The Blue God

Vishnu is one of the most important gods in the Hindu pantheon and, along with Brahma and Shiva, is considered a member of the holy trinity of Hinduism. As the most important god of Vaishnaism, the largest Hindu sect, he is involved in a number of colourful stories which illustrate his virtues as the protector of cosmic order.

- Shreya Acharya

Vishnu’s Balancing Act

Picture a country. For it to run smoothly and successfully, there are establishments and departments in order, in which most people have a designated role to fulfil. These could be in the military, police, or even the teaching sector. In the chain, there are thousands of individuals that carry out these responsibilities at different levels– and each person or group of people in charge has powers that enable them to lead. Now multiply this number of people by a continent. That’s well into the millions. Multiply this by the entire world – tens of millions of people are employed to keep the planet running.

Now take this strategy into the spiritual realm, and even the vast number of deities in Hinduism start to look like an understaffed nirvana. The celestial beings of Hinduism have evolved from the Vedic era (2nd millennium BC) through the medieval era (1st millennium AD) all across Hinduism’s diverse traditions. The Hindu deity concept varies from a personal god as per the yoga school of Hindu philosophy, to 33 Vedic deities, or to hundreds in the mythologies and lores (or puranics) of Hinduism.

Hinduism is the dominant and native religion of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses four major traditions: Vaishnavism, Brahmanism, Shaktism, and Saivism, whose followers consider Vishnu, Brahma, Shakti (or Devi) and Shiva to be the supreme deity, respectively. Most of the other deities are related to or incarnations of them. It is often considered one of the oldest religions in the world, and many practitioners refer to Hinduism as “the eternal law”, or SanÄtana Dharma.