Vishnu Purana is one of the most important of the main eighteen Puranas, consisting of six books.
- The Vishnu puran consists of 23,000 stanzas.
- The first book deals mainly with primary and secondary creation.
- The second book is occupied with the kings of the first Manvantar.
- The arrangement of the Veds and other scriptures are described in the third book. The duties of castes and performance of obsequial rites in accordance with the laws of Manu are also discussed.
- The fourth book contains a list of dynasties.
- The fifth book of this Puran is chiefly concerned with the life of Krishna.
- The last book of the Vishnu puran contains an account of the dissolution of the world in both its major and minor cataclysms and the process of re-creation.