Need some Help - The Vishnu Purana

FTA, there is no need to feel "ignorant" at all. Each culture thinks in its own ways. On top of it as I have told several times over understanding SD's Scriptures without the cultural inputs would be next to impossible. Now you have taken the Vishnu Purana and perhaps a prayer "shloka"[an eulogical poem) from there. The three 'qualities' of the Lord as enumerated in Puranas would be those of Omnipotence,Omniscience and Omnipresence. The qualities that pervade through all creation are the Sattva(Pure Intelligence), Rajas(Passion- and hence egoistic Action) and Tamss(Ignaorance, Sloth and Inaction). Anything that is subject to Time and Change are supposed to be under the influence of the THREE GUNAs as they are called. These in various proportions and with the Time element thrown in, with the property of Time Variance are part of every sentient and insentient being that is part of this Creation. The only Lord that is Narayana or Para-Vasudeva is above the Gunas. Even Brahma the Creator is subject to the play of GuNas. The basic Hindu Trinity of Brahma(sAttvic)-ViShNu(Rajasic)-and Rudra(Mahesh--Tamasic) is one Puranic way of representing the Story of Creation. Why BrahmA represents-sattva? Because at the moment of Creation everything is pure and requires the "knowledge" of and for Creation; viShNu as the sustainer of the Universe needs to "act" in defence and upkeep of Dharma. In Dissolution there is absorption of Light and all material back into the source- that is Tamas so Mahesh represents the Tamss. But one must remember that the Gunas as applied to the Trinity are different as applied to the Creation i.e. the Universe. The purANas give a picturesque view of the Creation and other stories, and as we are meant mainly for the laiety to comprehend the incomprehensible and cryptic statements of The Vedas. All Vedic literature being shrouded in mysterious terms and obscure symbolism, the secondary Scriptures i.e. The Smritis - mainly concentrating on Principles of Right Living and the Tertiary Scriptures- The PurANas - have as their main purpose the elucidation of the Shrutis(= The Vedas up to and including the UpaniShads) and the Smritis( = Utterances of the Level 2 R^iShis in remembrance of the message of the shrutis as applied principles, in the form of simple stories and parables, so that even the least accomplished of people get a glimpse of the truth of the Vedas. Personally I find the purAnas containing very contradictory statements and are replete with stories where Gods fight for supremacy, and things of that sort which unless handled with care and caution lead to the schisms that we have in the Hindu society. The turn of events have been such that today's Sanatana Dharma is more purANic in character (most of the idolatry in SD comes from here). As people i.e. practicing SD-ites "grow" in their wisdom they gravitate towards the UpaniShads. Now, now, the best and the most beautiful part of any purANa are the stotras - the Eulogical Poems, in praise of Gods as portryed in the respective purAnAs. These are a treat. Shrimad Bhagavatam is one such purANa- the Most Hallowed of All. This contains a prayer to The Lord in the story of Gajendra MokSha. This could be adopted as a Universal Prayer by All believers of God irrespective of Religion!!! Now coming to the epithets describing The Lord(the ones you have mentioned): Vasudeva [In a Philosophical sense this means The Lord in His Omnipresence - i.e. alluding to a Pantheistic View point) puNDarIkAkSha = One whose eyes are shaped and colored like the Lotus Petals VishwabhAvanaH - One from whome Everything, hence the Universe(s) is(are) born(emanated) HriShIkesha- The Controller of the Senses( The Lord is present in every sentient being as its Atman, and no sense organ or the Sense Essence for that matter cannot operate and be fruitful unless The Lord wills so. mahApuruSha - The Great First Being pUrvajaH - The First "Born". The allusion id to Aditya the First Born of the Devas. The viShNu purANa is a sAttvic purANa and forms the basis of canonical vaiShNavism as does the Shrimad Bhagavatam. The VP has an excellent account of the Creation Story that is representative of the SD's view of Creation. You would do well to read that. My only appeal is that don't get caught into the usual schisms under which Hindus labor and please rise to the Heights of the UpaniShads. If you ask my personal opinion, I would suggest you to pick up prayers from the [B]purANas[/B], concepts that are representative of the SD Philosophy from the [B]upaniShads[/B]. You could go to The Vedas - but you need to follow and need to lay hands on very expert commentators,or you need to be at the peak of your knowledge of at least the six suppotive Shastras(Sciences) or the cryptology of The Vedas could stump you!