The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s4.14

v1.c16.s4.14

In the later Saṁhitās and the Brāhmaṇas we find that Viṣṇu is assuming an importance and prominence in the minds of the priests which give him, along with Rudra, undoubtedly the leading place in the living faith of the Brāhmaṇas. His three strides are now definitely located in the earth, air, and heaven, and in imitation of them the sacrificer strides in the ritual the steps of Viṣṇu,² which result in placing him in the world of heaven: by this simple act he thus puts himself in the closest connexion with the deity, for in the imitation he doubtless in some measure and degree assimilated himself to the deity. It is of interest that in the Avesta the three steps of the Ameša Spenta from the earth to the sun are similarly imitated, but there is no reason to assume that the two acts are historically derived from an earlier Indo-Iranian usage: such parallels may as easily rise independently. Moreover the three strides become a matter of great importance in the preservation of the world from the Asuras, who, in the imagination of the Brāhmaṇas, are no longer individual enemies of the gods, but a strong band before whose onslaught the gods are often compelled to yield. The Indian imagination, however, never contemplates the idea of any final victory of the Asuras, but the gods are bound to repel them often by guile and still more often by knowledge of some special rite. Thus in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa³ it is agreed by the Asuras with Indra and Viṣṇu that so much of the earth should be assigned to the latter as Viṣṇu could step over with three strides: Viṣṇu then proceeds to appropriate by his strides the worlds, the Vedas, and speech. The Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁴ declares that Viṣṇu by his strides acquired for the gods the all-prevading power which they possess, and the Taittirīya Saṁhitā⁵ states that by taking the form of a dwarf, whom he had seen, Viṣṇu conquered the three worlds. The dwarf form, which is the germ of the post-Vedic story of the dwarf incarnation of Viṣṇu, is found, though not with express mention of the three steps, in the Çatapatha.⁶ It is there recorded that the Asuras overcame the gods and began to divide the earth: the gods with Viṣṇu, the sacrifice, at their head demanded a share, and the Asuras seeing that Viṣṇu was but a dwarf consented to grant them so much as Viṣṇu could lie on. The gods then sacrificed with Viṣṇu, and won the whole earth to themselves. In this account is to be seen the most important factor in the elevation of Viṣṇu to his rank of a most high god, his constant identification with the sacrifice. The precise train of thought by which this identification was reached cannot be reconstructed with certainty: it is not to be supposed that Viṣṇu's importance is accidental, or due merely to this identification: he must have been a great god both for the people and the priests before he was given the similitude to the sacrifice, the greatest of all things in the estimation of the priesthood, but his identification undoubtedly aided in the increase of that greatness, and made it permanent and abiding.