4

The Rigveda mentions in several places that Vishnu measured out the Earth:

Rigveda 1.154.1–3

1 "I will declare the mighty deeds of Viṣṇu, of him who measured out the earthly regions, Who propped the highest place of congregation, thrice setting down his footstep, widely striding."

2 "For this his mighty deed is Viṣṇu lauded, like some wild beast, dread, prowling, mountain-roaming; He within whose three wide-extended paces all living creatures have their habitation."

3 "Let the hymn lift itself as strength to Viṣṇu, the Bull far-striding, dwelling on the mountains, Him who alone with triple step hath measured this common dwelling-place, long, far extended."

In fact, the measuring out of the Earth by Vishnu with three steps is a motif that occurs in many, many places in the Yajurveda, and the Samaveda, and also in many other places in the Rigveda itself.

Well, these Rigvedic verses indicate that it was Varuna, not Vishnu, who measured out the Earth:

Rigveda 5.85.5

"I will declare this mighty deed of magic, of glorious Varuṇa the Lord Immortal, Who standing in the firmament hath meted the earth out with the Sun as with a measure."

and

Rigveda 8.42.1

"Lord of all wealth, the Asura propped the heavens, and measured out the broad earth's wide expanses. He, King supreme, approached all living creatures. All these are Varuṇa's holy operations."

So who measured out the Earth? Was it Vishnu with his three steps, or was it Varuna? (I was reading one of Keshav Srinivasan's questions: "Who is addressed as "the step of Vishnu" in the Yajur Veda?" He said that the three steps of Vishnu refer to an avatar of Vishnu--Vamana the dwarf--who "made the Earth safe for humanity" by defeating the demon Mahabali by taking three steps. Does this have something to do with the answer to my question?) Or did Vishnu assign the task of measuring out the Earth to Varuna? This seems unlikely, since the Vedas say that Vishnu himself took three steps to measure out the Earth. Or was Varuna the one who measured out the Earth, and all references to Vishnu references to Vamana?

Also, as a side question: why does Rigveda 8.42.1 refer to Varuna as an asura?

Improve this question
6
  • 3
    Vishnu measuring out the Earth with three steps is definitely a reference to Vamana. I'm not sure Varuna measuring the Earth is referring to, but I doubt it's related to the story of Vamana. Also, I asked a question here about the Ashwini Kumaras measuring the Earth: hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/3281/36
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 8:42
  • 1
    The reason that Varuna is sometimes called an Asura is that he, like Chandra and Mitra, sided with the Asuras in the famous Tarakamaya war, which I discuss in this question: hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/3106/36 After that war, Varuna rejoined the side of the gods when it came time for Indra to fight the demon Vritrasura; verse 5 of this hymn of the Rig Veda is what the gods said to convince Varuna to rejoin them: sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10124.htm They promised him that if he returned, they would make him lord of the waters. (Before he was only god of the Rita or law.)
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 13:10
  • OK, thanks. So apparently multiple devas are mentioned in the Vedas as measuring the Earth out, and Vishnu's "measuring of the earth" is just a reference to Vamana the dwarf?
    – AdityaS
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 14:13
  • 1
    It's because Matsya did not technically save Vaivasvata Manu. He saved Vaivasvata Manu's previous birth king Satyavrata, who lived during the Chakshusha Manvantara. Satyavrata was later reborn as Surya's son Vaivasvata Manu, and it's during the Vaivasvata Manvantara (i.e. the present manvantara) that Vishnu's Vamana incarnation took place. See verse 11 of this chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam: vedabase.com/en/sb/8/24
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 18:03
  • 2
    The verses about Vishnu talk about three steps so clearly its a reference to his Vamana incarnation whereas the ones for Varun don't mention these. It has to be a different story than the one for Lord Vishnu.
    – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal
    Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 11:06

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

The word asura is an epithet in Rig Veda, used to indicate the Almighty.

Varuna is another epithet used to indicate Brahman or Almighty. AGNI or VARUNA or INDRA or VISHNU were mentioned, alternatively, in many places in Rig Veda to indicate the Almighty.

Rig Veda II.1, for example, makes it clear that AGNI or VISHNU or INDRA or VARUNA, etc, are the epithets used to indicate the same BRAHMAN.

Coming to the aspect of measuring by VISHNU or VARUNA, we have understand it in esoteric sense only.

It indicates pervading nature of Almighty. The BRAHMAN spreads or pervades the entire EARTH.

In repsect of 3 strides of VISHNU, it indicates, pervasiveness of BRAHMAN in 3 regions, EARTH, HEAVEN and ETHER.

We have to remember that VAMANA is mentioned in subsequent literature, but not Rig Veda, linking the 3 strides of VISHNU to VAMANA.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    "We have to remember that VAMANA is mentioned in subsequent literature, but not Rig Veda, linking the 3 strides of VISHNU to VAMANA." Precisely my thoughts.
    – user16581
    Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 8:43
1

Rigveda 2:3-4"Hero of Heroes, Agni! Thou art Indra, thou art Viṣṇu of the Mighty Stride, adorable:Thou, Brahmaṇaspati, the Brahman finding wealth: thou, O Sustainer, with thy wisdom tendest us. Agni, thou art King Varuṇa whose laws stand fast; as Mitra, Wonder-Worker, thou must be implored."

Here you can see that Agni in rigveda is used for Vishnu Agni again is used for varuna i.e. these are used as epithets for god.

Vishnu=Agni=Varuna

So if Vedas saying that Varuna measured the earth, they are indicating to Vishnu.

As we all know that Vishnu is the protector of Earth, I think that it is used to say that God is everywhere or anything similar to it. It may be reffering to Vamana but Vamana was a puranic god while Vedas are very ancient so they may or may not be talking about Vamana.

Yaska give the etymology of asura as follows (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/22135/19001)

    1. a-su-rata > a (na) su (susthu) ra (rata) sthanesu 'not fixed at one place' or 'not very happy'
    1. as (√as 'to throw') -u-ra 'thrown out or striped out from their place'
    1. asu + ra 'possessed of breath'
    1. a (na) - su (good) -ra 'born out of evil'
    1. (v)-asurtva > vasurtva 'possessor of water/wealth'

In Vedas asura is used for both good and bad.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .