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XIV)
Vişņu, Vāsudeva and Kışņa
535
Vişņu, Vāsudeva and Krşņa. Vişnu, Bhagavat, Nārāyaṇa, Hari and Krşņa are often used in a large section of Indian religious literature as synonymous names of the supreme lord. Of these Vişnu is an important god of the Rg-Veda, who is one of the ādityas and who makes three strides in the sky, probably as he manifests himself in the eastern horizon, as he rises to the zenith and as he sets in the west. He is also represented in the Ro-Veda as a great fighter and an ally of Indra. It is further said that he has two earthly steps and another higher step which is known only to himself. But in the Rg-Veda Vişnu is certainly inferior to Indra, with whom he was often associated, as is evident from such names as Indrā-vişņu (R.V. IV. 55. 4; VII. 99. 5; VIII. 10. 2, etc.). According to later tradition Vişnu was the youngest, the twelfth of the ādityas, though he was superior to them all in good qualities?. His three steps in the Rg-Vedic allusion have been explained in the Nirukta as referring to the three stages of the sun's progress in the morning, at midday and at evening. One of the names of Vişņu in the Rg-Veda is Sipivişța, which Durgācārya explains as “surrounded with the early rays” (sipi-samjñair bāla-raśmibhir āvista)?. Again, the sage praises Vişnu in the Rg-Veda in the following terms: "I, a master of hymns and knowing the sacred customs, to-day praise that name of thine, Sipivişta. I, who am weak, glorify thee, who art mighty and dwellest beyond this world3." All this shows that Vişņu was regarded as the sun, or endowed with the qualities of the sun. The fact that Vişnu was regarded as dwelling beyond this world is probably one of the earliest signs of his gradually increasing superiority. For the next stage one must turn to the Satapatha-brāhmaṇa. In 1. 2. 4 of that work it is said that the demons (asura) and the gods were vying with one another; the gods were falling behind, and the demons were trying to distribute the world among themselves; the gods followed them, making Vişņu the sacrifice as their leader (te yajñam eva Vişnum puraskrtyeyuh), and desired their own shares; the demons felt jealous and said that they could give only so much ground as would
Ekādaśas tathā Tvaşļā dvādaśo Vişnur ucyate
jaghanyajas tu sarveşām ādityānām guņādhikaḥ. Mahā-bhārata, 1. 65. 16. Calcutta, Bangavasi Press, second edition, 1908. 2 Nirukta, v. 9. Bombay edition, 1918.
3 Rg-Veda, vii. 100. 5, translated by Dr L. Sarup, quoted in Nirukta, v. 8.
