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Classical Hindu ThoughtAn Introduction$
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Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction

Arvind Sharma

Print publication date: 2001

Print ISBN-13: 9780195658712

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2012

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.001.0001

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Viṣṇu

Viṣṇu

Chapter:
(p.82) Chapter VIII Viṣṇu
Source:
Classical Hindu Thought
Author(s):

Arvind Sharma

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.003.0008

If Brahmā is the otiose God, then Vishnu is the supreme, syncretic and living god. Of course, all the gods of the trinity, including Brahmā, have laid claim to supremacy; but the claim seems to have been most effective in the case of Vishnu, and perhaps a little less so in the case of Śiva. This chapter addresses the following question: How does Vishnu perform his role as a member of the trinity? Before trying to answer that question, the chapter describes about how Vishnu came into being, since that has had some bearing on it.

Keywords:   Hindu trinity, god, Brahmā, Śiva, Vishnu

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