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• Unlike Christianity, and Shaivism, the other denomination of Hinduism, Vaishnavism believes that God incarnates many times whenever there is a decline of righteousness and rise of evil (according to the Bhagavad Gita). Lord Krishna, avatar of Vishnu, famously said in the Gita: “For the protection of the good, for destruction of evil, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age.” (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, verse 8.)

• Alternatively, He is God in his form as Preserver of the Universe.

Aspects of God such as Vishnu or Shiva are simple personal attributes of the impersonal Brahman, God without attributes, the type of God similar in Semitic religions such as Islam or Judaism.(without personal characteristics)

• Hindus also worship Vishnu as an abstract form (i.e., God without form) as a saligrama. Use of the saligrama is similar as the lingam is used for Shiva

• The term "Hindu god" should not be equated with Vishnu and is confused with DevaDeva a Hindu deity Deva is also a type of supernatural being in traditional Buddhist cosmology. See six lower realms. Deva or Dava was used in ancient Dacia as a sufix that meant in Dacian language 'a city'. See: List of Dacian cities. Deva a Roman castru and DevasDevas, in Hinduism, are celestial beings that control forces of nature such as fire, air, etc. They are not to be confused with God or His personal form, Saguna Brahman which is visualized as Vishnu or Shiva. God or Brahman is the ultimate controller..
• Devas or demigods, are celestial beings similar to angels as discussed in Judaeo-Christian traditions.

1 Theological attributes and more

Vishnu is the all-inclusive deity, known as purusha or mahä purusha, paramätma [Supreme Soul] antaryämi [In-dweller] and He is the shèshin [Totality] in whom all souls are contained. He is Bhagavat where bhâga is Divine Glory,

Vishnu possesses six such divine glories, namely,

• jñäna [Omniscient]
• aishvarya [Sovereign]
• shakti [Potent]
• bala [Energetic]
• vërya [Immutable]
• tèjas [Resplendent]

2 Relations with other Deities

Vishnu's consort is LakshmiIn Hinduism, Lakshmi or Laxmi ( Sanskrit: ) is the goddess of wealth and fortune, as well as (secondarily) luck, beauty and fertility. Lakshmi is considered an alternate form of Devi. Lakshmi is married to Vishnu, and also married his incarnations Rama (i, the Goddess of wealth. ShaktiThis article is about the Hindu religious concept. For other meanings of the word see Shakti (disambiguation). In most South Asian languages, Shakti translates literally as power. In Hinduism, Shakti is an aspect of Devi, and a personification of God as t is the samvit (the primary intelligence) of God, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvid and hence Shakti is God's ahamata (personality and activity.) Thus this Shakti of God is personified in mythological lore and is called Shri or Lakshmi, and She is said to manifest herself in, 1) kriyäshakti, (Creative Activity) and 2) bhütishakti (Creation) of God. Hence Vishnu cannot part with His own personality or creativity i.e., ahamta, which in its feminine form is called Sri or Lakshmi. He therefore needs his consort Goddess Lakshmi to be with Him always, untouched by any. Thus Lakshmi has to accompany Vishnu in all His incarnations.

His mount is GarudaGaruda the eagle, is a lesser Hindu and Buddhist god, the mount (vahanam) of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism. Garuda is depicted as having a golden body, white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and wings but a man's body. He is ancient, the eagle. He, along with the rishiIn Hinduism, the Rishis are sages and/or seers who "heard the hymns of the Devas"; and then wrote them down as Vedic scriptures. Seven seers have the special status of " Saptarishi". They included Atri, Gautama, Bharadwaja, Vasishta, Viswamitra, Jamadagnis, helped broker the truce between VritraIn Hinduism, Vritra (Sanskrit Vtra "the enveloper") was a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. According to the Rig Veda, Vritra stole all the water in the world until killed by Indra, who destroyed all ninety-nine fortres and Indra.