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| Vishnu |
Krishna in the form of Maha Vishnu |
| Protection |
| Devanagari |
विष्णु |
| Affiliation |
Trimurti |
| Abode |
Maha Tattva |
| Weapon |
Chakra and Mace |
| Consort |
Lakshmi |
| Mount |
Garuda |
| Planet |
Material Universes |
|
|
Maha Vishnu (also known as Karanodakshayi Vishnu) is the principal Vishnu deity of the maha tattva (material universe). All other Vishnu incarnations expand from this Vishnu Avatar. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a school of Vaishnavism, the Satvata-tantra describes three different forms, or aspects, of Vishnu as Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, with each form having a different role in the maintenance of the Universe and its inhabitants:
"For material creation, Lord Krishna's plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from material entanglement."[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Quoted from the Satvata-tantra translation by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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[edit] See also
