Lord Vishnu

The name Vishnu is usually explained as 'the all-pervading one'. In the Rigveda he is a solar god famous for his three great strides, with which he measured the earth, the sky and the highest realm. Over time, through the epics and especially the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, he became the supreme god for a large part of Hindu India, absorbing the earlier deity Narayana and the hero-god Vasudeva-Krishna.

In the Trimurti, Brahma creates, Vishnu preserves and Shiva dissolves. Vishnu's role is to hold the world in balance. When that balance is threatened, he takes an avatar, a 'descent', to set things right. For Vaishnavas, however, he is far more than a preserver: he is Narayana, the ground of all existence, from whose navel the lotus bearing Brahma springs at the start of every creation.

The Vishnu Sahasranama, the 'thousand names of Vishnu' in the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata, is one of the most widely recited hymns in Hinduism. Among his names are Hari (who removes sorrow), Keshava, Madhava, Govinda, Janardana, Achyuta (the unfallen), Purushottama (the supreme person) and Padmanabha (lotus-navelled). Regional forms such as Venkateshwara at Tirumala, Ranganatha at Srirangam, Jagannatha at Puri and Vitthala at Pandharpur are all worshipped as Vishnu.

A classic Vishnu murti stands or sits with four arms, wearing a tall crown and yellow garments. The order in which he holds his four emblems varies, and each arrangement has its own name; the meanings below are those commonly given.

The best-known list is the Dashavatara, the ten avatars: Matsya the fish, Kurma the tortoise, Varaha the boar, Narasimha the man-lion, Vamana the dwarf, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, then Balarama or the Buddha depending on the tradition, and Kalki, who is yet to come. Britannica notes that the ten are not always the same ten, and the Bhagavata Purana gives longer lists.

Vamana and Bali. The generous asura king Bali had conquered the three worlds. Vishnu came to his sacrifice as a small brahmin boy and asked for just three steps of land. When Bali agreed, Vamana grew immense, covering earth and heaven in two strides; Bali offered his own head for the third. The Bhagavata Purana (Book 8) tells the story, which echoes the three strides of the Rigveda.

Narasimha and Prahlada. The boy Prahlada stayed devoted to Vishnu though his father Hiranyakashipu, who had a boon that no man or beast could kill him by day or night, indoors or out, tormented him. Vishnu burst from a pillar as Narasimha, half man and half lion, and slew him at twilight on the threshold. This is told in Book 7 of the Bhagavata Purana and is remembered at Holi and Narasimha Jayanti.

The churning of the ocean. When the devas and asuras churned the ocean of milk, Vishnu became Kurma the tortoise to hold up Mount Mandara, and later took the form of the enchantress Mohini to distribute the amrita. Lakshmi herself rose from the ocean during this churning and chose Vishnu.

Gajendra Moksha. An elephant king, seized by a crocodile, called out to the Lord with a lotus in his trunk, and Vishnu came at once on Garuda to free him. This Bhagavata story is a favourite lesson that sincere surrender is always heard.

Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and grace, is Vishnu's eternal consort and is said to dwell on his chest. In South Indian temples he is often flanked by Sridevi (Lakshmi) and Bhudevi, the Earth goddess. When Vishnu descends, Lakshmi descends with him, as Sita with Rama and as Rukmini with Krishna.

His abode is Vaikuntha, the realm beyond sorrow. In his cosmic aspect he lies on Shesha in the ocean of milk, the Kshirasagara, while Lakshmi tends to his feet. Garuda is his vahana, and the gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya guard his door.

Ekadashi, the eleventh lunar day of each fortnight, is the great vrat of Vishnu, kept with fasting or simple food and night-time remembrance. In many North Indian homes Thursday (Guruvar) is also dedicated to Vishnu, with yellow clothes and offerings of yellow sweets, chana dal and jaggery. The Satyanarayan puja and katha, a form of Vishnu worship, is performed at housewarmings, weddings and full-moon days.

Tulsi is indispensable: no food offering (bhog) to Vishnu or his avatars is complete without a tulsi leaf. Yellow flowers, sandal paste, panchamrit and lamps of ghee are common offerings, and the conch is blown during aarti. The eight-syllable mantra 'Om Namo Narayanaya' and the twelve-syllable 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' are the central japa mantras, and many families recite the Vishnu Sahasranama on Ekadashi or Thursday. The two dhyana shlokas below open the Vishnu Sahasranama in common recitation.

Devshayani Ekadashi (Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi) marks the start of Chaturmas, the four months when Vishnu is said to rest in yoga-nidra, and Devutthani or Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartika marks his awakening, followed by Tulsi Vivah. Vaikuntha Ekadashi, in the month of Margashirsha or Pausha (December-January), is the biggest day in South Indian Vishnu temples, when the 'gate of Vaikuntha' is opened. Anant Chaturdashi honours Vishnu as Ananta.

The birthdays of his avatars are among the largest festivals in India: Rama Navami, Krishna Janmashtami, Narasimha Jayanti and Vamana Jayanti. Diwali honours Lakshmi and, in many regions, Rama's return to Ayodhya.

The Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh is among the most visited shrines in the world. The Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam in Tamil Nadu, where Vishnu reclines on Shesha, is the foremost of the 108 Divya Desams sung by the Alvar saints. Badrinath in the Himalaya is one of the Char Dham, and Jagannath Puri in Odisha is famous for its annual Rath Yatra. The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram shows Vishnu reclining, Guruvayur in Kerala worships him as the child Krishna, and Pandharpur in Maharashtra is the home of Vitthala, beloved of the Varkari saints.

Vaishnavism is the worship of Vishnu, or one of his avatars, as the supreme form of the divine. In the Tamil country, twelve Alvar poet-saints composed hymns later gathered as the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Ramanuja (traditionally 11th-12th century) taught Vishishtadvaita, qualified non-dualism, in which souls and the world are real and form the 'body' of Narayana; this is the basis of Sri Vaishnavism. Madhvacharya taught Dvaita, an eternal distinction between God and souls. Nimbarka, Vallabhacharya (Pushtimarga) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Gaudiya Vaishnavism) centred devotion on Krishna, while Ramananda's tradition centred it on Rama.

What unites these schools is bhakti, loving surrender (sharanagati) to a personal, compassionate Lord who descends for his devotees. Smarta households worship Vishnu among the five deities of the panchayatana, and Shaiva and Shakta traditions honour him in their own ways. The Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Krishna, remains the most influential statement of this theology of grace and duty.