Hinduism: A Short History (17 page)

It is not difficult to see a connection between the
trivikrama
myth and the course of the Sun. But the “Sun” in the Vedic context is not the astrophysical body explored by modern science – it is a
deva
, producing immortality for the gods, giving life to men, maintaining the world, absolving sinners from their guilt and cleansing them from their sins. The interpretation which the
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
gives to the
trivikrama
myth emphasizes its salvific contents: “Viṣṇu is the sacrifice – by striding he obtained for the gods this all-pervading power which now belongs to them.”
¹⁷
Viṣṇu
trivikrama
is the “saviour of the
devas”
from the
asuras
who had usurped the three worlds. The defeat of the
asuras
by Viṣṇu returns to the
devas
their power. The
Bṛhaddevatā
treats the name Viṣṇu as one of the names of the Sun: “Because the three regions shine with brilliance as his footsteps, Medhātithi pronounced him
Viṣṇu trivikrama.”
¹⁸
The same work derives the etymology of Viṣṇu from the root
viṣ-
(following the
Nirukta)
and explains Viṣṇu as “pervasion” applied to the Sun “who is everything and is contained in everything.”
¹⁹
The title
trivikrama
in connection with Viṣṇu does not occur in the
Upaniṣads
, but the “highest place of Viṣṇu” plays a large role in Upaniṣadic eschatology.
²⁰
Of special importance for later Vaiṣṇavism is the designation given to Viṣṇu as the “all-pervader.” The three steps of the Vedic Viṣṇu
trivikrama
are philosophically interpreted as symbolic of Viṣṇu’s transcendence.

Viṣṇu as protector of the embryo and the preparer of the womb is a fairly frequent motif in Vedic literature:
Ṛgveda, Atharvaveda, Brāhmaṇas
, and
Upaniṣads
testify to the popularity which Viṣṇu enjoyed under this title.
²¹
In this function he is practically identical with Prajāpati whose attributes and activities are absorbed by Viṣṇu after the Vedic period. Even the
avatāras
of Viṣṇu can be explained, at least partially, as transformations of Prajāpati mentioned in Vedic literature, taken over by Viṣṇu.

The “Hymn to
Ka”
²²
contains most of the essential elements of Vaiṣṇavism without explicitly mentioning Viṣṇu:
Ka
is an interrogative particle; it also means Prajāpati or the Sun, and is a name of
Viṣṇu.
²³

Viṣṇu is also known in the Veda as Hiraṇyagarbha, “Golden Germ,” floating on the primeval waters, from which everything originated. This motif is taken up also by
Atharvaveda, Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
, some
Upamṣads
and
Purāṇas
.

The concept of Viṣṇu as the one who “enters,” and his connection with the seed, seems to stand at the root of the Vedic belief in Viṣṇu as preparer of the womb for conception in fertility rituals and the protector of the embryo in the womb: the idea already occurs in the
Ṛgveda
and the
Atharvaveda;
it is continued in several
Upaniṣads
and also forms part of Purāṇic belief and popular faith. It is not difficult to abstract from this image the philosophical idea of the immanence of God – a concrete and physical immanence, as later Vaiṣṇava
darśanas
explain.

Very important elements of later Vaiṣṇavism are contained in the Ṛgvedic
puruṣa-sūkta
. Though the hymn itself does not mention him the whole Vaiṣṇava tradition relates it to Viṣṇu – and this is also corroborated by some interpretations in Vedic works. One of the most often used names of Viṣṇu is purusottama, “the Supreme Person.”

The
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
gives an extended version of the
puruṣa
sacrifice,
²⁴
naming the
puruṣa
Viṣṇu, who was the size of a dwarf. The context is a competition between
devas
and
asuras
for the dominion of the earth: Viṣṇu appears again as the deliverer of the
devas
from their enemies. The
asuras
have defeated the
devas
and are masters over the earth. They concede to the
devas
as much land as “this Viṣṇu lies upon.” They enclosed him by means of various verse-meters. “By it they obtained this earth.” Viṣṇu, it is said, “was tired and hid himself among the roots of plants.” The
devas
find him after a prolonged search and praise him: “Pleasant are you and soft to sit upon. Of good soil are you and auspicious, abounding in food and drink.”
²⁵

On several occasions the
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
says that “Viṣṇu is the upper half of the sacrifice.”
²⁶
The sacrificer becomes himself Viṣṇu, and a
ṛk
or a
yajus
to Viṣṇu is the means to rectify a fault in the sacrifice. In another way too Viṣṇu is connected with the sacrifice: the principal gods performed a sacrifice at Kurukṣetra. Viṣṇu is the first to complete it and thus he becomes the most excellent among the gods. Again a strange myth follows: Viṣṇu, bow in hand, stepped forward with three arrows, resting his head upon the bow. The other gods apparently want to compete for his position but dare not do so directly. Ants offer themselves to do the job after having secured a boon from the gods. The ants gnaw the bowstring. The bow snaps and tears off Viṣṇu’s head which becomes the sun in heaven. The body of
Viṣṇu mahāvīra
is divided by the gods and transformed into various accessories for sacrifice.

In another section the same Brāhmaṇa relates that Prajāpati ordered a Puruṣa Nārāyaṇa to offer a sacrifice. Thrice he offers. The concluding passage contains what are again essentially “Vaiṣṇava” ideas:

All the worlds have I placed within mine own self and mine own self have I placed within all the worlds; all the gods have I placed within mine own self and mine own self have I placed within all the gods; all the Vedas have I placed within mine own self, and mine own self have I placed within the vital airs. For imperishable indeed are worlds, imperishable the gods, imperishable the Vedas, imperishable the vital airs, imperishable is the All: and verily whosoever knows this, passes from the perishable unto the imperishable, conquers recurrent death and attains the full measure of life.

Later Vaiṣṇava systems usually legitimate their doctrines by references to the Upaniṣads, occasionally also to the Vedas. Madhva, for example, insists that whenever the Vedas speak of the “unborn,” the “unknowable,” the “immanent,” the “being in the waters,” we have to understand that Viṣṇu is referred to. Applying this principle one could point out many “Viṣṇu-hymns” in the
Ṛgveda Saṃhitā –
hymns which are addressed to deities like Savitr, Prajāpati, and others. Similarly a rereading of the Upaniṣads in the light of later Vaiṣṇava Vedānta
darśanas
yields an abundance of Upaniṣadic materials to illustrate basic Vaiṣṇava theology.

The first account of creation given in the
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
²⁸
introduces some familiar Vaiṣṇava motives: in the beginning was Hiraṇyagarbha, hunger and death. He created the universe by sacrificing himself. The second creation account in the same Upaniṣad begins with a
puruṣa-ātman
as First Being and creator, transforming itself successively into man and wife, bull and cow, and so forth.
²⁹
Also the concluding metaphysical explanation makes use of a terminology familiar to Vaiṣṇavas: he is the great unborn Soul, a
puruṣa
, the ruler within the heart, the Lord of all, the overlord of all beings, the protector of beings, the separating dam for keeping the worlds apart, the home of the mendicants, unseizable and indestructible, the provider of food. In the
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
the “highest place of Viṣṇu” is mentioned as the ultimate aim of man.
³⁰
The
Maitri Upaniṣad
calls Viṣṇu “the highest
Brahman,”
above
Śabda-Brahman
, and Viṣṇu is mentioned as one of the many names of the One.
³¹
Typical Vaiṣṇava ideas appear in the early Upaniṣads: the creator entering his creation after creating it
³²
and assummg various forms.
³³

There are numerous so-called Vaiṣṇava Upaniṣads which are considerably more recent. They quite openly propound sectarian Vaiṣṇava doctrines: Viṣṇu is the only redeemer, delivering all from distress and bondage, he purifies all and purges them from mental, verbal, and corporeal sins, and he is the object of love for all. The Vaiṣṇava Upaniṣads contain very few references to myths and are rather theoretical and abstract. They also give instructions regarding rituals and ceremonies.

Vaiṣṇavism has Vedic roots, but more than the Vedic literature it is the
Āgamas
, the
Epics
, and the
Purāṇas
that are considered the Holy Books and the main source of Vaiṣṇavism proper. The
Āgamas
are largely compendia of doctrine and ritual associated with temple service. The most significant Viṣṇu myths are found in
Itihāsa
and
Purāṇa
.

The
Vālmiki Rāmayāṇa
, generally considered the oldest epic poem, seems to have originally described Rāma as an ideal human being, and not as divine. Only later, when Kṛṣṇa had been deified and worshiped as an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu, were certain portions interpolated or rewritten so as to make Rama also an
avatāra
of Viṣṇu.
³⁴
It is the sixteenth century C.E.
Adhyātma Rāmayāṇa
which “reminds the reader at every turn that Rāma was conscious of his divinity at all times although he continued to behave like an ordinary man, suffering patiently the sorrows that fell to his lot.”
³⁵
Tulasidāsa (1486–1533 C.E.) in his
Rāmcaritmānas
already presupposes the belief in the divinity of Rāma.

The
Mahābhārata
in its present form clearly shows itself predominantly Vaiṣṇava-Kṛṣṇaitic. It mentions also Śauras and Śaivas, Ganesas and Sāktas, and relates their mythologies, but overall it favors Vaiṣṇavism. It is also historically the earliest record of Vaiṣṇavism perceived from a Brāhmaṇical point of view and the oldest document for the Pāñcarātra school.

The Viṣṇu mythology of the Purāṇas is partly identical with that of the
Mahābhārata
, and partly it reflects local legends and tribal lore, woven into the great religion of Vaiṣṇavism which accommodated so many disparate elements.
³⁶

Though the nosn-Vedic features of Viṣṇu are more prominent in later Vaiṣṇavism, the Vedic Viṣṇu continues his influence in Epics and Purāṇas, thus forming the link between the Vedic religion and later Hinduism.
Viṣṇu trivikrama
is mentioned often but he hardly evokes associations with the Sun. He is identified with the dwarf mentioned in the Brāhmaṇas, but the Purāṇas and Epics say nothing about the dwarf being sacrificed: the
puruṣa
motif has completely vanished. It is now associated with the Vedic battle of Indra and Viṣṇu against Bali, the leader of the victorious
asuras
. The
Mahābhārata
narrates the Bali-Vāmana-Trivikrama episode in an interpolation.
³⁷
Bali, the king of the Daityas, has conquered the whole world and deprived Indra of his reign. He is about to commence an
aśvamedha
. The gods rush to Viṣṇu beseeching him to interfere. Viṣṇu assumes the form of a young ascetic and appears at Bali’s sacrifice. Bali offers him a boon, Vāmana chooses “three strides,” wins the whole universe and returns it to Indra.

The
Vdlmiki Rāmāyaṇa
adds some details
³⁸
which make it appear a later version of this story. The
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
³⁹
has only a short reference to Vāmana, who is Viṣṇu’s
avatāra
in the Vaivasvata
manvantara
, born from Kaśyapa and Aditī, who covered with three strides the whole universe and returned it to Indra. Bali is mentioned several times – once as the “sinless son of Virocana who would be Indra in the seventh Manvantara.”

The
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
connects with this complex myth an apparition of the
Virat
form of Viṣṇu;
Viṣṇu-Vāmana
is an
avatāra
born to
Aditi.
⁴⁰
He appears at the sacrifice of the world ruler Bali. According to the rules of propriety, Bali asks
Vāmana
to express any wish that he should grant him. Vāmana asks Bali for as much land as he could cover by three strides. Śukrācārya, his
guru
, suspects that something is wrong and tries to warn Bali. Bali does not heed the warning and misfortune strikes:
Vāmana
grows into the Cosmic Being: “With a single stride he measured the earth which belonged to Bali and covered the sky with his person and the quarters with his arms. To him, as he took a second stride, heaven proved of no account, so that indeed not an atom was left for the third. Extending higher and higher the foot of the Cosmic Person presently reached beyond Maharloka and jñānaloka as well as beyond Tapoloka.”
⁴¹
Viṣṇu-Vāmana
as Cosmic Being binds Bali and releases him after a short time. Bali then enters Sutala. The purpose of the
trivikrama
deed is the same as in the Vedas: to free the world from the rule of the
asuras
, to defeat them, and to reinstate the
devas
. In the Vedas it had been a feat of prowess and valor; in the Epics and Purāṇas it becomes a trick and deception –
māyā
.