One who is compassionate or one who bestows compassion. The one who flows with compassion for His devotees and the one who is overwhelmed with love for His devotees is Vishnu. The one who moves in a specific manner, that is, the one who moves everywhere and exists in the entire universe is Vishnu.
The ten main incarnations (dashavtar) of Lord Vishnu, their mission, characteristics and implied meaning are as follows.
The lotus is a symbol of creation. The energy which emanates from Vishnu’s navel, that is from the Para mode of speech is depicted as a lotus.
Lord Viththal’s idol is dark complexioned with protruding eyes and stands on a brick with hands held on the waist.
During the ritual of sandhya the twenty-four Names recited are - Keshav, Narayan, Madhav, Govind, Vishnu, Madhusudan, Trivikram, Vaman, Shridhar, Hruíhikesh, Padmanabh, Damodar, Sankarshan, Vasudev, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Puruíhottam, Adhokshaj, Narsinha, Achyut, Janardan, Upendra, Hari and Shrikrushna.
It was Vishnu who started the tradition of the Guru and the disciple.
