The image is among the most reproduced in Indian art. Vishnu reclines on the coils of the serpent Shesha, floating on the Kshira Sagara, the ocean of milk. Lakshmi sits at his feet. A lotus rises from his navel bearing Brahma, who will perform the actual work of creation. The posture is one of rest rather than activity, and the scene is set between cycles, in the interval when the previous manifestation has been withdrawn and the next has not yet begun.
Each element is carrying weight. The serpent is named Shesha, which means remainder or what is left over, and he is what persists when everything else has been dissolved, which is why creation can begin again rather than starting from nothing. He is also called Ananta, endless. The ocean of milk is a substance that is neither solid nor empty, undifferentiated but not absent, and milk is chosen because it holds its constituents in suspension without their being separate. Creation emerges from the navel rather than the head or hands, which places it as a continuation of the body rather than a manufactured product.
The posture itself is the theological claim. Vishnu is not working during creation; Brahma emerging from him does that. He is asleep, or in yoga nidra, a state the texts distinguish from ordinary sleep, and the universe proceeds from someone at rest. This is a markedly different picture from creation as labour, and the ocean is the same one later churned in the Samudra Manthan, which is why that story begins with a sea that already has a history.
Kshira Sagara is a picture of what exists between universes, composed almost entirely of technical terms. To see what happens when that ocean is finally stirred, explore more of The Living Sanatan Timeline.
Part 75 of 100 — Series I: From the Beginning
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