Vishnu

Supreme preserver deity, sustainer of cosmic order, source of the avataras

Children in alternative accounts

• Valli: Kanda retelling: Sundara Valli’s prior lifeA Short Illustrated Kanda Puranam, Murugan Bhakti, prior lives and concluding marriage paragraphs (secondary)

Domains

• preservation
• cosmic order
• sun pervasion

Powers

• Descend into mortal incarnations to restore dharma
• Traverse the three worlds in three steps
• Recline in cosmic slumber on the serpent between aeons

Epithets

• हरि sanskrit · Hari · stotraThe Remover (of sin/sorrow); a primary name of VishnuViṣṇu-sahasranāma, Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva 149 (primary)
• नारायण sanskrit · Nārāyaṇa · epithetHe who rests on the cosmic waters; the supreme beingMahābhārata, Nārāyaṇīya (Śānti Parva 321-339); Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (primary)
• मधुसूदन sanskrit · Madhusūdana · epithetSlayer of the demon MadhuBhagavad Gītā 1.35; Viṣṇu-sahasranāma (primary)
• वासुदेव sanskrit · Vāsudeva · epithetThe all-pervading divine; son of VasudevaViṣṇu-sahasranāma; Heliodorus pillar inscription (c. 110 BCE), 'Vāsudeva' (primary)
• जनार्दन sanskrit · Janārdana · epithetHe who is invoked by the people; protector of mankindBhagavad Gītā 1.36; Viṣṇu-sahasranāma (primary)
• पद्मनाभ sanskrit · Padmanābha · epithetThe Lotus-Naveled, from whose navel Brahmā arose on a lotusViṣṇu Purāṇa 1.2; Viṣṇu-sahasranāma (primary)
• त्रिविक्रम sanskrit · Trivikrama · vedaHe of the three strides, who measured out the worldsṚgveda 1.154.1–2 (the three steps of Viṣṇu) (primary)
• गोविन्द sanskrit · Govinda · epicFinder and protector of cows; a name of Kṛṣṇa-ViṣṇuBhagavad Gītā 1.32; Viṣṇu Sahasranāma (primary)
• अच्युत sanskrit · Acyuta · epicThe Imperishable; he who never falls awayBhagavad Gītā 11.42; Ṛgveda 1.156 (primary)

Relations

• equated with: MayonReciprocal of tamil_mayon.equated-with — Māyōṉ 'the dark one' of the pastoral mullai is identified with Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa in the Paripāṭal and feeds the Āḻvārs; the Tamil god's cowherd intimacy precedes and colours the Sanskrit reception.Paripāṭal, hymns to Tirumāl (Māyōṉ) (primary); Friedhelm Hardy, Viraha-Bhakti: The Early History of Kṛṣṇa Devotion in South India (1983) (secondary)
• spouse: LakshmiReciprocal of hindu_lakshmi.spouse — Goddess of fortune; consort of Vishnu, risen from the ocean of milk.Vishnu Purana 1.9 (Lakshmi/Sri rises from the churning of the ocean and weds Vishnu) (primary)
• sibling: IndraViṣṇu Purāṇa 1.15 Āditya birth account; no universal genealogy inferred.Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.15, Wilson translation, Āditya genealogy (primary)

Sources

• existence: Rigveda 1.154 (primary); Vishnu Purana (primary)