Vaishnavism (Sanskrit: वैष्णव धर्म, IPA: [ʋəiˈʂɳəʋə ˈd̪ʱərmə]) is one of the major branches of Vedism along with Shaivism, Smartism, and Shaktism. It is focused on the veneration of Vishnu. Vaishnavites, or the followers of the Supreme Lord Vishnu, lead a way of life promoting differentiated monotheism, which gives importance to Lord Vishnu and His ten incarnations.

The oldest religious text in Vedic, Rigveda, describes Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Deity in Vishnu Sooktham (1.22.20):

Rigveda mentions the Supreme Lord 93 times. Other shlokas are devoted to his faithful servants, mentioned in the scriptures as the limbs of Lord Vishnu. These minor deities include Indra, Surya, Rudra, Maruta, Vayu, Agni and Manyu.

In general, the Vaishnava Agamas describe Lord Vishnu as the "supreme being and the foundation of all existence." This is explained in Katha Upanishad 2.2.13: nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam/ eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman, "the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the chief living being amongst all living beings and grants the desires of all other eternal sentient beings"

For Real was an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1993. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Grammy, Billboard Music Award, and Soul Train Music Award.

For Real secured their recording contract by accident. "We were picking up our manager from the airport. So we decided to greet him with an acappella song. Someone from A&M Records just happened to be in the airport and heard them perform. Not long after, they were signed," said Latanyia Baldwin.

The band released their debut album, It's a Natural Thang, with production from Brian McKnight on A&M Records in 1994, and it became a critical success, including a rare four stars from Rolling Stone magazine. Their first single, "You Don't Wanna Miss" hit #28 on the Billboard chart, courtesy of a danceable new jack swing remix by Steve "Silk" Hurley, which was featured in the song's video. A second single, "Easy to Love", peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album scored another chart hit with the a cappella love song, "You Don't Know Nothin'", which was written and produced by Mervyn Warren, and which peaked at #27. The song peaked at #54 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1995. The album sold over one million copies worldwide, and peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200.

Haridasa Thakur (IAST Haridāsa) (born 1451 or 1450) was a prominent Vaishnava saint, instrumental in the early appearance and spread of Hare Krishna movement. He is considered to be the most famous convert of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, apart from Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami themselves, and the story of his heroism in the face of torture is told in Chaitanya Charitamrta, Antya lila. Besides being an ex-Muslim, he is famous because of his dedication to the religious practice of constantly chanting the names of God. Haridasa Thakura and Advaita Acharya are two senior and well-respected religious personalities of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the local area of Mayapur, prayed for the descent of the yugavatara, (avatar of the era) believed to be Chaitanya. As an associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he is named the acharya of the holy name and he embodied concern for others. Its believed that Chaitanya himself installed Haridasa as His nāmācarya, meaning the 'teacher of the Name', disregarding the fact that he was Muslim-born. Haridasa Thakura, was a devotee of god Krishna and had practiced chanting the names of the Lord, Hare Krishna, 300,000 times daily. The Muslim name of Haridasa is not known.