Viṣṇu

The Name Viṣṇu

The name Viṣṇu derives from the Sanskrit root viś (to pervade), signifying the one who pervades all of creation — every atom, every being, every moment. The Viṣṇu Sahasranāma declares viśvam viṣṇur vaṣaṭkāro bhūtabhavyabhavatprabhuḥ — he is the cosmos itself, the wielder of creation, lord of past, present, and future.

Identity with Nārāyaṇa

In Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, Viṣṇu is completely identical with Nārāyaṇa — these are not different gods but different names of the one Supreme Reality. Nārāyaṇa emphasizes the relationship (the abode of all beings, the one they all rest in), while Viṣṇu emphasizes the function (all-pervasion, sustaining the cosmos from within as antaryāmī).

Six Divine Qualities

Viṣṇu possesses the six divine qualities (ṣaḍ-guṇa) in fullness: jñāna (omniscience), aiśvarya (sovereignty), śakti (infinite power), bala (strength), vīrya (virility), and tejas (splendor). These are not acquired attributes but his eternal, natural nature.

Viṣṇu in Sri Vaishnava Practice

Every act of worship (tiruvarādhanam), every verse of the Divya Prabandham, every prostration in a Divya Desam temple is ultimately directed to Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa. The twelve Āzhvārs sang of him in 4,000 Divya Prabandha verses. Śrī Rāmānuja systematized the theology of his supremacy in the Śrī Bhāṣyam.