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.