Vishnu
Vishnu (Sanskrit Viṣṇu, "the all-pervading one") is the great preserver of the Hindu Trimurti, the cosmic guardian who descends in ten avatars whenever dharma declines to restore the balance of the worlds. Dark blue or black in colour, four-armed, bearing the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana, the mace Kaumodaki, and the lotus, he reclines on the thousand-headed serpent Shesha floating upon the cosmic ocean, with his consort Lakshmi at his feet. From his navel grows the lotus from which Brahma emerges to create each universe. For Vaishnavas—possibly the largest current within Hinduism—Vishnu is supreme reality.
Myth and origin
Vishnu appears already in the Vedas (composed from c. 1500 BCE) as a relatively minor solar deity whose great deed is the "three strides" by which he covers the universe (the famous Trivikrama motif, later told of his Vamana avatar). In the Rigveda he is allied with Indra. Over time, especially through the great epics (Ramayana, Mahabharata) and the Puranas, Vishnu rose to become one of the supreme deities of Hinduism, absorbing other figures—Narayana, Vasudeva, Krishna—into his identity. The doctrine of his ten avatars (Dashavatara) crystallised in the Puranic period.
The chief sources for Vishnu's mythology are the Mahabharata (compiled c. 400 BCE-400 CE), which contains the Bhagavad Gita—Krishna's great discourse to Arjuna and one of the central spiritual texts of humanity; the Ramayana, the epic of his avatar Rama; the Vaishnava Puranas, especially the Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Padma Purana; and the Pancharatra and Vaikhanasa Agamas. The Alvars of Tamil Nadu (6th-9th centuries CE) developed a profoundly intimate devotional literature, and the philosophical schools of Ramanuja (qualified non-dualism), Madhva (dualism), and Vallabha elaborated sophisticated Vaishnava theologies.
Attributes and stories
You recognise Vishnu by his dark blue or black complexion (the colour of infinite space), his four arms bearing the conch (announcing his presence), the discus (his solar wheel-weapon), the mace (sovereign power), and the lotus (transcendent purity); by the kaustubha gem at his breast, the shrivatsa mark, the yellow silk garment, and the makara-shaped earrings; by his vehicle the eagle Garuda; and by his consort Lakshmi (goddess of fortune) who attends him. He reclines on the cosmic serpent Shesha (Ananta, the endless one) floating on the milk-ocean.
His ten classical avatars (Dashavatara) are Matsya (the fish who saves Manu from the deluge), Kurma (the tortoise who supports the mountain in the churning of the ocean), Varaha (the boar who raises the drowning earth from the cosmic waters), Narasimha (the man-lion who tears apart the demon Hiranyakashipu), Vamana (the dwarf who covers the universe in three strides to humble Bali), Parashurama (the axe-wielder), Rama (the prince-king of the Ramayana), Krishna (the cowherd-warrior of the Bhagavad Gita, often regarded as Vishnu's supreme manifestation), Buddha (the enlightened one, surprisingly incorporated as an avatar around the 6th-8th centuries CE), and Kalki (the future avatar yet to come, who will end this dark Kali Yuga). Krishna's songs to the gopis at Vrindavan and his battlefield teaching of Arjuna are among the world's greatest religious literature.
Modern reception
Vishnu's influence on world culture has been enormous, especially through Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita. Emerson and Thoreau read the Gita; Gandhi cherished it; J. Robert Oppenheimer famously quoted Krishna at the Trinity test ("Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds"—Bhagavad Gita 11:32). The Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON), founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1966, has carried Krishna's name into every major city in the world. Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy, Joseph Campbell's comparative work, and the global yoga revival have all engaged Vishnu deeply. The literature of devotion to Krishna, in particular, is vast.
In contemporary practice Vishnu is worshipped through Vaishnava devotion (Bhakti), through chanting of mantras (the Vishnu Sahasranama, the Mahamantra "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna..."), through pilgrimage to his great temples (Tirupati, Srirangam, Badrinath, Jagannath Puri), and through the practice of remembrance (smarana) of his names and deeds. Astrologically he corresponds to Jupiter (the great preserver, expansion, dharma) and to the Sun in his solar aspects. He has profound affinities with the eagle (Garuda) and the lotus. The mythological deity test can reveal whether his preserving presence calls you. Continue with Shiva, Brahma, and Lakshmi.
Symbolic depth
In the tarot, Vishnu corresponds most clearly to The World (XXI) as the all-pervading cosmic preserver, to The Emperor (IV) as cosmic sovereign, to The Hierophant (V) in his teaching role (Krishna to Arjuna), and to Temperance (XIV) as the great harmoniser. The Wheel of Fortune (X) carries his Sudarshana discus. On the Kabbalistic Tree of Life he resonates with Tiphareth (the central solar-heart of being) and with Chesed (the great benefic mercy).
Jungian readings see Vishnu as the Self in its sustaining, preserving aspect—the principle of integration that holds the universe in coherent being across the cycles of creation and destruction. His ten avatars trace an evolutionary sequence (fish to amphibian to mammal to primitive man to civilised man to teacher to messiah) that has fascinated comparative mythologists and even some evolutionary thinkers. His shadow is the preserver who clings to forms past their time, the cosmic order that resists necessary transformation. To work with this archetype is to develop the capacity for steady, sustained presence in the world, to descend when needed in service of dharma, and to recognise the cosmic order working through your own life. Return to the main glossary.
Also known as
- Narayana
- Hari
- Krishna
- Rama
- Govinda
- Madhava
- Janardana