Visnu,Vasudeva and Krsna. Visnu,Bhagavat,Narayana,lari and Krsna are cften used in a large section of Indian religious literature as synonymous And names of the supreme lord.Of these Visnu is an important god of the Rg-Veda,who is one of the adityas and who makes three strides in the sky,probably as he manifests himself in the castern horzon,as he rises to the zenith and as he sets in the west.He is also represented in the Rr-Veda as a great fighter And and an ally of Indra.It is further said that he has two earthly steps and another higher step which is known only to himself.But in the Rg-Vedu Visnu is certainly inferior to Indra,with whom he was often associated,as is evident from such names as Indra-visnu (R.V.Iv.55·4;v1.99.5;VH1.1o.2,etc.).According to later tradition Visnu was the youngest,the twelfth of the adityas, though he was superior to them all in good qualities!.His three steps in the Rg-Vedic allusion have heen explained in the Nirukta as referring to the hree stages of t...