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Garbhodakshayi Vishnu is second in the hierarchy of Vishnu Avatars in the maha tattvas (material universes). In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a school of Vaishnavism, the Satvata-tantra describes three different forms, or aspects, of Vishnu as Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, with each form having a different role in the maintenance of the Universe and it's inhabitants:
"For material creation, Lord Krishna's plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from material entanglement."[1]
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- ^ Quoted from the Satvata-tantra translation by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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