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'''[[w:Vishnu|Vishnu]]''' (Sanskrit: विष्णु) is a main Vedic [[Deity|god]], venerated as the [[God|Supreme Being]] in [[w:Vaishnavism| Vaishnava]] traditions of [[Hinduism]], who manifests in numerous [[Avatar|avatars]] ("[[appearances]]" or "incarnations"). Also commonly known as [[w:Narayana|Narayana]] or [[w:Hari|Hari]], Vishnu is sometimes grouped with [[w:Brahma|Brahma]] and [[w:Shiva|Shiva]] in the [[w:Trimurti|Trimurti]] of [[w:Brahman|Brahman]]. In the [[w:Smarta Tradition| Smartha traditions]], he is venerated as one of the [[w:Panchayatana puja|five primary forms of God]]. The ''[[W:Vishnu Sahasranama|Vishnu Sahasranama]]'' declares Vishnu the [[w:Paramatman|Paramatman]] (supreme soul) and [[w:Parameshwara|Parameshwara]] (supreme God). It describes Vishnu as the [[All]]-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of — and beyond — the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the [[Universe]] and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".
: See also:
:: '''[[Kalki]]'''
== Quotes ==
[[File:Vishnu Avatars.jpg|244px|thumb|right|Look East, where whole new thousands are!  <br>  In Vishnu-land what [[w:Avatar|Avatar]]? ~ [[Robert Browning]] ]]
[[File:Avatars of Vishnu.jpg|244px|thumb|Alone, he supports threefold the [[earth]] and the [[sky]] — all creatures. ~ ''[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]'']]
[[File:Vishnu Hood2 Deogarh.jpg.jpg|thumb|right|Vishnu, the Supreme [[Soul]]. The Soul of ''[[all]]'' things. Vishnu sleeps, floating on the shoreless cosmic ocean, and we are the stuff of his dreams.]]
[[File:Harihara V&A.jpg|thumb|right|]]

*Vishnu (Sk.). The second person of the Hindu Trimûrti (trinity), composed of [[Brahma|Brahmâ]], Vishnu and [[Shiva|Siva]]. From the root vish, “to pervade”. in the [[Rigveda|Rig -Veda]], Vishnu is no high god, but simply a manifestation of the solar energy, described as “striding through the seven regions of the Universe in three steps and enveloping all things with the dust (of his beams ”.) Whatever may be the six other occult significances of the statement, this is related to the same class of types as the seven and ten Sephiroth, as the seven and three orifices of the perfect Adam Kadmon, as the seven “principles” and the higher triad in man, etc., etc. Later on this mystic type becomes a great god, the preserver and the renovator, he “of a thousand names — Sahasranâma”.
**[[H.P. Blavatsky]], ''[http://theosophy.org/Blavatsky/Theosophical%20Glossary/Thegloss.htm The Theosophical Glossary,]'' (1892)

* '''Oh, never [[star]] <br>  Was lost here, but it rose afar!  <br>  Look East, where whole new thousands are!  <br>  In Vishnu-land what [[Avatar]]?'''
** [[Robert Browning]], in "Waring" (1842).

* O ye who wish to gain realization of the Supreme [[Truth]], utter the name of "Vishnu" at least once in the steadfast [[faith]] that it will lead you to such realization.
** ''[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]'', V.I.15b.3.

* '''Just as the [[sun]]'s rays in the sky are extended to the mundane vision, so in the same way the wise and learned devotees always see the abode of Lord Vishnu.'''
** ''[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]'', V.I.22.20.

* Let me now sing the heroic deeds of Viṣṇu who has measured apart the realms of the [[earth]], who propped up the upper dwelling-place, striding far as he stepped forth three times. <br> They praise for his heroic deeds Viṣṇu who lurks in the mountains, wandering like a ferocious wild beast, in whose three wide strides all creatures dwell.
** ''[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]'', V.1.154.1 - 2, as translated by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty in ''The Rig Veda : An Anthology'' (1981), p. 226.

* '''Alone, he supports threefold the earth and the sky — all creatures.''' <br> Would that I might reach his dear place of refuge, where men who love the gods rejoice. For their one draws close to the wide-striding Viṣṇu; there, in his highest footstep, is the fountain of honey.
** ''[[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]'', V.1.154.4 - 5, as translated by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty in ''The Rig Veda : An Anthology'' (1981), p. 226.

* '''The [[gods]] were my superheroes growing up.''' [[w:Hanuman|Hanuman]], the monkey god, lifting an entire mountain to save his friend [[w:Lakshmana|Lakshman]]. [[w:Ganesha|Ganesh]] the elephant headed, risking his life to save the honor of his mother Pārvati. '''Vishnu, the Supreme [[Soul]]. The Soul of ''[[all]]'' things. Vishnu sleeps, floating on the shoreless cosmic ocean, and we are the stuff of his dreams.'''
** "Pi Patel" in ''[[Life of Pi (film)|Life of Pi]]'' (2012), based on the 2001 novel by [[Yann Martel]].

*Like the Indian Vishnu, to float about along  an infinite ocean cradled in the flower of the Lotus and wake once in a  million years for a few minutes.
**Samuel Taylor Coleridge , letter to John Thirlwell in [https://archive.org/stream/xhpz_india-and-world-civilization-d-p-singhal/India%20And%20World%20Civilization%20-%20D%20P%20Singhal_djvu.txt]

==See also==
* [[Ageless Wisdom teachings|Ageless Wisdom Teachings]]

==External links==
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commonscat}}

[[Category:Hindu deities]]
[[Category:Sikhism]]