usually because of a demongrown dis-
proportionately strong. There are ten
generally reckoned avatars. The first
four are in nonhuman forms: the Fish
avatar, Tortoise avatar, Boar avatar,
and Man-Lion avatar. The other six are
in human form, often as sages or heroes:
Vamana avatar, Parashuram avatar,
Rama avatar, Krishna avatar, Buddha
avatar, and Kalki avatar; the last has yet
to come. In each of these cases, Vishnu
takes form to avert some sort of disaster
and to maintain the integrity of the cos-
mos. The doctrine of the avatars provided
a mechanism to assimilate existing
deities into the larger pantheon and to
give them recognizable status of their
own. Although most of the avatars are
no longer objects of worship(the Boar
and Man-Lion avatars each had a sub-
stantial following early in the common
era), in much of northern India the wor-
ship of Rama and Krishna has largely
eclipsed that of Vishnu himself, who
has largely faded into the background.
In southern India, Vishnu is still
an important object of worship, particu-
larly in the Shrivaishnavacommunity.
Aside from the doctrine of the avatars,
important local deities have also been
assimilated into the pantheon as forms
of Vishnu; the most significant
examples are Jagannath, Venkateshvara,
and Vithoba.
In medieval Hinduism sectarian
rivalry developed between Vaishnavas
and Shaivas, with each claiming that
their chosen deity (Vishnu and Shiva,
respectively) was supreme. Although
Vaishnavas see Vishnu as the supreme
power in the universe, his mythic char-
acter and activity differ sharply from
Shiva’s. Whereas Shiva is associated with
asceticlife and practices (tapas), and
thus with the religious power generated
by such practices, Vishnu’s headdress is
a crown, and his persona is that of an all-
ruling king. Whereas Shiva destroys his
mythic adversaries using raw power,
from which all subtlety is absent, Vishnu
more often triumphs through cunning,
cleverness, and trickery. Each deity’s
adherents affirm their divinity as the
preeminent power in the universe, from
which all the other gods gain their
power, and both are seen as gracious
and loving to their devotees (bhakta).Vishnuchittar
An epithet of the Alvar poet-saint
Periyalvar. The Alvars were a group
of twelve poet-saints who lived in south-
ern India between the seventh and tenth
centuries. All the Alvars were devotees
(bhakta) of the god Vishnu, and
their stress on passionate devotion
(bhakti) to a personal god, conveyed
through hymns sung in the Tamil
language, transformed Hindu religious
life. See Periyalvar.Vishnu Purana
One of the eighteen traditional puranas,
which were an important genre of smrti
texts, and the repository of much of tra-
ditional Indian mythology. The smrtis or
“remembered” texts were a class of liter-
ature that although deemed important,
were considered less authoritative than
the shrutisor “heard” texts. In brief, the
shrutis denoted the Vedas, the oldest
and most authoritative Hindu religious
texts, whereas the smrtis included the
Mahabharataand the Ramayana, the
dharma literature, the Bhagavad Gita,
and the puranas. The puranas are com-
pendia of all types of sacred lore, from
mythic tales to ritual instruction to exal-
tation of various sacred sites (tirthas)
and actions. Most of the puranas are
highly sectarian, and as this one’s name
clearly shows, it is focused on the wor-
shipof Vishnu. It gives an exhaustive
account of Vishnu’s mythic deeds—
many of which have become the com-
mon mythic currency for many
traditional Hindus—as well as instruc-
tions for how, where, and when Vishnu
is to be worshiped.Vishnuswami
(“[He whose] Lord is Vishnu”)
According to tradition, the founder of
the Rudra Sampradayof the VaishnavaVishnuchittar