The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s4.12

v1.c16.s4.12

It would be impossible to deny to Viṣṇu the position of a great god in the period of the Rigveda, for that would be to forget that the comparative prominence of the gods is not necessarily brought out fully in that collection, which is mainly concerned with the Soma sacrifice, and which does not, therefore, take great account of those deities who are not of much consequence in that sacrifice. Of course, that the god is not a great god of that sacrifice is to a certain extent a proof that he is not a god regarded with the highest importance by many of the priests.¹ But his interest in human life as a protector of embryos is a sign of his importance in ordinary life, which should not be overlooked. It is quite impossible to make such a detail the ground of the attribution to the god of any other than a solar character, for, as we have seen in the case of Pūṣan, the connexion of the sun with the increase of the animal world is too obvious an idea not to be found in religion.