Hindu

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Hindu

Vishnu the Supreme

The Upholder of All Worlds

Domain: Preservation & Mercy
Alignment: Lawful Good
Element: Water
Relics of Power: Conch Panchajanya

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The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Hindu peoples

Region

Indian subcontinent

Period

c. 1500 BC – present

The Hindu deities have been worshipped for over three thousand years across the Indian subcontinent, from the Vedic hymns to the living Hinduism of today. Billions of devotees dedicate to them temples, festivals such as Diwali and Holi, and daily rituals in the home. It is one of the largest religious traditions still practiced in the world.

Diwali lights up India with oil lamps in honor of Lakshmi, and Holi celebrates spring with clouds of colored powder. At the Kumbh Mela, the largest pilgrimage on Earth, tens of millions bathe in the sacred rivers, and daily puja brings flowers, incense, and food to the altars.

At a glance

Vishnu (Viṣṇu, also venerated as Narayana or Hari) is the supreme deity of cosmic preservation, universal harmony, and moral righteousness (dharma) in Hinduism, embodying the sustaining pillar of the Trimurti triad alongside Brahma (the creator) and Shiva (the destroyer/transformer). In Vaishnavism, he is adored as the absolute Supreme Being (Parabrahman or Bhagavan), simultaneously transcendent beyond material nature and immanent within all sentient beings. In the cosmic interludes between world dissolution (pralaya) and renewed creation, Vishnu reposes in deep meditative rest (yoga nidra) supported by the divine serpent Sheshanaga amidst the celestial milk ocean (Kshirasagara), nurturing from his navel the golden lotus that brings forth the demiurge Brahma. In the earliest Vedic hymns (Rigveda 1.154), he is celebrated under the epithet Urukrama ('Wide-Strider') for taking three cosmic strides (Trivikrama) that demarcated space for gods and humankind. Whenever cosmic order is destabilized by the forces of chaos, Vishnu descends into terrestrial history through the doctrine of Avatars (divine descents), epitomized by the classical Dashavatara canon featuring Rama and Krishna.

7 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Conch, Sudarshana discus, mace, lotus and the serpent Shesha

Family

Parents

Kashyapa (in Puranic genealogies and avatars)Aditi

Vishnu the Supreme

Unions

Lakshmi

Children

Kamadeva Brahma

Genealogy according to Rigveda 1.154 e 7.99; Mahabharata (Shanti Parva 341 e Anushasana Parva 149); Vishnu Purana 1.2-4; Bhagavata Purana 1.3.1-28

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Veda Vyasa (comp.) / Arthur Anthony Macdonell (trans.), Rigveda Samhita (Mandala 1, Hymn 154: Viṣṇu Sūkta). translation: Arthur Anthony Macdonell, A Vedic Reader for Students, Oxford University Press, 1917. read
Veda Vyasa (attributed) / Kisari Mohan Ganguli (trans.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Shanti Parva 341 and Anushasana Parva 149). translation: Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Bharata Press, Calcutta, 1896. read
Parashara (attributed) / H. H. Wilson (trans.), The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition. translation: Horace Hayman Wilson, John Murray, London, 1840. read
Vyasa (attributed) / Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare (trans.), The Bhagavata Purana (Book 1, Chapters 2 and 3: The Avatars of Vishnu). translation: Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1976. read

Studies

Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems. Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg, 1913. open
Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (Edited by Joseph Campbell). Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1946. open
Arthur Anthony Macdonell, Vedic Mythology (Section 17: Vishnu). Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg, 1897. open
Alain Daniélou, The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism. Inner Traditions International, Rochester, 1991. open

Name and epithets

The Sanskrit theonym Viṣṇu (विष्णु) is derived from the verbal root viṣ (विष्), meaning to pervade, encompass, enter into, or permeate the totality of material and spiritual creation.

In the ancient sources

Rigveda Samhita (ऋग्वेद), C. 1500–1200 BCE. Seminal Vedic litany praising Vishnu's three cosmic paces that established the terrestrial, atmospheric, and celestial foundations of the universe. Mahabharata (महाभारत), C.

The myths

The Cosmic Slumber Yoga Nidra upon the Coils of Sheshanaga. In classical Puranic cosmology detailed across the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, the manifest universe periodically enters states of total dissolutio…

Worship and archaeology

Worship of Vishnu constitutes one of the largest and most influential branches of Indian religious life, historically governed by the elaborate liturgical manuals of the Pancharatra and Vaikhanasa Agamas.

How the god was depicted

Classical Hindu sculpture, codified in the Shilpa Shastras and celebrated across thousands of ancient shrines, depicts Vishnu as an august, four-armed deity (Chaturbhuja) characterized by serene composure and dark blue…

What scholars debate

. Scholars of religious history and Indology have thoroughly examined the developmental process through which Vishnu evolved from a secondary solar deity allied with Indra in the Rigveda into the supreme monotheistic de…

After antiquity

The cultural and philosophical influence of Vishnu expanded far beyond the borders of South Asia. Across Southeast Asia, the Khmer Empire of Cambodia erected the monumental temple of Angkor Wat during the 12th-century r…

Did you know?

Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the largest religious stone monument ever built by humanity, was originally commissioned in the 12th century by Khmer King Suryavarman II as a royal state temple dedicated to Vishnu, featuring an…

Codex relic

Conch Panchajanya. A sacred conch whose primordial sound represents 'Om', the vibration that sustains creation.

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