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1. Purusha Sukta of Taittiriya Aranyaka (3.13.2) also refers master of Hri and Lakshmi (Vishnu) as Purusha, the Supreme God.

2. Visvakarma Sukta of Rig Veda (10.82) refers to Vishnu indirectly as the Supreme God.

• 10.082.06: The waters verily first retained the embryo in which all the gods were aggregated, single deposited on the navel of the unborn (creator), in which all beings abide. The reference to the navel of the unborn is an indication of reference to Vishnu.

• Agni is the lowest among devatas and Vishnu is the highest. All other devatas except Lord Vishnu and Agni Deva occupy positions between them. A similar view of Agni as the youngest deity and Vishnu as the oldest deity, in one interpretation, is even expressed in the Chamakam, the last lines in the famous Saivite Vedic hymn, Shri Rudram.

In the Brahmanas

By the age of the Brahmanas, various stories can be found associating Vishnu with the Sacrifice. The sacrifice being the core of interest for these texts, this association goes a long way in explaining the importance of Vishnu. How this association came about is not clear, but the various stories in the Brahmanas seem to explain a fiat accompli. Visnu is said to have become the most important of all gods by truly 'understanding' the meaning of the sacrifice before all else. In the Shatapatha Brahmana he is described as winning the sacrifice back from Asuras as a dwarf, where the kernel of the Vamana incarnation can be seen. Aitareya Brahmana: 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God.

In the Upanishads

The Upanishads that form the philosophical culmination of the Vedas are dated around 900 BCE. The oldest of these are the Chhandogya and Brhadaranyaka. The former does not name Vishnu and the latter mentions him as part of ritual to obtain an exceptionally wise and learned son along with other deities. The slightly later Katha-upanishad, however, has Vishnu in prominence -

He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always impure, never reaches that place, but enters into the round of births. But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure, reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not born again.But he who has understanding for his charioteer (intellect), and who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu.

His rise to supremacy is apparent in the epics (Mahabharata, Ramayana, and from this period he may be considered a manifestation of the Singular God. Thus, according to this interpretation, the division of Hinduism in Vaishnavism and Shaivaism appeared only with the Puranas, where Vishnu's descents in ten principal Avatars become his distinguishing characteristic.

Theological attributes and more

Vishnu takes form as an all-inclusive deity, known as Purusha or Mahāpurusha, Paramātma [Supreme Soul], Antaryāmi [In-dweller], and He is the Sheshin [Totality] in whom all souls are contained. He is Bhagavat or Bhagavan, which in Sanskrit means "possessing bhāga (Divine Glory)".

Vishnu possesses six such divine glories, namely,

• JÒāna Omniscient; defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;

• Aishvarya Sovereignty, which persist in unchallenged rule over all;

• Shakti Energy, or power, which is the capacity to make the impossible possible;

• Bala Strength, which is the capacity to support everything by His will and without any fatigue;

• Virya Vigour, or valour which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;

• TËjas Resplendent, or Splendour, which expresses His self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by His spiritual effulgence; cited from Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, by Swami Tapasyananda.

However, the actual number of auspicious qualities of Vishnu is countless, with the above-mentioned six qualities being the most important. Other important qualities attributed to God are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion.)

Vishnu has no particular material form but can be manifest in any form, whether animate or inanimate. According to Vaishnava belief, He is the center of all forces, power, will, auspiciousness, goodness, beauty, grace, responsiveness, etc. In short, whatever we can think of, and whatever we cannot think of -- all are Vishnu. This description of the Lord was again emphasized by a Ramakrishna Mission scholar, Swami Tapasyananda, in his book, Bhakti Schools of Vedanta.

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana called Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect tense is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda He is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

Relations with other Deities

Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Maya is the samvit (the primary intelligence) of Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya, is personified and is called Maya, Vishnumaya, or Mahamaya, and She is said to manifest Herself in, 1) kriyāshakti, (Creative Activity) and 2) bh¸tishakti (Creation) of Universe. Hence this world cannot part with His creativity i.e., ahamta, which is a feminine form and is called Maya.

His vehicle is Garuda, the eagle; who is a part of His creation. He needs no support for anything He does in and outside this world.

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