Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.

In the Mahabharata, Vishnu (as Narayana) states to Narada that He will appear in the following ten incarnations: Appearing in the forms of a swan, a tortoise, a fish, O foremost of regenerate ones, I shall then display myself as a boar, then as a Man-lion (Nrisingha), then as a dwarf, then as Rama of Bhrigu's race, then as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, then as Krishna the scion of the Sattwata race, and lastly as Kalki.
List the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
In the Mahabharata, Vishnu states to Narada that He will appear in the following ten incarnations: A swan, a tortoise, a fish, a boar, a Man-lion (Nrisingha), a dwarf, as Rama of Bhrigu's race, as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, as Krishna, and lastly as Kalki.