Vishnu

Vishnu
Preservation[1] Time[2] Good things[3] Karma[4] The Supreme Being (Vaishnavism)[5]
Member of Trimurti[6]
Depiction of Vishnu bearing his attributes.
Other names	Narayana Hari Madhava Keshava Achyuta Janardana Govinda and various others listed in the Vishnu Sahasranama
Affiliation	Deva Trimurti Brahman Bhagavan Ishvara Dashavatara
Abode	Vaikuntha Kshira Sagara
Mantra	Om Namo Narayanaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya Hari Om
Weapon	Sudarshana Chakra (discus) Kaumodaki (mace) Sharanga (bow) Nandaka (sword)[7]
Symbols	Padma (lotus) Shaligram Panchajanya (conch)
Day	Thursday
Mount	Garuda[7] Shesha[8]
Festivals	Holi Rama Navami Krishna Janmashtami Narasimha Jayanti Deepavali Onam Vivaha Panchami Vishu Vijayadashami Kartik Purnima Tulasi Vivaha Buddha Purnima Ananta Chaturdashi Shayani Ekadashi Prabodhini Ekadashi Vaikuntha Ekadashi and other Ekadashis [9]
Personal information
Consort	Lakshmi and her forms
Children	Bala and Utsaha (according to some Puranas)[10]
Siblings	Parvati as Durga as Yogamaya (ceremonial sister)[11][12]

Vishnu, who is also known as Narayana and Hari, is the supreme god in Hinduism. He is the Absolute Truth (Parabrahman), Supreme Self (Paramātma), Ultimate Reality in Vaishnavism, the largest denomination of Hinduism. He is considered as one of the principal gods, generally a representation of the Trimurti, the supreme trinity of Hinduism.^[13]

He is venerated as the Supreme Being in Vaishnavism and as Purushottama or Supreme Purusha in ancient sacred texts like the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata (including Bhagavad Gita). Vishnu Sahasranama declares Vishnu as Paramatman (supreme soul) and Parameshvara (supreme God). It describes Vishnu as the all-pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, the creator and destroyer of all existences, one who supports, preserves, sustains, governs the universe and originates and develops all elements within.

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, Supreme God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees, the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, he is the "Guru of the Universe". The Bhagavata Purana declares Narayana as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who engages in the creation of 14 worlds within the universe as Brahma, who is deity of rajas-guna, himself sustains, maintains and preserves the universe as Vishnu, by accepting sattva-guna. Narayana himself annihilates the universe at the end of Maha-Kalpa as Shiva, who is presiding deity of tamas-guna.

Narayana is Vishnu himself, who incarnates in various avataras. In the Bhagavata Purana, Purusha Sukta, Narayana Sukta, Narayana Upanishad, Mahanarayana Upanishad from the Vedas, he is the ultimate reality and Absolute truth.^[14][15]

Vishnu is the god of preservation. This means that he protects the universe from being destroyed. It is believed that Vishnu holds the Earth and all living organisms. According to the Hindu religion, he has set foot and arrived on the Earth in nine forms called avataras, so far with one incarnation yet to come that is Kalki at the last to be Kali Yuga, to destroy evil. His most famous incarnations are Rama, Krishna, Parashurama, Narasimha.

Vishnu holds a lotus, or Padma, the indestructible mace of Vishnu (Kaumodaki), a conch (Shankha), and the unstoppable disc of Vishnu (Sudarshana Chakra) in each of his four hands. He is known to take many disguises having eight-armed form, and innumerable forms, eyes, faces, mouths and arms. A Universal form know to be Vishvarupa is considered the supreme form of Vishnu, where the whole universe is described as contained within him. but the three main forms of Vishnu are Karanodakshayi Vishnu (Mahavishnu), Garbhodaksayi Vishnu, and Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, the other two are the expansions of Karanodakshayi Vishnu.

1. ↑ Encyclopedia of World Religions. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 2008. pp. 445–448. ISBN 978-1-59339-491-2.
2. ↑ Wendy Doniger (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. p. 1134. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
3. ↑ Soifer 1991, p. 85. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSoifer1991 (help)
4. ↑ Doniger, Wendy; O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger (1 January 1980). Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions. University of California Press. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via Internet Archive.
5. ↑ Indian Civilization and Culture. M.D. Publications Pvt. 1998. ISBN 9788175330832. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
6. ↑ For the Trimurti system having Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver, and Shiva as the destroyer. see Zimmer (1972) p. 124.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 491–492. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
8. ↑ "Shesha, Sesa, Śeṣa, Śeṣā: 34 definitions". 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
9. ↑ Muriel Marion Underhill (1991). The Hindu Religious Year. Asian Educational Services. pp. 75–91. ISBN 978-81-206-0523-7.
10. ↑ Debroy, Bibek (2005). The History of Puranas. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-8090-062-4.
11. ↑ Williams, George M. (27 March 2008). Handbook of Hindu Mythology. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2.
12. ↑ "Śb 10.4.12". vedabase.io/en/. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
13. ↑ "Vishnu | Hindu deity". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
14. ↑ Cite error: The named reference ReferenceA was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
15. ↑ Krishna, Nanditha (June 2010). The Book of Vishnu. Penguin Books India. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-14-306762-7.