Vishnu preserves — and comes down when the world needs him.
Devotion to Vishnu as the supreme reality, worshipped through his avatars — Krishna and Rama above all. The largest current within Hinduism, and the heartland of bhakti: love as the surest path.
DeitiesVishnu as supreme; other gods as his aspects
EmergedIndia
AfterlifeLiberation into Vishnu's presence
TextsBhagavad Gītā · Bhāgavata Purāṇa
The map
Vaishnavism’s corner of it — solid lines are descent; dotted lines are resemblance only, ideas held in common across unrelated faiths. Click a node to recenter; ✕ returns here. All 171 faiths →
c. 1500 BCE Vedic Religion 1966 CE The International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Vishnu is the supreme reality.
The preserver, present in the world through his avatars — Krishna and Rama above all.
Go deeper — context →
Devotion is the surest path.
Bhakti — love aimed at the Lord — outreaches ritual precision and philosophical subtlety.
Go deeper — context →
V
Vishnu — the supreme.
Not one god among many but the ultimate reality personally: all other deities are his aspects, his administration.
Meet them — context →
K
Krishna and Rama — the descents.
The avatars beloved above all: Krishna the charioteer-teacher of the Gita, Rama the exiled king of the Ramayana — God with a biography.
Meet them — context →
Kirtan.
The names of God sung call-and-response until the room is one voice.
Go deeper — context →