluralistic [[henotheism]]. According to [[Max Müller|Max Muller]], "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig Veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."<ref>[[Max Müller|Müller, Max]]. ''History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature''. London: Spottiswoode and Co. p. 533</ref>
 
===Upanishads===
The [[Vaishnava Upanishads]] are minor [[Upanishad]]s of [[Hinduism]], related to Vishnu theology. There are 14 Vaishnava Upanishads in the [[Muktika]] anthology of 108 [[Upanishads]].{{Sfn|Deussen|1997|p=556}} It is unclear when these texts were composed, and estimates vary from the 1st-century BCE to 17th-century CE for the texts.{{Sfn|Mahony|1998|p=290}}{{Sfn|Lamb|2002|p=191}}
 
These Upanishads highlight Vishnu, [[Narayana]], [[Rama]] or one of his [[avatar]]s as the supreme metaphysical reality called [[Brahman]] in Hinduism.<ref name="Mahony1998p271">{{cite book|author=William K. Mahony|title=The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1KR_kE5ZYoC |year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3579-3 |page=271}}</ref><ref name="WinternitzSarma1996p217">{{cite book|author1=Moriz Winternitz|author2=V. Srinivasa Sarma|title=A History of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C |year=1996|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0264-3 |pages=217–224 with footnotes }}</ref> They discuss a diverse range of topics, from ethics to the methods of worship.{{Sfn|Sen|1937|p=26}}
 
===Puranas===
[[File:Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of the Lord) Manuscript LACMA M.88.134.4 (2 of 2).jpg|thumb|The [[Bhagavata Purana]] is centred around [[Krishna]], a Vishnu avatar.]]
Vishnu is the primary focus of the Vaishnavism-focused [[Puranas]] genre of [[Hindu texts]]. Of these, according to [[Ludo Rocher]], the most important texts are the [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Vishnu Purana]], [[Nāradeya Purana]], [[Garuda Purana]] and [[Vayu Purana]].{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=59-61}} The Purana texts include many versions of cosmologies, mythologies, encyclopedic entries about various aspects of life, and chapters that were medieval era regional Vishnu temples-related tourist guides called {{lang|sa|mahatmyas}}.{{Sfn|Glucklich|2008|p=146, '''Quote:''' The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas''.}}
 
One version of the cosmology, for example, states that Vishnu's eye is at the Southern Celestial Pole from where he watches the cosmos.<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IsSpbyjw5DMC&pg=PA273 | title = Sinister Yogis | isbn = 978-0-226-89515-4 | last1 = White | first1 = David Gordon | page=273 with footnote 47| date = 2010-07-15}}</ref> In another version found in section 4.80 of the Vayu Purana, he is the [[Hiranyagarbha]], or the golden egg from which were simultaneously born all feminine and masculine beings of the universe.<ref>{{cite book|author=J.M Masson|title=The Oceanic Feeling: The Origins of Religious Sentiment in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swsrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |year=2012|publisher=Springer Science|isbn=978-94-009-8969-6|pages=63 with footnote 4}}</ref>
 
==== Vishnu Purana ====
The Vishnu Purana presents Vishnu as the central element of its cosmology, unlike some other Puranas where Shiva or Brahma or goddess Shakti are. The reverence and the worship of Vishnu is described in 22 chapters of the first part of Vishnu Purana, along with the profuse use of the synonymous names of Vishnu such as Hari, Janardana, Madhava, Achyuta, Hrishikesha and others.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=246-247}}
 
The [[Vishnu Purana]] also discusses the Hindu concept of supreme reality called [[Brahman]] in the context of the [[Upanishad]]s; a discussion that the theistic Vedanta scholar [[Ramanuja]] interprets to be about the equivalence of the Brahman with Vishnu, a foundational theology in the [[Sri Vaishnavism]] tradition.<ref>Sucharita Adluri (2015), Textual Authority in Classical Indian Thought: Ramanuja and the Visnu Purana, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415695756}}, pages 1-11, 18-26</ref>
 
==== Bhagavata Purana ====
Vishnu is equated with [[Brahman]] in the [[Bhagavata Purana]], such as in verse 1.2.11, as "learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as [[Brahman]], [[Paramatman|Paramatma]] and Bhagavan."<ref>{{cite web |author=Bhagavata Purana |url=http://vedabase.net/sb/1/2/11/en |title=1.2.11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523204721/http://vedabase.net/sb/1/2/11/en |archive-date=23 May 2006 |work=Bhaktivedanta VedaBase |quote=vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate}}</ref>
 
The [[Bhagavata Purana]] has been the most popular and widely read Purana texts relating to Vishnu avatar Krishna, it has been translated and available in almost all Indian languages.{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=112}} Like other Puranas, it discusses a wide range of topics including cosmology, genealogy, geography, mythology, legend, music, dance, yoga and culture.{{Sfn|Kumar Das|2006| pages=172–173}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=138–151}} As it begins, the forces of evil have won a war between the benevolent ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]]s'' (deities) and evil ''[[asura]]s'' (demons) and now rule the universe. Truth re-emerges as the Vishnu avatar first makes peace with the demons, understands them and then creatively defeats them, bringing back hope, justice, freedom and good – a cyclic theme that appears in many legends.<ref>Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey (2013), The Bhagavata Purana, Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231149990}}, pages 3-19</ref> The ''Bhagavata Purana'' is a revered text in [[Vaishnavism]].<ref>Constance Jones and James Ryan (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase, {{ISBN|978-0816054589}}, page 474</ref> The Puranic legends of Vishnu have inspired plays and dramatic arts that are acted out over festivals, particularly through performance arts such as the [[Sattriya]], [[Manipuri dance]], [[Odissi]], [[Kuchipudi]], [[Kathakali]], [[Kathak]], [[Bharatanatyam]], [[Bhagavata Mela]] and [[Mohiniyattam]].{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=118}}{{Sfn|Varadpande|1987|pages=92–97}}<ref>Graham Schweig (2007), Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions (Editor: Yudit Kornberg Greenberg), Volume 1, {{ISBN|978-1851099801}}, pages 247-249</ref>
 
==== Other Puranas ====
Some versions of the Purana texts, unlike the Vedic and Upanishadic texts, emphasize Vishnu as supreme and on whom other gods depend. Vishnu, for example, is the source of creator deity [[Brahma]] in the Vaishnavism-focussed Purana texts. Vishnu's iconography typically shows Brahma being born in a lotus emerging from his navel, who then is described as creating all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself.{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=[https://archive.org/details/krishnasourceboo00brya_424/page/n32 18]}} In contrast, the [[Shiva]]-focussed Puranas describe Brahma and Vishnu to have been created by [[Ardhanarishvara]], that is half Shiva and half Parvati; or alternatively, Brahma was born from [[Rudra]], or Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons ([[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpa]]).<ref name="Stella Kramrisch 1994 pages 205-206">Stella Kramrisch (1994), The Presence of Siva, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691019307}}, pages 205-206</ref>
 
In some Vaishnava Puranas, Vishnu takes the form of Rudra or commands Rudra to destroy the world, thereafter the entire universe dissolves and along with time, everything is reabsorbed back into Vishnu. The universe is then recreated from Vishnu all over again, starting a new ''Kalpa''.<ref name="doniger71">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxoaUKmMG9gC&pg=PA71 |year=1988|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-61847-0|pages=71–73}}</ref> For this the ''Bhagavata Purana'' employs the metaphor of Vishnu as a spider and the universe as his web. Other texts offer alternate cosmogenic theories, such as one where the universe and time are absorbed into Shiva.<ref name="doniger71" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC |year=1993|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-01930-7|pages=274–276}}</ref>
 
=== Agama ===
The [[Agama (Hinduism)|Agama]] scripture called the [[Pancharatra]] describes a mode of worship of Vishnu.
 
===Sangam and Post-Sangam literature===
{{main|Thirumal}}
The Sangam literature refers to an extensive regional collection in the [[Tamil language]], mostly from the early centuries of the common era. These Tamil texts revere Vishnu and his avatars such as Krishna and Rama, as well as other pan-Indian deities such as Shiva, [[Kartikeya|Muruga]], Durga, Indra and others.<ref name="padmaja27">{{cite book|author=T. Padmaja|title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=PA27 |year=2002|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-398-4|page=27}}</ref> Vishnu is described in these texts as ''mayon'', or "one who is dark or black in color" (in north India, the equivalent word is Krishna).<ref name="padmaja27" /> Other terms found for Vishnu in these ancient Tamil genre of literature include ''mayavan, mamiyon, netiyon, mal'' and ''mayan''.<ref>{{cite book |author=T. Padmaja|title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=PA28 |year=2002|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-398-4 |page=28}}</ref>
 
Krishna as Vishnu avatar is the primary subject of two post-Sangam Tamil epics ''[[Silappadikaram]]'' and ''[[Manimekalai]]'', each of which was probably composed about the 5th century CE.<ref name="padmaja30">{{cite book|author=T. Padmaja|title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=PA28 |year=2002|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-398-4|pages=30–31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=John Stratton Hawley|author2=Donna Marie Wulff|title=The Divine Consort: Rādhā and the Goddesses of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3R1z0sE340C&pg=PA238 |year=1982|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-0-89581-102-8|pages=238–244}}</ref> These Tamil epics share many aspects of the story found in other parts of India, such as those related to baby Krishna such as stealing butter, and teenage Krishna such as teasing girls who went to bathe in a river by hiding their clothes.<ref name="padmaja30" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Guy L. Beck|title=Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0XqbG0LKBUC |year=2012|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8341-1|pages=68–69}}</ref>
 
===Bhakti Movement===
Ideas about Vishnu in the mid 1st millennium CE were important to the [[Bhakti movement]] theology that ultimately swept India after the 12th century. The [[Alvars]], which literally means "those immersed in God", were Tamil Vaishnava poet-saints who sang praises of Vishnu as they traveled from one place to another.<ref name="olson231">{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Carl|title=The many colors of Hinduism: a thematic-historical introduction|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2007|page=231|isbn=978-0-8135-4068-9}}</ref> They established temple sites such as [[Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam|Srirangam]], and spread ideas about [[Vaishnavism]]. Their poems, compiled as Alwar Arulicheyalgal or [[Divya Prabhandham]], developed into an influential scripture for the Vaishnavas. The [[Bhagavata Purana]]'s references to the South Indian Alvar saints, along with its emphasis on ''bhakti'', have led many scholars to give it South Indian origins, though some scholars question whether this evidence excludes the possibility that ''bhakti'' movement had parallel developments in other parts of India.{{sfn|Sheridan|1986|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}<ref>{{cite book | last=[[J. A. B. van Buitenen]] | chapter=The Archaism of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa |title=Encyclopedia Indica | year = 1996| editor=S.S Shashi | isbn=978-81-7041-859-7 | pages=28–45 }}</ref>
 
==Vaishnava theology==
{{Vaishnavism}}
{{Main|Vaishnavism|Pañcaratra}}
The Bhagavata Purana summarizes the Vaishnava theology, wherein it frequently discusses the merging of the individual Self with the Absolute [[Brahman]] (Ultimate Reality, Supreme Truth), or "the return of Brahman into His own true nature", a distinctly [[Advaitic]] or non-dualistic philosophy of [[Adi Shankara|Shankara]].{{sfn|Kumar Das|2006| pages=172–173}}<ref name="Brown" />{{Sfn|Sheridan|1986|pp=1–2, 17–25}} The concept of ''[[moksha]]'' is explained as ''Ekatva'' ('Oneness') and ''Sayujya'' ('Absorption, intimate union'), wherein one is completely lost in Brahman (Self, Supreme Being, one's true nature).<ref name="Rukmani_217-218" /> This, states Rukmini (1993), is proclamation of "return of the individual Self to the Absolute and its merging into the Absolute", which is unmistakably Advaitic in its trend.<ref name="Rukmani_217-218" /> In the same passages, the Bhagavata includes a mention of [[Bhagavan]] as the object of concentration, thereby presenting the [[Bhakti]] path from the three major paths of Hindu spirituality discussed in the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]''.<ref name="Rukmani_217-218">{{Harvnb|Rukmani|1993|pp=217–218}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Murray Milner Jr.|title=Status and Sacredness: A General Theory of Status Relations and an Analysis of Indian Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EdqMMcYQ7r8C |year=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535912-1|pages=191–203}}</ref>
 
The theology in the ''Bhagavad Gita'' discusses both the sentient and the non-sentient, the Self and the matter of existence. It envisions the universe as the body of Vishnu (Krishna), state Harold Coward and Daniel Maguire. Vishnu in Gita's theology pervades all Selfs, all matter and time.<ref name="coward113">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkIwI84XajEC&pg=PA113|title=Visions of a New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and Ecology|author1=Harold Coward|author2=Daniel C. Maguire|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-7914-4458-0|page=113}}</ref> In Sri Vaishnavism sub-tradition, Vishnu and Sri (goddess [[Lakshmi]]) are described as inseparable, that they pervade everything together. Both together are the creators, who also pervade and transcend their creation.<ref name="coward113" />
 
The Bhagavata Purana, in many passages, parallels the ideas of Nirguna Brahman and non-duality of [[Adi Shankara]]. {{Sfn|Sheridan|1986|pp=1–2, 17–25}} For example:
 
{{Blockquote|
<poem>
The aim of life is an inquiry into the Truth, and not the desire for enjoyment in heaven by performing religious rites,
Those who possess the knowledge of the Truth, call the knowledge of non-duality as the Truth,
It is called [[Brahman]], the Highest [[Atman (Hinduism)|Self]], and [[Bhagavan]].
</poem>
|Sūta|Bhagavata Purana 1.2.10-11, translated by Daniel Sheridan<ref>{{harvnb|Sheridan|1986|page=23 with footnote 17}};<br />Sanskrit: कामस्य नेन्द्रियप्रीतिर्लाभो जीवेत यावता | जीवस्य तत्त्वजिज्ञासा नार्थो यश्चेह कर्मभिः ||<br /> वदन्ति तत्तत्त्वविदस्तत्त्वं यज्ज्ञानमद्वयम् | ब्रह्मेति परमात्मेति भगवानिति शब्द्यते || Source: [http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_purana/bhagpur.html?lang=sa Bhagavata Purana] Archive</ref>|source=}}
 
Scholars describe the Vaishnava theology as built on the foundation of non-dualism speculations in Upanishads, and term it as "Advaitic Theism."{{Sfn|Sheridan|1986|pp=1–2, 17–25}}{{Sfn|Brown|1998|p=17}} The Bhagavata Purana suggests that Vishnu and the Self (Atman) in all beings is one.<ref name="Brown">{{harvnb|Brown|1983|pages=553–557}}</ref> Bryant states that the monism discussed in Bhagavata Purana is certainly built on the Vedanta foundations, but not exactly the same as the monism of Adi Shankara.<ref name="bryant45" /> The Bhagavata asserts, according to Bryant, that the empirical and the spiritual universe are both metaphysical realities, and manifestations of the same Oneness, just like heat and light are "real but different" manifestations of sunlight.<ref name="bryant45">Edwin Bryant (2004), Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God: Srimad Bhagavata Purana Book X, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0140447996}}, pages 43-48</ref>
 
In the [[Bhakti]] tradition of Vaishnavism, Vishnu is attributed with numerous qualities such as omniscience, energy, strength, lordship, vigour, and splendour.<ref name="Tapasyananda">{{cite book | author = Tapasyananda | year =  1991 | title =  Bhakti Schools of Vedānta | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_VtAAAACAAJ | isbn = 978-81-7120-226-3 | publisher = Sri Ramakrishna Math | location = Madras}}</ref> The Vaishnava tradition started by [[Madhvacharya]] considers Vishnu in the form of Krishna to be the supreme creator, personal God, all-pervading, all devouring, one whose knowledge and grace leads to "moksha".<ref>{{cite book|author= Deepak Sarma| editor =Edwin F. Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC&pg=PA358|year= 2007| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972431-4| pages=358–360}}</ref> In Madhvacharya Vaishnava theology, the supreme Vishnu and the Selfs of living beings are two different realities and nature (dualism), while in Ramanuja's [[Sri Vaishnavism]], they are different but share the same essential nature (qualified non-dualism).<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma |first=Chandradhar |title=A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy|year= 1994|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0365-7 |page=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Madhva (1238-1317) |first= Valerie| last= Stoker| encyclopedia= Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year=2011 |access-date=17 April 2016| url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/madhva/ }}</ref><ref>Stafford Betty (2010), Dvaita, Advaita, and Viśiṣṭādvaita: Contrasting Views of Mokṣa, Asian Philosophy: An International Journal of the Philosophical Traditions of the East, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 215-224</ref>
 
==Associated deities==
 
===Lakshmi===
{{Main|Lakshmi}}
[[File:Lakshmi Vishnu.jpg|thumb|Vishnu with [[Lakshmi]] ([[Lakshmi Narayan]]) on [[Garuda]].]]
Lakshmi, the [[Hindu goddess]] of wealth, fortune and prosperity (both material and spiritual), is the wife and [[shakti|active energy]] of Vishnu.<ref name="anandrao167">{{cite book|author=Anand Rao|title=Soteriologies of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UxGEy6m4N9kC&pg=PA167|year=2004|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-7205-2|page=167}}</ref><ref>A Parasarthy (1983), Symbolism in Hinduism, Chinmaya Mission Publication, {{ISBN|978-8175971493}}, pages 91-92, 160-162</ref> She is also called [[Sri]].<ref name="mmwlak">{{Cite MWSD|url=http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/l.html|lakṣmī}}</ref><ref name="jmuir">John Muir, {{Google books|ymLZAAAAMAAJ|Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India - Their Religions and Institutions|348}}, Volume 5, pp. 348-362 with footnotes</ref> When Vishnu incarnated on earth as the [[avatar]]s [[Rama]] and [[Krishna]], Lakshmi incarnated as his respective consorts: [[Sita]] and [[Radha]] or [[Rukmini]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qotjet-Hb0MC&q=Radha |title=Goddesses in World Culture |date=2010-12-31 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35465-6 |language=en}}</ref>
<ref name="Rosen2006">{{cite book|last=Rosen|first=Steven J.|author-link=Steven J. Rosen|title=Essential Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuVG8PxKq_0C&pg=PA136|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99006-0|page=136}}</ref> Various regional beliefs consider Lakshmi to be manifested as various goddesses, who are considered Vishnu's wives. In South India, Lakshmi is worshipped in two forms — Sridevi and [[Bhudevi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knapp |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djI5mL2qeocC&dq=sridevi+and+bhudevi&pg=PT378 |title=Spiritual India Handbook |date=2009-01-01 |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8495-024-3 |pages=378 |language=en}}</ref> In Tirupati, [[Venkateshwara]] (identified as a form of Vishnu) is depicted with consorts, Lakshmi and [[Padmavathi]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Critical Companion to George Orwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZET2sSUVsgC|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=491|author=Edward Quinn|year=2014|isbn = 9781438108735}}</ref>
 
===Garuda===
{{Main|Garuda}}
Among Vishnu's primary mounts ([[vahana]]) is Garuda, the demigod eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders. Garuda is also considered as Vedas on which Vishnu travels. Garuda is a sacred bird in Vaishnavism. In the [[Garuda Purana]], Garuda carries Vishnu to save the elephant [[Gajendra Moksha|Gajendra]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/HindiBook-gajendra-moksha#page/n0/mode/2up|title=Gajendra Moksha|website=archive.org|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|author=Wendy Doniger|year=1993|page=127|isbn = 9780791413814}}</ref>
 
=== Shesha ===
{{Main|Shesha}}
[[File:Vishnu sleeps on the coils of Ananta (the World Snake). He will awake for the next cycle of creation which heralds the destruction of all things. Sculpture. From India, c. 14th century CE. National Museum of Scotland.jpg|thumb|Vishnu sleeps on the coils of Ananta (Shesha, the World Snake). He will awake for the next cycle of creation which heralds the destruction of all things. Sculpture. From India, c. 14th century CE. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh]]
One of the primordial beings of creation, Shesha, or Adishesha, is the king of the serpents in [[Hindu mythology]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hāṇḍā |first=Omacanda |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55617010 |title=Naga cults and traditions in the western Himalaya |date=2004 |publisher=Indus Pub. Co |isbn=81-7387-161-2 |location=New Delhi |oclc=55617010}}</ref> Residing in [[Vaikuntha]], Vishnu sleeps upon Adishesha in a perpetual slumber in his form of [[Narayana]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Achuthananda |first=Swami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9FqDwAAQBAJ&dq=shesha+vishnu&pg=PA75 |title=The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of Brahma |date=2018-08-27 |publisher=Relianz Communications Pty Ltd |isbn=978-0-9757883-3-2 |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref>
 
===Vishvaksena===
{{Main|Vishvaksena}}
Vishvaksena, also known as Senadhipathi (both meaning 'army-chief'), is the commander-in-chief of the army of Vishnu.
 
=== Harihara ===
{{Main|Harihara}}
[[File:Harihara V&A.jpg|thumb|Harihara - Combined form of Vishnu and Shiva]]
[[File:Gods prayed Vishnu for Incarination.jpg|thumb|Hindu gods praying to god Vishnu]]
Shiva and Vishnu are both viewed as the ultimate form of god in different Hindu denominations. Harihara is a composite of half Vishnu and half Shiva, mentioned in literature such as the [[Vamana Purana]] (chapter 36),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.313087|title=The Vamana Purana With English Translation|last=Gupta|first=anand Swarup|date=1968|pages=326}}</ref> and in artwork found from mid 1st millennium CE, such as in the cave 1 and cave 3 of the 6th-century [[Badami cave temples]].<ref>Alice Boner (1990), Principles of Composition in Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120807051}}, pages 89-95, 115-124, 174-184</ref><ref>TA Gopinatha Rao (1993), Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120808775}}, pages 334-335</ref> Another half Vishnu half Shiva form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in [[Mahabharata]].<ref>For Harirudra citation to Mahabharata 3:39:76f see Hopkins (1969), p. 221.</ref>
 
==Beyond Hinduism==
 
===Sikhism===
Vishnu is referred to as '''Gorakh''' in the scriptures of [[Sikhism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh|title=Sikhism: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0ZmAXw7ok8C&pg=PA65 |year=2011|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-84885-321-8|page=65}}</ref> For example, in verse 5 of [[Japji Sahib]], the [[Guru]] ('teacher') is praised as who gives the word and shows the wisdom, and through whom the awareness of immanence is gained. [[Guru Nanak]], according to [[Christopher Shackle|Shackle]] and Mandair (2013), teaches that the Guru are "Shiva (isar), Vishnu (gorakh), Brahma (barma) and mother Parvati (parbati)," yet the one who is all and true cannot be described.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Shackle|author2=Arvind Mandair|title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvoJV8mw0LwC |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45101-0|pages=5–6}}</ref>
 
The ''[[Chaubis Avtar]]'' lists the 24 avatars of Vishnu, including [[Krishna]], [[Rama]], and [[Buddha]]. Similarly, the ''[[Dasam Granth]]'' includes Vishnu mythology that mirrors that found in the [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnav]] tradition.<ref name=Oberoi97>{{cite book|author=Harjot Oberoi|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKl84EYFkTsC |year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-61593-6|pages=97–98}}</ref> The latter is of particular importance to [[Sanatan Sikh]]s, including [[Udasi]]s, [[Nirmala (sect)|Nirmalas]], [[Nanakpanthi]]s, [[Sahajdhari]], and [[Keshdhari]]/Khalsa sects of Sikhism; however, the Khalsa Sikhs disagree with the Sanatan Sikhs.<ref name=Oberoi97/><ref>[http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/sikhism/sanatan.html Sanatan Singh Sabha], Overview of World Religions, Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria</ref> According to Sanatan Sikh writers, the Gurus of Sikhism were avatars of Vishnu, because the Gurus brought light in the age of darkness and saved people in a time of evil [[Mughal Empire|Mughal-era]] persecution.<ref>{{cite book|author=Harjot Oberoi|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKl84EYFkTsC |year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-61593-6|pages=102–105}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdhLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsburg Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-0231-7|page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|pages=48, 238}}</ref>
 
===Buddhism===
[[File:Devinuwara Sri Vishnu Maha Devalaya in Sri Lanka.jpg|thumb|Uthpalawarna Vishnu Devalaya in Devinuwara, Matara, Sri Lanka.]]
While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of [[Sri Lanka]] and protector of Buddhism.<ref>{{cite book | author = Swarna Wickremeratne| title = Buddha in Sri Lanka: Remembered Yesterdays| publisher = State University of New York Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYrQnZT9JREC |year = 2012| isbn=978-0791468814 |page = 111}}</ref>
 
Vishnu is also known as '''[[Upulvan]]''' or '''Upalavarṇā''', meaning 'Blue Lotus coloured'. Some postulate that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Utpalavarṇā was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in [[Puranic Hinduism]]. According to the chronicles of ''[[Mahāvaṃsa]]'', ''[[Cūḷavaṃsa]]'', and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra ([[Indra]]), who delegated this task of custodianship to Vishnu.<ref>{{cite book | author = Wilhelm Geiger| title = Mahawamsa: English Translation (1908)| title-link = Mahawamsa| author-link = Wilhelm Geiger}}</ref> Many [[Buddhist]] and [[Hindu]] shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu ''Kovils'' or ''Devalayas'', all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu.<ref>{{cite book | author = Swarna Wickremeratne| title = Buddha in Sri Lanka: Remembered Yesterdays| publisher = State University of New York Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYrQnZT9JREC| year = 2012| isbn=978-0791468814 |page = 226}}</ref>
 
John Holt states that Vishnu was one of the several Hindu gods and goddesses who were integrated into the Sinhala Buddhist religious culture, such as the 14th and 15th-century [[Lankatilaka Vihara|Lankatilaka]] and [[Gadaladeniya Vihara|Gadaladeniya]] Buddhist temples.<ref>{{cite book | author = John C Holt|title = The Buddhist Vishnu: Religious transformation, politics and culture| publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 2004|isbn= 978-0231133234|page=51}}</ref> He states that the medieval Sinhala tradition encouraged Visnu worship (puja) as a part of Theravada Buddhism just like Hindu tradition incorporated the Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu, but contemporary [[Theravada]] monks are attempting to purge the Vishnu worship practice from Buddhist temples.<ref>{{cite book | author = John C Holt|title = The Buddhist Vishnu: Religious transformation, politics and culture| publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 2004|isbn= 978-0231133234|pages=5–7, 13–27}}</ref> According to Holt, the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in [[Ceylon]] was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in the early 1700s, Holt states that Vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital [[Polonnaruwa]].
 
Vishnu iconography such as statues and etchings have been found in archaeological sites of Southeast Asia, now predominantly of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. In [[Thailand]], for example, statues of four-armed Vishnu have been found in provinces near Malaysia and dated to be from the 4th to 9th-century, and this mirror those found in ancient India.<ref name=hobsonxxiii>{{cite book|author1=Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h |author2=Victoria Hobson (Translator) |title=The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk-Road (100 BC-1300 AD) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5rG6reWhloC&pg=PR23 |year=2002|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-11973-4|page=xxiii, 116–128}}</ref> Similarly, Vishnu statues have been discovered from the 6th to 8th century eastern [[Prachinburi Province]] and central [[Phetchabun Province]] of Thailand and southern [[Đồng Tháp Province]] and [[An Giang Province]] of [[Vietnam]].{{sfn|Guy|2014|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vO_-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 131]–135, 145}} Krishna statues dated to the early 7th century to 9th century have been discovered in [[Takéo Province]] and other provinces of [[Cambodia]].{{sfn|Guy|2014|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vO_-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 146]–148, 154–155}}
 
Archeological studies have uncovered Vishnu statues on the islands of Indonesia, and these have been dated to the 5th century and thereafter.{{sfn|Guy|2014|pages=7–9}} In addition to statues, inscriptions and carvings of Vishnu, such as those related to the "three steps of Vishnu" (Trivikrama) have been found in many parts of Buddhist southeast Asia.{{sfn|Guy|2014|pages=11–12, 118–129}} In some iconography, the symbolism of [[Surya]], Vishnu and Buddha are fused.{{sfn|Guy|2014|pages=221–225}}
 
In [[Japanese Buddhist pantheon]], Vishnu is known as '''Bichū-ten''' (毘紐天), and he appears in Japanese texts such as the 13th century compositions of [[Nichiren]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nichiren|author-link=Nichiren|title=The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxoHJwAACAAJ |year=1987|publisher=Nichiren Shoshu International Center|isbn=978-4-88872-012-0|page=1107}}, Alternate site: [http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Appendix/C Archive]</ref>
 
=== In science ===
[[4034 Vishnu]] is an asteroid discovered by [[Eleanor F. Helin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH64M_Vishnu_4034_Vishnu_Asteroid__Pasadena_CA|title=Vishnu & 4034 Vishnu Asteroid - Pasadena, CA - Extraterrestrial Locations on Waymarking.com|website=www.waymarking.com}}</ref> Vishnu rocks are a type of volcanic [[Sedimentary rock|sediment]] found in the [[Grand Canyon]], Arizona, USA. Consequently, mass formations are known as Vishnu's temples.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2012/08/vishnu-temple-a.html|title=Vishnu Temple at the Grand Canyon|first=Matt|last=Young|date=27 August 2012|website=The Panda's Thumb}}</ref>
 
==Outside Indian subcontinent==
===Indonesia===
[[File:Garuda Mount.jpg|thumb|270px|Statue of Vishnu riding Garuda in [[Garuda Wisnu Kencana]], [[Bali]], [[Indonesia]]]]
In [[Indonesia]], Vishnu or ''Wisnu'' ([[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] spelling) is a well-known figure in the world of [[wayang]] ([[Culture of Indonesia|Indonesian]] Puppetry), Wisnu is often referred to as the title ''Sanghyang Batara Wisnu''. Wisnu is the god of justice or welfare, wisnu was the fifth son of [[Batara Guru]] and Batari Uma. He is the most powerful son of all the sons of Batara Guru.
 
Wisnu is described as a god who has bluish black or dark blue skin, has four arms, each of which holds a weapon, namely a [[Mace (bludgeon)|mace]], a [[lotus flower|lotus]], a [[trumpet]] and a [[chakra|Cakra]]. He can also do tiwikrama, become an infinitely large giant.
 
According to [[Javanese mythology]], Wisnu first came down to the world and became a king with the title Srimaharaja Suman. The country is called [[Medang Kingdom|Medangpura]], located in the present-day [[Central Java]] region. Then changed its name to Sri Maharaja Matsyapati. In addition, according to the Javanese wayang puppet version, Batara Wisnu also incarnates
Srimaharaja Kanwa, Resi Wisnungkara, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu, Sri Ramawijaya, Sri Batara Kresna, Prabu [[Airlangga]], Prabu [[Jayabaya]], Prabu Anglingdarma.
 
In Javanese mythology, Wisnu also incarnated as a matswa ([[fish]]) to kill the giant Hargragiwa who stole the [[Veda]]. Become Narasingha (human with a tiger head) to destroy King [[Hiranyakashipu]]. He once intended to become a Wimana ([[dwarf (folklore)|dwarf]]) to defeat Ditya Bali. Batara Wisnu also incarnated in Ramaparasu to destroy gandarwa. Menitis in Arjunasasra / Arjunawijaya to defeat King Rahwana. The last one was for King Krishna to become the great Pandavas parampara or advisor to get rid of greed and evil committed by the [[Kauravas]].
 
Sang Hyang Wisnu has a mount in the form of a giant [[garuda]] named ''Bhirawan''. Because of his affection for the garuda he rode, Bhirawan was then adopted as son-in-law, married to one of his daughters named Dewi Kastapi.<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W5YLAQAAMAAJ&q=wisnu+jawa|title= Layang kandha kelir Jawa Timuran: seri Mahabharata |year= 2007 |publisher= Surwedi|isbn= 9789791596923 |access-date=20 February 2021}}</ref>
 
==Temples==
[[File:Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Angkor Wat]] Temple was built as a dedication to Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/24440-angkor-wat-canals.html|title=Mystery of Angkor Wat Temple's Huge Stones Solved|author1=Tia Ghose|date=31 October 2012|website=livescience.com}}</ref>]]
[[File:Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple Thiruvananthapuram,.jpg|thumb|The front-view of [[Padmanabhaswamy Temple]] in [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]]]]
 
Some of the earliest surviving grand Vishnu temples in India have been dated to the [[Gupta Empire]] period. The Sarvatobhadra temple in [[Jhansi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], for example, is dated to the early 6th century and features the ten avatars of Vishnu.<ref>Alexander Lubotsky (1996), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629500 The Iconography of the Viṣṇu Temple at Deogarh and the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa], Ars Orientalis, Vol. 26 (1996), page 65</ref>{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=7}} Its design based on a square layout and Vishnu iconography broadly follows the 1st millennium Hindu texts on architecture and construction such as the ''Brihat Samhita'' and ''Visnudharmottarapurana''.<ref>Alexander Lubotsky (1996), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629500 The Iconography of the Viṣṇu Temple at Deogarh and the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa], Ars Orientalis, Vol. 26 (1996), pages 66-80</ref>
 
Archaeological evidence suggest that Vishnu temples and iconography probably were already in existence by the 1st century BCE.{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=18 with footnote 19}} The most significant Vishnu-related epigraphy and archaeological remains are the two 1st century BCE inscriptions in [[Rajasthan]] which refer to temples of Sankarshana and Vasudeva, the Besnagar Garuda column of 100 BCE which mentions a Bhagavata temple, another inscription in [[Naneghat]] cave in [[Maharashtra]] by a Queen Naganika that also mentions Sankarshana, Vasudeva along with other major Hindu deities and several discoveries in [[Mathura]] relating to Vishnu, all dated to about the start of the common era.{{Sfn|Bryant|2007|p=18 with footnote 19}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Doris Srinivasan|title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC |year=1997|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-10758-8|pages=211–220, 240–259}}</ref><ref>[a] {{cite book|author=Doris Srinivasan|title=Mathurā: The Cultural Heritage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82vtCre6vTcC|year=1989|publisher=Manohar|isbn=978-81-85054-37-7|pages=389–392}};<br />[b] {{cite book|author=Doris Srinivasan|editor=Joanna Gottfried Williams|title=Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qoeAAAAIAAJ |year=1981|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-06498-0|pages=127–136|chapter=Early Krishan Icons: the case at Mathura}}</ref>
 
The [[Padmanabhaswamy Temple]] in [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]], is dedicated to Vishnu. The temple has attracted huge donations in gold and precious stones over its long history.<ref>{{cite news | title=Keralas Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple may reveal more riches | website=India Today | date=2011-07-07 | url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-temple-may-reveal-more-riches/1/144004.html | access-date=2016-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Pomfret | first=James | title=Kerala temple treasure brings riches, challenges | website=Reuters India | date=2011-08-19 | url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-58866020110819 | access-date=2016-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Blitzer | first=Jonathan | title=The Secret of the Temple | magazine=The New Yorker | date=2012-04-23 | url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/30/the-secret-of-the-temple | access-date=2016-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=A One Trillion Dollar Hidden Treasure Chamber is Discovered at India's Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2015/11/13/a-one-trillion-dollar-hidden-treasure-chamber-is-discovered-at-indias-sree-padmanabhaswam-temple/|magazine=Forbes.com}}</ref>
 
'''List of temples'''
 
• [[Divya Desam|108 Divya Desams]]
 
•[[Venkateswara Temple]]
 
• [[Padmanabhaswamy Temple]]
 
• [[Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam]]
 
• [[Jagannath Temple, Puri]]
 
• [[Badrinath Temple]]
 
•[[List of Swaminarayan temples|Swaminarayan temples]]
 
• [[Angkor Wat]] , Cambodia
 
• [[Laxminarayan Temple|Birla Mandir]]
 
• [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh]]
 
• [[Pundarikakshan Perumal Temple]]
 
• [[Kallalagar temple|Kallalagar temple , Madurai]]
 
{{wide image|Srirangamlong view.jpg|600px|[[Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam|Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple]] is a [[Hindu temple]] dedicated to Vishnu located in [[Srirangam]], [[Tiruchirapalli]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India. The temple occupies an area of {{convert|156|acres|m2|abbr=on}} with a perimeter of {{convert|4,116|m|ft|abbr=on}} making it the largest temple in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world.{{sfn|Mittal| Thursby |2005| p= 456}}||none}}
 
==Gallery==
<gallery heights="240" widths="180">
File:011 Vishnu (32881394093).jpg|5th-century Vishnu at [[Udayagiri Caves]].
File:Vishnu and his Avatars.jpg|11th-century Vishnu sculpture the goddesses [[Lakshmi]] and [[Sarasvati]]. The edges show reliefs of Vishnu avatars Varaha, Narasimha, Balarama, Rama, and others. Also shown is Brahma. ([[Brooklyn Museum]])<ref>[https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/147369 Stele with Vishnu, His Consorts, His Avatars, and Other Dieties<!--sic-->], Brooklyn Museum, Item 1991.244, Gift of David Nalin</ref>
File:077 Visnu, 14c, Sukhothai (35086946062).jpg|14th-century Vishnu, Thailand.
File:Garudabkkholidayinn0609.jpg|A statue in [[Bangkok]] depicting Vishnu on his [[vahana]] Garuda, the eagle. One of the oldest discovered Hindu-style statues of Vishnu in Thailand is from Wat Sala Tung in [[Surat Thani Province]] and has been dated to ~400 CE.<ref name="hobsonxxiii" />
File:Bronze metal Vishnu sculptures from Medieval Assam ( Ahom kingdom).jpg|16th century Vishnu bronze metal sculpture from Dibrugarh, [[Assam]]
</gallery>
 
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Hindu gods and goddesses]]
===Works cited===
{{simple-Wikipedia}}
{{Refbegin|30em}}
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*{{cite book|editor-last=Bryant|editor-first=Edwin F.|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York| year=2007| isbn=978-0-19-514891-6| url=https://archive.org/details/krishnasourceboo00brya_424 |url-access=limited}} [Via [https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC Google Books]
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*{{cite book|last=Glucklich|first=Ariel|title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC| year=2008| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-971825-2 }}
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*{{cite book|last=Guy |first=John |title=Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia |year=2014 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-524-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO_-AgAAQBAJ}}
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*{{cite book | author = Translation by Richard W. Lariviere| title = The Nāradasmr̥ti| publisher = University of Philadelphia | year = 1989}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Olivelle|first1=Patrick|author-link1=Patrick Olivelle|title=The Date and Provenance of the Viṣṇu Smṛti|date=2007|volume=33|pages=49–163 |url=http://www.indologica.it/volumi/doc_XXXIII/chapter%2007%20Olivelle.pdf|access-date=23 October 2015|journal=Indologica Taurinensia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722035453/http://www.indologica.it/volumi/doc_XXXIII/chapter%2007%20Olivelle.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2011}}
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*{{cite book|last= Sen |first=S.C. |title=The Mystical Philosophy Of The Upanishads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnhNZQJ07DYC&pg=PA26 |year=1937| publisher=Cosmo Publications|isbn=978-81-307-0660-3}}
*{{cite book| editor=Wayman, Alex |title=Researches in Indian and Buddhist philosophy: essays in honour of Professor Alex Wayman | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass | last = Rukmani | first=T. S. |author-link=T. S. Rukmani |chapter = Siddhis in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and in the Yogasutras of Patanjali – a Comparison | year=1993 | pages=217–226 | isbn=978-81-208-0994-9 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1ffdTIbNJkC&pg=PA217 }}
*{{cite book| last=Sheridan| first=Daniel| title= The Advaitic Theism of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa |publisher=South Asia Books |location=Columbia, MO |year=1986 |isbn=978-81-208-0179-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrtYYTjYFY8C }}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.1353/pew.2002.0005|last=Sheth|first=Noel| year= 2002| title=Hindu Avatāra and Christian Incarnation: A Comparison| journal=Philosophy East and West| publisher=[[University of Hawai'i Press]]| volume=52| issue=1 (January)|pages=98–125 |jstor = 1400135 |s2cid=170278631}}
*{{cite book| last=Varadpande| first= Manohar Laxman|title=History of Indian theatre, Vol. 3 | publisher=Abhinav Publications| year=1987| isbn=978-81-7017-221-5| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC }}
{{Refend}}
 
==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|d=1}}
* {{cite news |title=BBC Religion & Ethics – Who is Vishnu |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/deities/vishnu.shtml |publisher= BBC News }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Machek |first1=Vaclav |title=Origin of the God Vishnu |journal=Archiv Orientální |date=1960 |pages=103–126 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/13e939c55359de68af67a10fdaf9d1c3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817606 |language=en |via =ProQuest}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Peyton |first1=Allysa B. |title=Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior |journal= Brooklyn Museum, June 24–October 2, 2011 |date=2012 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=145–150 |doi=10.1086/665691 |jstor=10.1086/665691 |s2cid=192592953 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/665691 |access-date= |issn=2153-5531}}
 
{{VishnuAvatars}}
{{Famous Vishnu temples}}
{{Hindu Culture and Epics}}
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[[Category:Vishnu| ]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]
[[Category:Commerce gods]]
[[Category:Hindu gods]]
[[Category:Names of God in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Rigvedic deities]]
[[Category:Savior gods]]
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[[Category:Maintenance deities]]
[[Category:Light gods]]
[[Category:Time and fate gods]]
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