Lord Vishnu is known as the preserver in the holy Hindu trinity along with Brahma, the creator, and Shiva, the Destroyer. Whenever evil is on the rise, Vishnu descends onto the earth to uphold righteousness, preserve justice and annihilate sins.
Vishnu has countless incarnations, but the complete incarnations are ten in number nd are called Dasha Avtar. These ten start with the form of a fish and work their way up to the human form, cast in the image of god.
The tales of these descents or avatars told in various Puranas have contributed in no small measure to make Vishnu one of the most popular Hindu deities. His worshippers are called Vaishnavas. Of the eighteen major Puranas, six are known as the Vaishnava Puranas as they eulogise Vishnu and depict him as the Supreme Self.
According to some scholars, the identification of Vishnu with Vasudeva-Krishna, the deified Yadava hero, contributed significantly to the rise of Vishnu as the greatest of the gods in the hierarchy of the Hindu pantheon. In fact, Vasudeva-Krishna came to be considered the eighth avatar of Vishnu.
Vishnu inspires more love than fear in his devotees. The Bhagwat Purana, from which the tales in this Amar Chitra Katha have been adapted, abounds in narratives of the benevolent acts of Vishnu. Although he is kind and sympathetic, he is never taken in by the apparent devotion of the wicked and wily. Even when they suceed in wresting favours from the other deities, Vishnu maneuvers to bring about their destruction without falsifying the boons given to them by the gods.