Vishnu
Vishnu, also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation. A minor deity in the Vedas but possibly already a significant non-elite divine figure in early Vedic times, Vishnu rose to ultimate prominence in post-Vedic times and was identified with various local traditions and deities in the last centuries BCE and the early centuries CE.
Vishnu is known as The Preserver within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme Lord who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.
According to Vaishnavism, the supreme being is with qualities, and has definite form, but is limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, and the primal Atman of the universe. There are both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Vishnu. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient being sleeping on the coils of the serpent Shesha floating in the primeval ocean of milk called Kshira Sagara with his consort, Lakshmi.
Whenever the world is threatened with evil, chaos, and destructive forces, Vishnu descends in the form of an avatar to restore the cosmic order and protect dharma. The Dashavatara are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu. Out of these ten, Rama and Krishna are the most important.
Nomenclature
Vishnu means 'all pervasive' and, according to Medhātith, 'one who is everything and inside everything'. Vedanga scholar Yaska in the Nirukta defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā ; also adding atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati.In the tenth part of the Padma Purana, Danta lists 108 names of Vishnu. These include the ten primary avatars and descriptions of the qualities, attributes, or aspects of God.
The Garuda Purana 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'.
Origins and development
Origins
Vishnu is a Rigvedic solar deity, but not a prominent one when compared to Indra, Agni and others, though according to Gonda "Visnu must already have been a more important divine figure than it would appear from his comparatively infrequent appearances in the texts," with possible a greater prominence among the Aryan and non-Aryan masses of the early Vedic times. Just 5 out of 1028 hymns of the Rigveda are dedicated to Vishnu, although he is mentioned in other hymns. Vishnu is mentioned in the Brahmana layer of text in the Vedas, when he rose to prominence mid-first millennium BCE. His profile rises further as he was syncretised with various local traditions and deities in the last centuries BCE and the early centuries CE, and over the history of Indian scriptures, states Jan Gonda, Vishnu becomes a divinity of the highest rank, one equivalent to the Supreme Being.Avatars
The concept of the avatar 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:Vedic literature, in particular the Puranas and Itihasa, narrate numerous avatars of Vishnu. The most well-known of these avatars are Krishna, and Rama. Krishna in particular is venerated in Vaishnavism as the ultimate, primeval, transcendental source of all existence, including all the other demigods and gods, such as Vishnu.
The ''Mahabharata''
In the Mahabharata, Vishnu states to Narada that He will appear in the following ten incarnations: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
- A list may be given in one place but additional avatars may be mentioned elsewhere
- Manava Purana, the only Upa Purana lists 42 avatars of Vishnu.
- A personality in one Purana may be considered an avatar in another
- Some avatars consist of two or more people considered as different aspects of a single incarnation
Dashavatara
Apparent disagreements concerning the placement of either the Buddha or Balarama in the Dashavarara seems to occur from the Dashavarara list in the Shiva Purana. Regardless, both versions of the Dashavarara have a scriptural basis in the canon of authentic Vedic literature .''
Perumal
Perumal —also known as Thirumal, or Mayon — was accepted as a manifestation of Vishnu during the process of the syncretism of South Indian deities into mainstream Hinduism. Mayon is indicated to be the deity associated with the mullai tiṇai in the Tolkappiyam. Tamil Sangam literature mentions Mayon or the "dark one" and as the Supreme deity who creates, sustains, and destroys the universe and was worshipped in the plains and mountains of Tamilakam. The verses of Paripadal describe the glory of Perumal in the most poetic of terms. Many Poems of the Paripadal consider Perumal as the Supreme god of Tamils. He is a popular Hindu deity among Tamilians in Tamil Nadu, as well among the Tamil diaspora. Revered by the Sri Vaishnava denomination of Hinduism, Perumal is venerated in popular tradition as Venkateshwara at Tirupati, and Sri Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam.The Trimurti
The Puranic period from the 4th to the 12th century CE saw the rise of post-Vedic religion and the evolution of what R. C. Majumdar calls "synthetic Hinduism."Particularly in Vaishnavism, the Trimurti represents the three fundamental forces through which the universe is created, maintained, and destroyed in cyclic succession. Each of these forces is represented by a Hindu deity:
The trimurti themselves are beyond three gunas and are not affected by it.
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.
Textual development
Vedas
Though a minor mention and with overlapping attributes in the Vedas, he has important characteristics in various hymns of the Rig Veda, such as 1.154.5, 1.56.3 and 10.15.3. In these hymns, the Vedic scriptures assert that Vishnu resides in that highest home where departed Atman reside, an assertion that has been proposed in older publications as a reason for his increasing emphasis and popularity in Hindu soteriology, yet deemed an insufficient explanation by Gonda. He is also described in the Vedic literature as the one who supports heaven and earth.In the Vedic hymns, Vishnu is invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps kill the symbol of evil named Vritra. His distinguishing characteristic in the 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, 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 in different hymns, they too "bring men together" and cause all living beings to rise up and impel them to go about their daily activities.
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. In other hymns of the Rigveda, Vishnu is a close friend of Indra. 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.
In the Yajurveda, Taittiriya Aranyaka, "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.
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.
Trivikrama: The Three Steps of Vishnu
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. It is an inspiration for ancient artwork in numerous Hindu temples such as at the Ellora Caves, which depict the Trivikrama legend through the Vamana avatar of Vishnu. 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.The Vishnu Sukta 1.154 of Rigveda says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides 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. 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.