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 Vishnu is commonly
known as the second member of the Great Triad of gods, the others being Brahma and
Shiva. His function is to preserve the universe through each cycle of creation and
ensure that it is not subject to premature entropy and dissolution. Vishnu cannot
prevent the ultimate meltdown of creation; he can only ensure that it does not happen
before schedule. For the universe too has its designated span of existence and Vishnu
keeps it in good order. This broadly was supposed to be his function when
the initial worship of Vishnu began, but true to his nature as a Trickster God,
he has mutated so many times since then that to make any final or categorical statement
about Vishnu or his role in the Universe is foolhardiness. There are simply too
many Vishnus, all coexisting in happy contradiction, for any definitive role or
categorization. Vishnu is what you take him to be, and it is more pertinent to ask
what worshippers mean by Vishnu rather than what Vishnu is all about.
His name means 'He who has entered' or more accurately 'He who has pervaded the
universe'. Thus Vishnu is the support of the universe at the microscopic level.
From this standpoint it was not too much trouble to make the deduction that Vishnu
was indeed the Universe Itself, every atom and every galaxy being but the body of
the god. This did not imply that Vishnu was distinct from or identical with the
universe; he was regarded as simultaneously its creator, its very bodily existence
as well as transcendent of it all. To explain this complex concept it was stated
that Vishnu was Nara, the cosmic ocean pervading all before creation. He is also
Narayana "Moving in the waters" once creation has come into being. This is a very
long way away from Vishnu's initial origin in the Rig Veda as a minor solar deity,
who was famous for having taken three steps that spanned creation and fighting
the forces of darkness. When the Vedic religion had run out of impetus in about
300 BCE new gods were needed to satisfy the changed psychological needs of the people.
Of the Vedic deities, only Shiva, Vishnu and Surya were vague enough and fluid enough
to provide the reassuring link with the past as well as to radicalize modes of belief.
In the 13th century CE when the worship of Surya, the sun god, went into unexplained
decline, Vishnu absorbed his following as he too was a solar deity. It was not the
last time such a thing would happen.
The Vedic Vishnu is interesting in that he possesses, in seminal form, the most
important attributes of Vishnu in his later ascendancy. It is one of the ironies
of fate that he is described as deriving his power from Indra, king of the gods.
In the Pauranic era, the situation will reverse exactly and Indra will become a
timorous weakling, constantly running to Vishnu for aid. What is significant is
one Vedic phrase that will fix his nature forever - "Vishnu, the Unconquerable Preserver,
strode three steps over the universe." In this we have both the future Vamana
incarnation as well as Vishnu in his role today. Vedic commentators always held
that he was a manifestation of Solar Energy and the three steps represent either
the three manifestations of light - fire, lightning and the sun; or the three phases
of the sun, its rising, culmination[noon] and setting. Given this background it
is easy enough to understand why the waning cult of the sun in places like Orissa
and Gujarat was easily absorbed by the ascendancy of Vishnu. An interesting example
of the confusion that prevailed, and of hedging one's bets, was the magnificent
star shaped temple at Warrangal [circa1153]. Built by king Rudradeva it was simultaneously
dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Surya!
Vishnu is most famous for having ten avatars or incarnations of himself. These are
various forms he assumed while engaged in the task of preserving the universe and
destroying the forces of darkness. What is really difficult to untangle is if the
avatars were local deities absorbed into the larger, more sophisticated and prestigious
Vishnu cult or if the Vishnu cult splintered into various avatar-centric sub-groups.
The best guess is that it was a combination of both factors. Geographically, Vishnu
worshipped as Vishnu instead of in avatar form is confined only to South India.
But paradoxically that area also has some of the oldest evidence of avatar worship
especially of the Coorma Avatar, Narasimha and Parashurama. This sculptural evidence
comes as early as the 4th and 5th CE and predates any sign of independent Vishnu
worship. In fact there is even a composite form of Narasimha and Coorma avatar called
Vaikunta Vishnu that was and is popularly worshipped.
 In the
north of India it was always Rama and Krishna. In the east it was only Krishna,
including the famous Jaggannath temple which is nominally a Vishnu temple but has
a Krishna image in worship. In the west too it is only Krishna, with the Nathdwara
style dominating Gujarat and Sindh while the bhakti movement gave to Maharashtra
state the worship of Vitthal, a form of Krishna. So Vishnu is both worshipped and
invisible.
Shiva and Vishnu soon established ascendancy over Brahma. What was left unresolved
to this day is the question of primacy between them. Both sides claim their god
is superior while conceding almost equal status to the contender. The Padma Purana
is typical in its tenor - "In the beginning of time the great Vishnu, desirous of
creating the world, became threefold; Creator, Preserver, Destroyer. Some worship
Brahma, others Vishnu, yet others Shiva; but Vishnu, one yet threefold, creates,
preserves and destroys: therefore let the pious make no difference between the three."
The Vishnu Purana is not happy with such equivocation and forcefully states, "The
world was produced from Vishnu; it exists in him; he is the cause of its continuation
and cessation; he is the world." That is clear enough as an uncompromising
assertion of supremacy. Naturally the Shaivas have their own texts with similar
stories. One of the delightfully naive stories as to why Vishnu is regarded as supreme
is set forth in the Tests of Bhrigu, a rishi who wanted this vexing question solved
forever. The sage deliberately misbehaved with both Brahma and Shiva and they launched
into curses against him. Being a liberated soul these were ineffectual. He then
proceeded to actually kick a sleeping Vishnu on the chest to wake him up, whereupon
the god was only concerned that the great sage may have injured his foot against
that adamantine chest. Since he demonstrated the greatest self control and forgiveness
Bhrigu declared Vishnu to be the greatest god.
The myths that constitute the Vishnu corpus are normally stories of his incarnations.
Only the Vaishnava cult of South India used to ignore the avatars and worship Vishnu
alone. This has led to some famous temples, Srirangam, Tirupati, and particularly
the Padmanabha temple at Trivandrum, where the ruling king is supposed to be merely
a steward of Vishnu who is the actual ruler. At present the most popular temple in
India is the Tirupati shrine where Vishnu is worshipped as Balaji.
 The
sheer scale and magnitude of worship that goes on here is incredible. One quirky
fact may help to put things in perspective. One of the votive offerings made at
the shrine is to shave off your hair completely. 600 fulltime barbers are currently
employed at the temple to deal with the rush. Other temples do not deal with such
volumes of traffic but they are also very crowded places indeed. One peculiar spin
off to the popularity of Balaji is the proliferation of replica temples all over
India as well as in other countries. It is a significant upsurge in Vishnu worship
that has no precedents.
As a Trickster God, Vishnu displays behavior that is sometimes most distressing
for naive devotees who believe that evil is always conquered by displays of moral
superiority rather than by greater strength and cunning. Vishnu knows better and
in discharging his duty towards maintaining cosmic balance he acts in ways that
are shocking to the squeamish. Once Indra was locked in fruitless conflict
with an invincible demon called Vrita and the king of gods was at his wit's end.
The demon had a boon that he could not be killed either by night or day, by a wet
or dry substance, on land or water, which pretty much made him invulnerable. On
Vishnu's advice he made a truce with the demon and even feigned friendship for many
years with him. One day they were walking on the seashore, right at the edge of
land and sea at the twilight hour. The wily Vishnu entered the foam of the ocean,
which was neither wet nor dry, and by hurling it at Vrita Indra was enabled to slay
his foe while maintaining the integrity of the boon.
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