Vishnu

VISNU IN THE VEDA

One of the most intriguing problems of Indian mythology relates to the elevation of Viṣṇu in the classical Hindu mythology to the prominent position of the supreme god from the more or less minor position which has been assigned to him in the Vedic mythology. He cannot be said to have ever been regarded, in the Vedic religion, as a god of any consequence. We do come across a few Vedic references to Viṣṇu (II 1 3,22 1, 34 11 ) which seem to reflect his glory, but actually they are quite general and pointless in character and by no means indicate that Viṣṇu ever dominated Vedic thought and faith, as for instance, Varuṇa and Indra did. Hymns in praise of Viṣṇu are, indeed, very few, he is celebrated in not more than five whole hymns and in parts of others, while his name occurs only about a hundred times in the Rgveda (RV). Even in those stray passages, Viṣnu is very casually mentioned among a crowd of other divinities He thus seems to have occupied a comparatively subordinate position in the pantheon of Vedic gods, from which he rose, more or less suddenly, to supreme eminence in Hindu mythology of all the Vedic gods, Viṣṇu is perhaps the only god whose name is prominently preserved in the Hindu Trinity

Is it possible to account for this rather unique mythological phenomenon on the strength of the evidence derived from the Veda itself? The assumption of certain scholars, like RAYA CHAUDHARI," that Viṣṇu was a great god even in the earliest Vedic times is difficult to accept. The statistical standard makes him out to be a deity only of the fourth rank. At the same time, to assume that an ordinary god of the Veda, who was not much glorified in the hymns, became only in later times the god of ever increasing importance is unconvincing. There are, according to MACNICOL, some hints 10 the Brāhmaṇa literature of the progress which Viṣṇu was making towards the position which he occupies later on But the mere fact that the Brāhmaṇas speak of Viṣṇu as being identical with the sacrifice and ask him to make good its defects does not necessarily indicate that Viṣṇu was attaining eminence : Moreover, that assumption does not help the solution of the Viṣṇu problem A workable hypothesis, in this connection, can be that there had been some elements in the original nature and personality of Viṣṇu, which, at one time, ensured his position as an all important god, but that these elements were suppressed, perhaps consciously, by the Vedic poets and priests Viṣṇu must have been a highly worshipped god even in very ancient times, but he must have been deliberately shoved into the background in the Vedic religion on account of some intrinsic characteristics of his essential nature which might have been disagreeable to the Vedic religious ideology Docs tbe available Vedic evidence corroborate this hypothesis to any extent?

• 1 H 2 N
• C RAYACILAUDIARI Early H story of the Vaignada Sect, 1936, 7 f A LACNICOL, Ind m Theism, 1915, 30 IT,

Viṣṇu’s personality as represented in the RV is not rich in mythological details The outstanding features of the Viṣṇu mythology in the Veda are mainly two namely, the three strides which he is said to have taken in order to traverse the whole Universe and which are often glorified as the most distinctive achievement of his, and, secondly, the help which he rendered to Indra at the time of the latter’s fight with Vr̥tra These events in the carcer of Viṣṇu are mentioned, in the Vedic literature, sometimes As two independent achievements (I 154 2 3, 155 4-5. VII 100 3-5, VIII 29 7), and sometimes as connected with each other. There are also some features of a cosmic character attributed to Viṣnu (1 154 1-2, VI 69 5, VII 99 2-3), but they are such as would be attributed to any Vedic god, as the result of the so-called henotheistic tendency in the Yedic religion, and may not be regarded as essentially distinctive of Viṣṇu’s nature Let us therefore, analyse the two above mentioned features of the Viṣṇu mythology and see if they throw any light on the primary nature of Viṣṇu

3 or herrit, TRAS 1915, 039.

The first thing that would strike a critical student of the Vedic mythology is that the association or Viṣṇu and Indra in the RV is clearly superficial The help which Viṣṇu is said to have given to the Vedic Aryan war god at the time of his glorious achievements of killing Vr̥tra and letting the waters free could have been easily dispensed with The hymns addressed to Indra and Viṣṇu together are again positively colourless The later Vedic passages (TS VIS 1 1. II4 12) also indicate that Indra hardly depended on Viṣṇu for his help at the time of slaying Vr̥tra We cycn see that the steps of Viṣṇu, which form his distinctic characteristic, are sometimes (VI 69 5) attributed also to Indra, thus clearly rendering Viṣṇu supertluous The natural conclusion in this regard would, therefore, bc that Viṣṇu’s comradeship of Indra at the time of the Vr̥tra fight, which is obviously artiâcial, is necessarily an afterthought Even from the point of view of the naturalistic interpretation of Vedic mythology, the coalescence of Viṣṇu and Indra is, as pointed out by HILLEBRANDT," who, incidentally, is a strong advocate of such an interpretation, entirely without any significance What then is at the bottom of this artificial bringing together of (wo intrinsically usconnected divinities? It is a well known practice of the Vedic poets to connect any significant activity of any god with Indra and his achievements Indra was by far the most prominent god of the Vedic Indians As shown elsewhere the changing environments of the conquering and ever victorious Vedic Aryan tribes made them transfer their religious loyalty, which they had originally entertained for the World sovereign, Asura Varuṇa, to the national war god, Indra. But, even after that, some ardent followers of the Varuṇa religion, like the Vāsiṣṭhas, tried to preserve the primary greatness of Varuṇa’s personality One of the methods adopted to secure this was to bring about a compromise between the Varuṇa religion and the new Indra religion Varuṇa was consequently associated with Indra, more or less artificially, as his comrade in a common cause

yrtrany anyah samithesu jaghnate vratām anyo ablu raksate sadā (VII. 83 9).

If religious dignity and recognition had to be specially granted to any particular god, it was the practice of the Vedic poets to do so by associating that god with Indra and his fight with Vr̥tra That made the god, so to say, a legitimate member of the Vedic pantheon This seems to have been the purpose of the obviously loose and artificial connection of the Viṣṇu-mythology with the Indra mythology

• HILLEBRANDT VAI II, 313-14
• DANDEKAR, Asura Varuṇa , published elsewbere in thu Volume.

There are three distinct phases of the relation of Viṣṇu with Indra, as seen in the Vedic hymos Firstly, Indra and Viṣṇu are brought together as equal partners in a common glorious deed (IV 18 11; VIII 52 3), secondly, a clear attempt is made by the Viṣṇu-glorifiers to place Viṣṇu, in some cases (VIII 31 10). in a more emincnt position than Indra, by calling the latter, 11snoh sacabhinah; and, finally, Viṣṇu is said to be the subordinate ally of Indra, deriving his power of taking three strides from the latter (VIII. 12 27), and is also represented (VII 15 9) as celebratiog the greatness of Indra All these phases indicate that there was no definite view point held by the Vedic poets regarding the mutual relationship between Indra and Viṣṇu It was more or less in a fluid condition! It may be suggested in this connection that Viṣṇu belonged to and was glorified by some circles outside the hicratic families of the Vedic poets The artificial bringing together of Viṣṇu and Indra may then be said to be the result of the efforts made on the mythological plane to establish some kiod of under standing between the respective worshippers of these two gods This would explain the obvious awkwardness felt by the Vedic poets in this connection The followers of the Viṣṇu rcligion wanted to invest their god with the necessary religious dignity by associat ing him with the officialnational god, Indra. Not only that, but they cyen tried to make Viṣṇu supersede lodra It is of course not possible to accept the suggestion that the coalescence of the Viṣṇu religion with the Indra-religion reflected that of the 6 It is the phase which gave Vaiņu (be name of Upcodra in later mythology 92 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS Brāhmanas with the Ksatriyas? Two other more reasonable explanations of this phenomenon may be offered Either Viṣṇu was a very important god of the indigenous tribes of India and was, therefore, not readily accepted by the Vedic Aryans at the time of the fusion of the two cultures Or–and this is surely more likely - Viṣṇu was a god of great eminence among the masses of the Aryan nomads themselves and was not parti cularly liked by the orthodox families of the Vedic poets, perhaps on account of some “revolting’ traits in the primary nature of that god Anyway, the foregoing analytical examination of Vispu’s association with lodra would give us the necessary start ing point for the discussion of the problem of Viṣnu’s true personality The three strides of Visņu form a more ipherent feature of the Visru mythology What do these strides indicate? Yāska quotes in his Nirukia the views of his predecessors in this regard (XII 19) Jad idam kim ca fad vikraniate visnul tridha nidhafte padani tredhabhāyāya prthivjam antarikse dıyı iti sākapunih/ samārohane visnupade gajasırası iti aurnarābhah / The latter view was favoured by the earlier Indologists like 7 CF E J Thomas Vedta Hymns, 42 Trovas refers to the view of BARNETT Ihat Vienu represents the deification of the fundamental essense of the Vedic ritual. It is thus imples that Vusnu, the priestly god, and lodra, the warlike god were later made to collaborate with cach other N N GH09E suggests ( Aryan Trail in India and Iran 62 ) that Vidu and Indra wert the gods of two different tribes According to him, Viṣnu was the god of the grassland somads 8 PRZYLUSKI thinks (“Le nom du dieu Vugou et la legende de Krsna’, Aych 01 4,261-67 ) tbat,nce a counterpart of Viṣṇu 13 pot to be found in any other SE Dythology, he must have been an original Indian divinity He suggests that Visou must have been originally connected with the Don Aryan tribe of the Viths who lived in the Vethad pa region in the Deccan According to Suniu Kumar CHATTERJI TXBG 68, 82 ), the Aryan Sun god Vignu and the Dravidian sky god Vin Vinnu coalesced and thereby gave rise to the later Hindu concept of Surya Narayana P T S IYENCAR opincs (Life in Ancient Ind a in the Age of the Mantras, 126) that the word visnu is just another form of Dravidian bin L. V. RAMASWAYI AryaR (JAHRS 1931, 42, fa 3) contro verta IYENGAR S VICW VISNU IN THE VEDÅ WHITNEY, ROTH, MAX MULLER, and KAEGI who took the three steps of Viṣṇu to mean the risiøg the culminating and the setting of the sun. The solar pature of Viṣṇu is undoubtedly prominent in the Veda, since many other subsidiary features of Viṣṇu’s personality mentioned there clearly confirm it Vedic references to Viṣṇu such as falarcas (VIT 100 3) sardrś (1 155. 5), vbhūladyumna (I 56 1 ), etc, definitely make him out to be a god of light and splendour 10 The common epithets of Viṣṇu in the RV are urugaa (wide stepping) (esa or eva) aran (full of motion) dharmani dharayan, riasja garbha, redhah (upholding the ordinances), and pūryja aad nana (ancient and new) The sun god is observed to be traversing the whole atmosphere from borizon to horizon through his wide strides, he completes the whole extensive course just during one day, he never swerves from the path and never misses the time, he is an htc has been seen since times immemorial and at the same time, he is young because lie appears newly every morning Thus the four prominent characteristics suggested by the above mentioned epithets or Viṣṇu-namely, vide steppiog, swift motion, regularity of course and new and ancient forms on the same day - are found together only in the sun god The solar nature of Viṣṇu, in the Veda, is consequently beyond doubt In the Salapatha Brāhmaṇa (IV 11 10) we have been told that Visņu s head was cut off and it later became the sun But the most sure cvidence in this regard is the passage in the RV (1 155 6) where Viṣṇu is celebrated as setting in motion, like a tevolving wheel, his minety steeds with four dames each This tclercncc talen in conjunction with certain stanzas in I 164 lealcs no doubt that the steeds represent the days and the pames represent the seasons It is thus the description of the sun god creating the solar car or 360 days

9 MACDOVELL, ind til sy S8,47

10 In the connection the folloy ng ac pasages also are ugni tant I 22 20 154 6 155 3 dl 111 2 91 Vascut connect on with lass (A 26 7) asd *14 etc (1 22 21,75314 TB IL 4 334) is indicat ve of his identity with Agns ( - the Sun) See IIILLEIRANDT, IN IL, S19

It is further likely that Viṣṇu’s epithet, giriksit, is indicative of the abode of the sun in the highest heavens A mention may be made, in this connection, of the parallelism between the Vedic passage, visnoh pade parame madhya utsah (I. 154, 5), and the couplet,

Der Uhsing braut Bier
In der Fussstapfe des Pferdes 11

SHROEDER presumes that this similarity is suggestive of the common indogermanic myth regarding Viṣṇu. In the Lettish mythology Uhsing is the sub-god, and, therefore, the Vedic Vișnu must also have been a sụn-god.12 Viṣṇu was, according to SCHROEDER, distinctly a nature-god.13

Even in the post-Vedic representation of Viṣṇu, there are certain features which are clearly indicative of his original solar nature in the RV. The sudarśana cakra, which is the symbol of the orb of the sun, the padma, which is the symbol of the life awakening power of the heaven’s light, the pitāmbara, which is suggestive of the clustre of bright rays - all these traits of Viṣṇu, in later mythology, have clearly preserved his identity with the sun-god. The imagery connected with hair’, which is the usual symbol for sun’s rays, is quite apparent in Viṣṇu’s paurānic names, such as, Keśava and Hrṣikeśa,14 Viṣṇu’s pames, Hayasiras and Hayamukha, have preserved the ‘sun-horse’ imagery. That god is further described as ravilocana, sahasrārcis, etc.15 Even Viṣnu’s favourite vehicle, in the later Puräna-mythology, namely,

11. GUNTERT, Der arische Velikonig und Haland, 300 12. L VON SCHROEDER, Arische Religion II, 669. 13 On the basis of this assumption, SCHROEDER proposes a striking theory regarding the genesis of the Hindu Trinity of gods. He maintains that the conception of the Hindu Try 1 an attempt to bring about a compromise among the three outstanding currents of religious thought in ancient India. Brabona represents the abstract metaphysical point of vicw; Visu represents the Vedic religion of naturalism, and Siva stands for the popular worship of spirits by the masses,
12. The word hrṣikesa is explained in some texts as isa (= lord) of hysikas (= sense-organs)
13. The paurunic reference to Viṣnu’s complexion being dark is, presu. mably, the result of bu belog contaminated by the later Kroa-mythology

Garuda, has his original in the Vedic Suparna, which is, on its part, the sun bird itself The fight between Garuda and the serpents is symbolic of the conflict between light and the demons of darkness

It will thus be clearly seen that the evidence supplied by the RV and the later literature is sufficicnt to warrant the conclusion that, at the back of the Vedic representation of Viṣṇu, there lies mainly the conception of the sun god There are no doubt other more or less obscure characteristics of that god mentioned in the Vedic bymns and the Vedic ritual, but these appear to be merely the traces of that aspect of the personality of Viṣṇu, which the Vedic pocts trıcd to suppress deliberately They will be taken into consideration later on The orthodox Vedic poets accepted Visou, when that god was perhaps forced on them, mainly as the sun god, as is evident from his picture presented in the RY. They associated Viṣṇu, as a deity of mighty energy, with their national war-god Indra - only as his subordinate ally

The solar nature of Viṣṇu is, however, not accepted by OLDENBERG 6 He says, rather guardediy, that it would not be impossible that, through an obscure conception, an original sun god is transformed into Viny, but that it would not be very probable Jodecd, he does not find a single definite trace of solar character in Viṣṇu The idea of the three strides, which forms the icry starting point of the sun theory, is, in itself, according to OLDENBERG, not cry clear The number three may be merely a mystically auspicious number and may not have anything to do With a concretc natural phenomenon "

16 OLDEXTERO Nel d l’eda, 228-93

37 OLDIYINC O ct 231 BERCAICSE also think (La Ral ird II, 115 f. 114 ff) that that number 1 mcrcly a matter of mythological mulu pl cations. The fact that cucn Amca Spental are wid, an the drests, to be taking throcurades towards the solar region, that there a reference to that ’three fold’ extenon of Ain Maimu and that the winis are dexonbed 11 taling three stem on the way to heavea, may also seem to confirm th lugetop Iut thc Icdc deset ptions of the three index of Vipniu clarly ockr to too cacete a natural pheromeren ta le aptcrpreted ottictwix The i Conditiid on the mat rox)

OLDENBERG believes number u mercly a matter of ‘mythological mulij. plcations. The fact that crea Amer Spentat are said, in the Aresta, to be baling three stridet towards the solar region, that there ua reference to the three foll’ extcasion of Anca Main, us, and that the spinu are dexnbed 41 taking arce’ als on the way to hcarca, may also som to confun tha jugation Dut thc cdic cocription of the thuct indeor Virou clearly roker to too concrete a natural pheromenon to be interpreted otherwise The (Contined on the seat pox) 16 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS that the principal motif in the Vedic Viṣṇu.mythology is the extent of space The references about Viṣṇu such as, urugaya, uruksit, urusu vikramanesu, vigāman, etc, make it clear that Viṣṇu was eminently a space god The emphasis is mainly put on Viṣṇu’s measuring the vast space Even in the (1 2 5 1), Viṣṇu s character as the traverser of space is promi nent Viṣṇu is the god who traverses the space puts it in order, and makes it available for human habitation OLDENBERG explains the name Viṣṇu as Wanderer’, thus signifying the notion of the wideness of space Against this theory put forth by that antı solar mythologist OLDENBERG, it must be first of all mentioned that the concep tion of the three strides. understood by him as indicating exclusi vely the vastness of space, is not warranted by the Vedic evidence Moreover, bis objection, namely that Viṣṇu’s characteristic three steps cannot refer to the sun’s course, since what is said about them does not agree with morning, noon, and evening, is surely not valid The interpretation of the three steps of Viṣṇu, men tioned by OLDENBERG in his objection, is certainly wrong, but the Vedic descriptions of the three steps clearly connect them, as will be shown later on, with a different and quite a distinctive activity of the sun Further, OLDENBERG seems to translate the word urugaya as ’the lord of wide spaces’, and not as wide stepping’, whuch latter would be the more correct render ing The emphasis put on the notion of wide space appears to have been based more particularly on 10cidental ritualistic referen ces thas on actual Vedic descriptions OLDENBERG and other scholars like GELDNER,18 for instance, who say that Visou is the (Continued from the last page) thrce Vi$nu steps which the sacrificer takes during the full moon and the new moon sacrifices are not at all suggestive of any mystic significance OA the other hand, they are clearly symbolical of the threc regions (which, as will be shown later, is actually the true cxplanation of Viṣṇu strides) subar &tya ki lokaya di nukramah kramgante (TS I 7 6 1) Also se HOPKINS, * Numerical formulae in the Veda and their bear og on Vedic cțiticism , JAOS IG, 275 ff 18 KF. GELDNER, Vedismus und Brahmanismus, 34 VISNU IN THE VEPA 77 god whose main function is to create space in the world, seem to ignore altogether the solar traits in his nature Monier WILLI AMS also first thought that the primary idea of Viṣṇu ( derived from the root yos) permeating and infusing his essence into material objects was originally connected with the personification of the infinite heavenly space But he later on found that the Vedic evidence, which went against such assumption, made Viṣṇu a form of the ever-moving solar orb (1 22. 16-17 ) 19 Even HILLEBRANDT, who originally thought that Viṣṇu was not necessarily identical with the sun god, finally came to the conclu sion that the sun theory explained almost all the features of the Viṣṇu mythology in the best possible manner 20 HOPKINS21 summarises the position in this regard quite convincingly when he says that Viṣṇu was regarded as a sun god not through any predilection for sun-gods in general, but because what little is said of him in the RV answers only to that conception 23 Other theories24 regarding the true nature of Viṣṇu as represented 10 the Veda, which also do not seem to take into account the 25. dentifies Visite that Visbu was, en Idee’ (“V 19 Monier WILLIAMS, Hinduism, 101 ff 20 HILLEBRANDT, VAI II, 311-25, VA (K A ) 137-40 21. Hopkins, PAOS 16, 1891, cxlva 22 BLOOMFIELD also takes Viṣṇu to be a sun god ( Rel of the Vedas, 169). 23 JOHANSSON holds (Solfageln Indien, 8 ff) that Viṣṇu represents prz. marily the fundamental spirit of the pilars Rudolf Otto believes (Calthat und Cottheiten der Aner 83-91 ) that originally there were several Venus rcprc senting the power numina’ NN Grose ( Op cut, 62 ) sces in Viṣnu a god of lighting having the Maruts for hus at endants A C Dag (Rig Vedro India I, 25+ ) dentifies Vi&ou with the Egyptian god, Bes, who is the protector of the world JACOBI thinks that Visbu was, from very early times, a god of speculation, merely der Trager der abstrakten Idee’ (“Uber Viṣṇu Nārā Yana Vasudeva”, Stratberg Fesígabr p 163) There are other scholars (6 g HOPKINS PAOS 16, cxIvu who look upon Viṣbu as being onginally a ‘Herds man’ god, gopah (1 22 18, also I 154 6, X 19 4 ), which fact must bave facilita lcd, according to them, the process of lua sirnila ton, in later times, with tsba HADY put forth a strsking theory when he says that Visiu balts twice during the day, morning and evenng, then assuming the functions of the moon as the third step, which is characterised by the spring of honey 154 5) Accordingly there is said to be the concept on of the moon at fbe back of the Vedic Viṣṇu and perhaps algo of the Lett sh Uhsing (Vedische prahmanische Periode, 33 ff, also H KUNIKE, V15nu, ein Mondgoll, Leipzig, 1916) cholars (€ 8 78 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS emphatically solar traits in his personality, must likewise be set aside Though the predominantly solar nature of Visou is thus indicated by the Vedic evidence as a whole, it is not correct to identify his three strides with the rising, the culmination, and the setting of the sun, as ROTH. KAEGI, and MAX MULLER did, following Aurnavābha 24 The third step of Viṣṇu, which is described as very sublime and as leading to the mysterious world of the highest heaven, shows no connection whatsoever with the sun set Not even the soaring winged birds venture to approach that third step of Viṣṇu (I 155 5 ) 25 With it is connected the highest and the third place of Agai(I 72 2–4), that is, of the sun The gods enjoy themselves there (VIII 29 7), for, in the third step of Viṣṇu there is a spring of honey (I 154 5) 28 Viṣṇu’s epithet, girih sit, as well as the reference to the many-horded cows (clouds ?) (I 154 6) moving at the highest step of Viṣṇu are further indicative of its being in the highest heaven That step is also the abode of the pious devotecs (I 154 5-6, V 3 3) HOPKINS understands these pious devotees ( devayavah) to be the pious dead and seems to put special emphasis on this characteris tic of Viṣnu’s highest step Visou is, according to him, the first god to represent, what he continues to represent through later ages, the sun home of souls 27 This conception of the solar home of souls,28 which is too evidently connected with Viṣṇu to be 24 See supra 25 Accor ling to the explanation of Aurnavabha namely that samdrohana, Disnupada and gayasiras are the three steps of Visny, it would be necessary to rccognise the second step as the highest step which fact is however, not suggested by the Vedic references It may be mentioned here as a matter of intercat that JAYASWAL believes that visnupada represents the actual geographical locality of that pame 26 R G BUIANDARKAR thinks (taisnadism, a osm etc 47) that the obscurity surrounding the third step of Viṣnu helped to give bim an association of mystery such as is necessary for a god that is to be acknowledged as sole and supreme Actually, however there is hardly any obscurity regarding Viṣṇu’s th rd step 27 HOPKts The Relig ons of Ind a, 56 28 It is perhaps this notion of the sun home of souls which led JOILANS SON (Opel) to see in Vuqdu the Grundsubstanz der Manen, VISNU IN THE VEDA 79 casıly set aside as of no account, make two things quite clear: firstly, that in Viṣṇu’s personality solar nature is very prominent; and, sccondly, that his highest step is on the top of the sky and may not, therefore, be identified with the setting of the sun Other features of Viṣṇu’s three strides, such as that all the worlds subsist in them (I 154 2), that Viṣṇu measured the whole url verse with them (1. 154 3), and that they commence on the tarth (1 22 16 ) and end in the bighest heaven (I 154 5 )- all go to prove that the naturalistic interpretation of the three strides, given by Aurnavābha and adopted by ROTH and others, is not at all warranted by the Vedic evidence They do not represent the daily course of the sun from horizon to horizon Through the Viṣṇu mythology the Vedic poets have presented the picture of the sun as a swiftly moving lumipary which, with vast strides, traverses the whole universe in its thrce fold division of the earth, the atmosphere, and the heaven, which is so familiar to the Vedic cosmography This explanation originally suggested by Sakapūni and later on accepted by a majority of scholars satisfactorily meets all the requirements of the three steps as described in the RV It is again this explanation, which presalis in the later Vedic literature I’S II 25, TS 1 7 5 4, ŚPBI 9 39, VI 7 4 7) The essen tial notion underlying the three steps of Viṣṇu us thus the diurnal course of the sun in his ascent from the horizon of the earth, through the atmosphere, to the zenith, namely the solar paradise of the Vedic • Elysion’ The reference to the three Viṣṇu-steps to be taken by the sacrificer in the full moon and the neiy.moon sacrifices (TS I 7 6 1 ) is also clearly indicative of the three regions of the universe 29 It is not a solar deity in its general character that is represented through the Vedic Viṣṇu, rather the 29 According to TILAK ( The Arctic llam in the Tedas, 326-29) lipou’s three strides represent the annual cours of the sun divided into three parts, two of the ateng Arc susible since the sun su above the horizon, while the third step becomes my sibic lxccause the sun goes lor) the horizon Lately, R SHAMIASTRI had come forth with another Astronomical explanation, according to which, the three sirida arc in licitive of the vary nz shndow length (” Viṣṇus three strales”. Asupo:AS IT 111, 329-67) A rcfestive may as Well I made in this context 10 the commentary of Durgi on Struts (VI 19) mai alyah, karto 1, afin suostul sai . VISNU IN THE VEDA secondly, Viṣṇu is described as taking the three strides for the deliverance of mankind in distress (VI 49 13) MACDONELL brings forth other traces of Viṣou’s general character as the Preserver, in the Veda Visou 15 beneficent (I 156 5), 15 innocuous and bountiful (VII 25 12), and a generous protector (1155 4) But only such features of an ordinary sun god cannot adequately account for Viṣṇu’s sudden rise to prominence in Hindu mythology As pointed out elsewhere, Viṣnu must have already been a great god among the ’extra-Vedic circles and his later eminence was merely a legitimately recognised come-back Though there is no reference to Vāmana in the RV, the three strides of Viṣṇu undoubtedly form the foundation of the paurānic vāmanāvatāra In the Brālimana literature (TS VI 2 4, SPB I 2 S, AB VI. 15) Viṣṇu’s dwarf-form is actually connected with his three steps by means of which he covers the whole Universe The faint traces of the later jarállatára of Viṣṇu are to be found in the RV (1 61 7, VIII 77 10) and the later Vedic literature (TS VII 1,5 1, TB1 1 3 5, TAXI 8, SPB XIV 1 2 11 ) 35 Vhat the primary action underlying Viçou s dwarf form is it is not casy to imagine A KUHN (Uber Entwicklungsstufen der Althenbrldung, 128) thinks that the dwarf represents the sun light which sbrinks into dwarf’s size In die cycoing OLDEYBERC (Rd5", 233 ) suggests that the idea has evolved out of a fable about a wide stepping giant who could turn busell into a dwarf This is evidently far fetched According to LEITH (RPJU, 111), MACDOVELL (FRAS 1895, 176-77) and HILLEBRANDT (VM, N A , 139 ), Vitou assumes the dwarf form only by way of a stratagem 10 order to mislcad the Asuras An cthical interpretation of this aralara u given by MACNICOL Opat. 31 ) who believes that it is suggestive of strength and safety issuing out of smallncss and weakness N ARYANGAR thinks (Essays on Indo Aryan Mythology 1, 233-82 ) that Vifnu seen as a littic dwarf in the form of the sacnficial fic on carth takes the giant strides in the forms of ndyut and surya R SHAMASITASTRI (9 PAIOC, 1937) refers to the dwarfish shadow’ whuc ex plaining the avaldrar on the basis of astronotucal phenomena 36 According to MACDOWELL (RAS 1895, 166 ) thc carliest form of the myths of the malgyd aad kurma incarnations occurs in the STB, though in peither case is Vitnu there mentioned as being connected with the fish or the fortoise A P TARMARKAR ( Land rol fol 253–57) speaks of the origin and carly derclopment of Viscu’s malsyddatdra in the age of the Indus valley civili tation, 11 82 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS Whatever the real factors were which contributed towards the clevation of Viṣṇu from a minor position which he occupied in the RV-mythology to be an important member of the Hindu Trinity of gods, it is evident that the faint traces of the beginning of this process are to be discovered even in the Brāhmana litera. ture Viṣṇu is said to be the highest among the gods (ŚPB XIV 115), he is their door-keeper (ABI 30 19), the gods have their mouth in Viṣṇu (TSI 7 5) Though Viṣṇu has only few insignificant offerings made to him in the Vedic ritual, a stage was reached when he was actually identified with the sacrifice as a whole The AB(I 1) clearly states agnir jai derānām ayamah, visnuh paramah, tadantarena sarvā devatah It cannot, however, be said that Viṣṇu lad attained his paurānic supremacy in the Brāhmaṇas The process had only begun As the importance of Viṣnu was gradually growing, that of Indra was correspondingly diminishing This position is finally consolidated 10 the Mahābhārata where we are told that Indra, in fear, hastens to Visou and that Viṣṇu bestows upon him his power Viṣṇu is there positively placed over and above Indra The Viṣṇu-religion may thus be said to have overpowered the Vedic Indra-religion It would be greatly helpful to see what light the etymology of the name Viṣṇu throws on the wliole Viṣṇu-problem The most common way of explaining the game is to derive it from the root vis,’ to be active 97 The very quick and active movements of the sun god are suggested through this explanation But it is not made clear what suffix is added and how the word is gramma tically formed 38 BLOOMFIELD may be said to have made a distinct contribution to the Viṣṇu problem by proposing that the name was made up of two parts, ( = through) and snu or sānu 37 MACDONCLC Pelc Alyttalagy, 39 Kaeg The Rigveda 56, SCHROEDER, Arische Religion II, 10, OTTO OPC1, 83-91 38 Mention may be made in this context of the pauranic attempts to connect the namt Vıṣ bu etymologically with the root vrť (=to enter, to pervade) According to the Viṣnupurana Vinnu enters into or pervades the universe as pointed out in the Vedic text tam eta srstua tam anuprdons at In the Padmapurana the name is made to refer to Vignu s combining with praktı (Oontinued on the next page) VISNU IN THE VEDA 83 (=the back) 39 Viṣṇu’s strides through the back of the world are, according to that scholar, indicated by that word It is, howevcr, difficult to see how BLOOMFIELD could understand i in the sense of ’through’ and make the word usnu mean ‘cross ing the back’ GUNTERT also seems to accept the same etymo logy of the word He, however, understands the prefix si in the usual sense of apart from one another'40 Viṣṇu, according to GUNTERT, thus means one who sets the surface apart The word, visnul, made up of the two component parts, w and snu ( sanu), can have only three senses (1) one whose sanu is vi ( = parted), (12) one for whom the sānu has separated itself Wide apart, and (11) one separated from sumi that is, without sanu Neither any of these three senses nor the one proposed by GUNTERT gives any satisfactory explanation of Viṣṇu’s nature as directly represented in and indirectly implied by the Veda It would be, moreover really straoge if a word, more or less artificially excogitated by the Brāhmaṇas in such a manner, could become pot only the common name of the principal god of later Hinduism but also a name which must have already been necessarily popular among certain culture groups of old " The most satisfactory etymology of the word is to derive it from the root vi with the suffix snu (the same as we find in forms like jisnu, alamkarısnu, ksesnu, etc) The root vi, on its part is linguisti cally connected with IE *uer (=to fly) The other formations from the root are av vis, lat aus, ahd 110, nhd weih, arm hav, etc <3 The word visnu, therefore, originally means the flyer’. (Continued from the last page) 25 purusa According to the Matsyapurina the name alludes to bus entering 20to the mundane egg Tac commentator of the Visgusahasrandmastotra says cardcaresu bhutesu defonid 01 Snur uyate and further, difater ud nukpratyayasya rupath o four it. In all these cases there would be the difficulty of accounting for the cerebralisation of s 39 BLOOMFIELD, The Religron of the Vedas 168 40 GunterOp 11, 306-07 41 Sec OLDENBERG RAV, 230 42 For other ctyunologies of vis see Tout note 8 aborc 43 BLOC JUS I 80 ff HILLEBR LNDT VAI ( N A ) 140 HOPKINS Bpc Alythology 203 with f n i also see JOHANSSON Du alt nd sche Gole Di sana, f on 47-48 84 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS It is also not unlikely that the name itself primarily indicaetd a bird We shall, therefore, be justified in presuming that the bud form is the earliest known feature of the personality of Visou In the early Veda, Viṣṇu is clearly represented as the sun bird, though it is not pecessary to assume that this conception was the primary one to many ancient mythologies the sun is seen to have been represented as a bird 4 In some cases the sun is also represented as the ‘flying horse’, some faint traces of which may be available even in the descriptions of Viṣnu 15 Very early in the evolution of religious thought people imagined of a divide being overrunning the three regions of the universe with the greatest possible speed Such a being could only be a bird, which is popularly supposed to be the quickest among the creatures Like many other peoples of antiquity, the Indians also represented the sun under the form of a bird which flies swiftly through the sky That was Viṣṇu 116 44 A comparison of the following two couplets in a Lettish song (sce. SCHROEDER, Ar Re II, 10, fo 1), Dıc Lerche braut Bier In der Fussspur der Pferdes, and Der Ubsing bercitet Bier In der Fussspur des Rossleins gives us the equaton Uhsing - Lerche, that is the sun-god = a bird (the lark) 45 Compare Viṣnu s later pames hayastras, haya mukha 46 Broa (Opat) thinks that the beautifully fcathered bird referred to in the RV (X 149 3) szparno arga saostur garulman parco jatah, is the same as the sun bud Through a critical and exhaustive study of the Vedic and post Vedic references JOHANSSON (Solfogein Indien 21 ff) and CHAR PENTIER (D. Supar pa sage, 153 ff ) have convincingly proved (1) that the bird wbich ua represented in the RV as stealing the Soma 1 no other than Vi$ou [ according to BLOOMFIELD), Festschrift Roth, 149 ff , pena = goralri (there fore) = Ago: ( therefore) = lightning). (11) that this bid is identical with the suparna Garuda of the Suparpadhyaya and the cpic, and (iu) that the Garuda as the favourite vehiclc of Vieu was originally Visou him delf in one of his forms This bird, which is represented with a human head, us the most prominent sign of Viṣbu s original bird form in later mythology JOHANSSOV Solfegein 21 ff, further thinks that Sricatsa, kaustubho, four arms the lotus in the nabhi, etc, are the other features of the pauranic Viepu, which betray his original bird form VISNU IN THE VEDA I have so far sought to show that the Vedic hymns Tepresent Viṣṇu mainly as a solar deity in the form of a bird, and that the ascent and the descent of the sun through the three regions are glorified through Viṣṇu’s three strides which form the outstanding feature of his mythology in the Veda These conclusions, however, cannot be said to have finally solved the basic problems regarding Viṣṇu Firstly, if Viṣṇu was merely an ordinary sun-god, why should there have been the obvious hesitation on the part of the Vedic poets in legitimately admittiog him to the pantheon of the Vedic gods? What otherwise is the significance of associating Viṣṇu with Indra, and that too in such a superficial and artificial manner 1 Secondly, why should a Vedic sun-god alone be chosen for the supreme position in the Hindu mythology? And why particularly Viṣṇu from among the several solar diyioities? These questions would ultimately lead us to the hypothesis that, besides his solar nature, there was another more essential aspect of Viṣṇu’s personality and that an attempt was made by the Vedic poets and priests to suppress it purposely As, however, the case is, there have survived some up mistakable traces of that aspect of Viṣṇu’s personality in the Vedic hymns and ritual The most significant word in this connection is śipivista, which is exclusively employed in the Veda with reference to Viṣṇu The passages where the word occurs in the RV (VII 99 7, 100 5-7) scem to have been kept obscure with a purpose The Vedic poets evidently sought to make a guarded and a casual reference to that aspect of Viṣṇu’s personality which was indicated by the word ßipuvista Many attempts lave been made to explain that word, but few satisfy the requirements of philology47 and DONC brings out the true nature of Viṣṇu It is not possible 47 in the commentary on TSV 5 5 pasavab ipir tt stufyanterat sips Sabdah partado In the commentary on TAB IX. 78 sipayo rafmayah tant daffah Thc Niruta ( 7) says fridusto Pujnur 1tt visnor dae naman’ bhavalah/ kutsfarthiyan güroani Bhatar s aupamanyaval Further, A. V 8 sepa wa Miftah smt ils According to the Afahabhisala XII 330 6, prv$14 = bald cf lipistett ciklyd, im hinarom = ca jo bhauvet OLDENBERG (ROV, 233 ) thinks Consrued on the racat poje)VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS to separate philologically the word sepa ( = penis) from śipi Other simular IE forms are sıpha (=a root), pkt chepa, lat cippus, scipio ( staff), etc Even Nirukta (V 7) seems to be vaguely supporting this view though its further explanation 15 not clear 48 Added to that word is a form from the root vs, thus making the whole word mean the changing phallus, the swelling and diminishing penis ’ 49 We may now easily understand why the Vedic poets speak in such guarded and obscure way about this form of Viṣṇu It is also very signi ficant that Aupamanyava (Nirukia, V 7) says of this name of Viṣṇu kursitārthiyam pun am bhavaht The word sipasta has thus unmistakably preserved Viṣnu’s ancient phallic nature. There are also many other incidental references to Viṣṇu in the Vedic hymns and ritual, which clearly associate him with the notions of fertility, productivity, and sex-life One of the obscure features of the Vedic śrāddha ritual is that the angustha, without nail, is to be dipped into the offering intend ed for the Pitrs This action is accompanied by an invocation to Viṣṇu The angustha is undoubtedly a symbol of the phallus Viṣṇu is, in this rite, clearly connected with the phallıc aspect of the Vedic ritual 50 In the TS passage (VI 2 4 2), jajno deiebhyo nila, ata risnurupam krna sa prthn im prāvasat, we find another piece of evidence in this regard Viṣṇu’s entering into the mother According to CITALAK (OP !!, 331 l herefore, being te (Continued from the last page) that the conception underlying the word is obscure, but he suggests that it probably indicates baldness or skia d sease HOPKINS (The Religions of Ind , 56 ) accepts the former meaning GELDNER (Ved Stud III, 81, fa 1) thinks that fup osta 1 indicative of Viṣṇu s odmanacalara yat ksodus thanh lat fiproistam According to CHARPENTIER (KB 54 11 ZLAS 25 427, KZ 46,22), spidista hairy dwarf TILAK ( Op cl, 331 iT) understands the word as suggesting the suns going below the horizon and, therefore, being temporarily conccaled 14 a dark cover According to A C DAs (Rig Vedic Ind a 1, 547-48), the word implies that the sun s rays are obscured dunng the night or rainy season. 41 JOHANSSON (Solfågeln 12 ff) actually intcrprets sopioista as “appear ing in phallic form 49 It is not unlikely that the later myth of the dwarf which exhibiti giant strength has its germ in this explanation 50 cr in this connection, Yama in Hemdr III 1378 anigusshamalro bhagarda tispute panafale mahlm VISNU IN THE VEDA earth is a symbolical description of a fertility-rite The words, tanvī irdhanah, used with reference to Viṣṇu (VII 99 i, also cf. VIII 100 2) may further be understood to be indicative of his phallic nature Viṣṇu is significantly identified, in later literature, with Hiranyagarbha and Nārāyana si Visgu’s close connection with Sidivāli (AV VII 46 3), the broad hipped’ divinity protect ing the feminine sex functions, throws considerable light on thus aspect of Viṣṇu’s personality According to the sänhhayana Grhyasūtra (I 22 13), the RV-mantra, visnur yonim halpazatu (X 184 1 ), accompanies the garbha ceremony, thus suggesting that Visou is the efficacious protector of the embryos 52 In the AV (VII 17 4), Viṣṇu is significantly connccted with praja. The two epithets of Viṣṇu, nisiktapā (VII 36 9) protector of the semen ‘, and sumajjani (I 156 2) ‘facilitating easy birth’(?) speak for themselves The word, paumsja manly vigour’ is significantly used with reference to Viṣṇu in the RV (I 155 3-4). The vrsākapı-hymn in the RV (X 86 ) has aroused serious contro versy regarding its interpretation Without going loto the details of that controversy, one may say that, broadly speaking, that hymn describes how, when Indra felt greatly exhausted, a bold, lascivious monkey administered to him some medicine, and how, as a result of it, Indra regained his manly power This Yrsäkapı is identified, in later literature, with Viṣṇu, the word beiag also mentioned as one of his pames in the Viṣṇusahasra namastotra 53 There is thus abundant indirect evidence provided by the Vedic hymns and ritual to proye Vasnu’s connection with fertility and productivity rites 5: As elsewhere, so also in India, 51 Narayana is philologically connected with #onra (= manly vigour). 52 It is agnificant that Sinivall is referred to in the next stanza of this hymn (X 184 2) As a matter of fact, the entire hymn X 184 throivs much useful light on Viṣnu’s original character 53 Mfahabharata XIII 135 42 54 GUNTERT (Opal, 308) bas suggested that the idea of Viu s having taken the forms of matsya, Aarma, varaha cc, may have it ong in the prin tive belief that the fertility dividities move about assuming the foruis of different kuimals J J MEYER Trilogue altındischer Mochie II, 250 ff) believes that the myth of Baltibe Indian Saturnus, and his dethronement reflects clearly the sudden displacement of chthonic demon at the hands of the vegetation god 88 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS popular customs and conceptions of the religion of the masses have paturally been the primary foundations of great Brahmapical sacrifices The god of fertility and productivity occupied a very prominent place in the religion of the common people The Aryans particularly, who had been mainly agriculturists must have glorified the vegetation divinity and vegetation-rites to a very great extent For instance, in the Mahārata, which was clearly a vegetation ritual, the main features of generative nites and vegeta tion rites are quite transparent Through a very penetrating study of the Nahāvrata, from this point of view, JOHANSSON has proved that a conspicuous part was played in that ritual by a vegetation divinity 10 bird form 55 According to MANNHARDT (Wald und Feldk I) and FRAZER (The Golden Bough), the fertility fetish in many primitive vegetation rites was a bird Thus bird-motif is seen also in the bird form of the mahadukihy a-vedi in the Malāvrata A possibility is hereby suggested that it was Viṣṇu, as a bird, who was the most prominent figure in all such rites The original nature of Viṣṇu as a bird has already been indicated Viṣṇu was, therefore, primarily the fertility bird All this explains how Viṣṇu, as a god of fertility, must have occupied a prominent position in the primitive Aryan religious thought and ritual Other so called obscure references to Viṣṇu, such as śipivista, agree perfectly well with this aspect of Viṣṇu’s personality A well reasoned account may thus be offered of the evolution of the whole Viṣṇu-religion Viṣṇu must have been regarded as a bird, at least among certain culture groups among the Vedic people in that form he was very closely connected with the vegetation ritual He was, indeed, the god of fertility and productivity and as such he must have been regarded as most eminent in the popular religion of the masses It was, however, on account of the aversion, on the part of the Vedic priestly intellectuals and the conquering higher classes, for this popular fertility god and his upcouth, frivolous, and to a certaia extent 55 JOHANSSON, Die altındische Gotten Dhisona, 46 ff VISŅU IN THE VEDA obscene fertility rituals, that Viṣṇu was not easily admitted to the pantbeon of the Vedic gods. The Vedic poets could not, how ever, completely ignore him. They, therefote, sought to trans form the basic character of Visou. This attempt of theirs was greatly facilitated by the original bird-form of that god. The hieratic Vedic poets understood the bird-form of Viṣṇu as indi cating not the fertility-god but the sun-god. They thus tried to suppress, as far as possible, the true nature of this god of the people’. But those culture-groups 56 among whom Yısau was a prominent god must have persisted in forciog him upon the official” Yedic religion which was dominated by the Indra mythology. From the point of view of the official’ Vedic religion, the popular god Viṣṇu was, so to say, hierarchised by being artificially and deliberately brought into association with Indra who, as it were, served as the philosopher’s stone for such purpose. This accounts for the obvious fluctuations in the artificial and superficial relationship between Visnı and Indra. It is not necessary to assume non-Aryan influence in this regard 57 It was merely a matter between the classes’ and the masses" among the Vedic people themselves.58 la post-Vedic times when the popular religion again came into prominence, Visou became the supreme god. He had by then inherited several features from the many earlier aspects of his personality. As KEITH has poin ted out,9 Krsoa himself was originally the spirit of reviving vegetation. The identification of Visou with Krsna, in later 56. It is suggested that the Vasiṣṭhas seem to take greater notice of Vionu than the other families of Vedic poet priests. HILLEBRANDT VAT II, 312ff.) and HOPKIN (PADS 16, celou have gwen statistical analyse the parts where Variu us celebrated 57. The suggestion that Vipnu’s epithet giriksıl is indicative of his having been worshipped specially by bill mbes 13 too far fetched. 58 GUNTERTOP at, 312 ) points out that som: German folk songs are quite similar to the hymns addressed to Viṣṇu and that there is a widely spread bchef in upper Bavaria and England that the rising sun, on the moraing of Laster Sunday, makes three jumps of pleasure, which remand ont of Viṣnu’s three strides. 39. JRAS 1915, 841. 90 VEDIC MYTIIOLOGICAL TRACTS Hinduism, was consequently an easy matter " It is also not unlikely that ancient rites concerning productivity and sex life, connected with the primary conception of Viṣṇu, have been retained in later religion through the doctrines of bhakıl and pusti Those ancient clumsy sexual orgies have been, to a great cxtent, ennobled and refined Thc place of libido was taken by amor der [First publisbed hax Fel To 1011, 09-111 ] 60 Sce DANDEKAR Indolog st, 21-111 Va snavism and Savsm ,RG Bhandarkar as a