Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme Deity of Vaishnavism and, for other Hindus, the preserver of the universe. He holds a conch, a discus, a mace and a lotus, rides the eagle Garuda, and comes to earth as avatars, among them Rama and Krishna.
Meaning
The Himalayan Academy calls Vishnu, “all-pervasive”, the Supreme Deity of the Vaishnavite religion, God as personal Lord and Creator who incarnates from time to time and lives a fully human life to re-establish dharma; in Saivism, it adds, Vishnu is Shiva’s aspect as Preserver. A sculpture of the 300s CE from Bihar in the Cleveland Museum of Art shows Vishnu riding the man-eagle Garuda, holding a discus, a mace, a conch and a citron fruit, with the shrivatsa on his chest, the mark of Shri, the goddess of good fortune and his wife (see Lakshmi). T. A. Gopinatha Rao, in Elements of Hindu Iconography (1914), describes a figure of Vishnu holding the lotus, the mace, the discus and the conch in its four hands, the set drawn here. Among his avatars are Rama and Krishna.
Origin and history
Before the creation of the world, as the Cleveland Museum describes a Pahari painting of about 1700, Vishnu lay asleep on the serpent Ananta, floating on the cosmic ocean. Lakshmi woke him by massaging his feet, a lotus grew from his navel, and from it came Brahma, the god of creation.
Vishnu is the god of the avatars. Avatar means “descent”, and the Hindu American Foundation describes the ten avatars of Vishnu, the Dashavatara, as the descents he makes when the balance between good and evil is especially askew. As the tortoise Kurma he held the mountain Mandara on his back so the gods and demons could churn the ocean of milk; as the boy Vamana he asked King Bali for as much land as he could cover in three steps, then grew to cover the earth and the heavens. The list varies. A Kalighat woodcut in Cleveland gives the set recognised in 1800s Bengal: the fish, the tortoise, the boar, the man-lion and the Brahmin, then Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Jagannath and Kalki.
What Vishnu holds and why
The Vishnu Purana, in H. H. Wilson’s translation of 1840, explains the god’s ornaments and weapons as the parts of the world gathered in his person. The Kaustubha gem he wears is the pure soul of the world, and the shrivatsa mark on his chest is Pradhana, the first principle of things. Intellect abides in his mace. The conch and the bow hold egotism in its two divisions, the elements and the organs of sense. The discus is the mind, “whose thoughts (like the weapon) fly swifter than the winds”. His arrows are the faculties of action and perception, and his sword is holy wisdom, sometimes hidden in the scabbard of ignorance. Each emblem has a page of its own: the conch (Shankha), the discus (Sudarshana Chakra) and the lotus (Padma).
Garuda
His mount is Garuda, born with a human body, an eagle’s beak and wings. The Hindu American Foundation calls him Vishnu’s most trusted carrier, whose wings are believed to sound the Vedas as he flies, and notes that he is the national symbol of Thailand and Indonesia. In the Bihar sculpture in Cleveland, a subdued serpent is tied round Garuda’s neck: Garuda is the enemy of serpents.
Read next
- Next in Hindu deities and their symbolsLakshmiLakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and good fortune and the wife of Vishnu. She sits on a lotus, holds lotuses, lets gold coins fall from her palm, and is often flanked by elephants pouring water over her.
- The conch is one of Vishnu's four emblemsShankhaThe conch shell, the special emblem of Vishnu, and a trumpet still blown in Hindu worship.
See also
Sudarshana Chakra, Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha.
Sources
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (Vishṇu), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, glossary, Himalayan Academy (Kauai’s Hindu Monastery), glossary, s.v. Vishṇu
- The Hindu roots of yoga: Dashavatar (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “The Hindu roots of yoga: Dashavatar”, Hindu American Foundation, 2023, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- The Hindu roots of yoga: Popular Deities (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “The Hindu roots of yoga: Popular Deities”, Hindu American Foundation, 2023, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Vishnu Riding on Garuda (1961.46, Cleveland Museum of Art), Vishnu Riding on Garuda, 300s CE, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961.46, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
- Vishnu on Ananta, the Endless Serpent (2018.155, Cleveland Museum of Art), Vishnu on Ananta, the Endless Serpent, c. 1700, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.155, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
- Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), from a Kalighat album (2003.114.b, Cleveland Museum of Art), Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), from a Kalighat album, c. 1890, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.114.b, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
- Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol. I, Part I, T. A. Gopinatha Rao, 1914, Law Printing House, Madras (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy), Minor avataras and manifestations of Vishnu (Dattatreya)
- The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840, John Murray, London (Internet Archive, Digital Library of India copy), Book I, chapter 22
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Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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