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To the devout Sri Vaishnava, the religious concept of Brahman is best expressed by the term ``God''. Brahman is Infinite, not just in physical terms, but in metaphysical and qualitative terms. Brahman is the absolutely real abode of all consciousness. He is infinitely auspicious, infinitely blissful, supremely gracious, infinitely merciful, infinitely beautiful -- in fact, infinitely infinite. The relationship between God and the universe is one of love, as all this is but a conscious emanation from Him. We are to Him as a child is to a parent, as a friend is to a friend, and as a beloved is to a lover.
Brahman also stands in relation to the universe and the individual souls as the Self of each, providing the basis for their reality. As such, Brahman has matter and individual souls as His body, and is therefore the Supreme Being in whom all reality is comprehended. All that we see is but a spilling from the plenitude of His glorious, all-pervasive essence. This is why the favorite devotional name for God among Sri Vaishnavas is Narayana -- He in whom all beings rest.
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God.
This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses monotheistic God under the names of Narayana, Krishna, VÄsudeva or more often "Vishnu", and their associated avatars.It is principally monotheistic in its philosophy. Its beliefs and practices, especially the concepts of Bhakti and Bhakti Yoga, are based largely on the Upanishads, and associated with the Vedas and Puranic texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, and the Padma, Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas.
The followers of Vaishnavism are referred to as Vaishnava or Vaishnavites.
The principal belief of Vishnu-centered sects is the identification of Vishnu or Narayana as the one Supreme God. This belief contrasts with the Krishna-centered traditions, such as Vallabha Sampradaya and Gaudiya Vaishnavas, in which Krishna is considered to be the Supreme God and the source of all avataras.
The belief in the supremecy of Vishnu is based upon the many avatars (incarnations) of Vishnu listed in the Puranic texts, which differs from other Hindu deities such as Ganesh, Surya or Durga. The latter are instead classified as demi-gods or devas.
Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan faith, differs with this view and holds that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the same God.Notably, the Swaminarayan view is a minority view among Vaishnavites.
A few Vaishnava schools also identify the God of the Abrahamic religions with Vishnu, which is however problematic, since Yahweh was originally only one of the middle-eastern deities and not a monotheistic God. Another distinguishing feature of the Vaishnava teachings, is that God (Vishnu and/or Krishna) 'is a real person and His variegated creation is also real'.
Absurdly, not only Hardcore Vaishnavites consider Shiva, one of the Hindu Trimurti as subservient to Vishnu and a Vaishnava himself and also that Shiva is only a servant of their god Vishnu.
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