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Ṛṣi Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
7 Verses
Meter: triṣṭubh
paro mātrayā tanvṛ vṛdhāna na te mahitvam anv aśnuvanti |
ubhe te vidma rajasī pṛthivyā viṣṇo deva tvam paramasya vitse ||
na te viṣṇo jāyamāno na jāto deva mahimnaḥ param antam āpa |
ud astabhnā nākam ṛṣvam bṛhantaṃ dādhartha prācīṃ kakubham pṛthivyāḥ ||
irāvatī dhenumatī hi bhūtaṃ sūyavasinī manuṣe daśasyā |
vy astabhnā rodasī viṣṇav ete dādhartha pṛthivīm abhito mayūkhaiḥ ||
uruṃ yajñāya cakrathur ulokaṃ janayantā sūryam uṣāsam aghnim |
dāsasya cid vṛṣaśiprasya māyā jaghnathur narā pṛtanājyeṣu ||
indrāviṣṇū dṛṃhitāḥ śambarasya nava puro navatiṃ ca śnathiṣṭam |
śataṃ varcinaḥ sahasraṃ ca sākaṃ hatho apraty asurasya vīrān ||
iyam manīṣā bṛhatī bṛhantorukramā tavasā vardhayantī |
rare vāṃ stomaṃ vidatheṣu viṣṇo pinvatam iṣo vṛjaneṣv indra ||
vaṣaṭ te viṣṇav āsa ā kṛṇomi tan me juṣasva śipiviṣṭa havyam |
vardhantu tvā suṣṭutayo ghiro me yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ ||
(note: please research other sources for additional context & meaning that this latest academic translation does not explore)
Translation:
1. O you who have grown with your body beyond measure, they do not attain to your greatness.
We (only) know both your dusky realms of the earth; god Viṣṇu, you yourself know the farthest one.
2. No one now born, no one previously born has reached the far end of your greatness, god Viṣṇu.
You propped up the vault, lofty and high; you fixed fast the eastern peak of the earth.
3. “Since you two are full of refreshment, rich in milk-cows, become ones affording good pasture for Manu through your favor”—
(So saying,) you propped apart these two world-halves, Viṣṇu; you fixed the earth fast all around with loom-pegs.
4. You two made a wide place for the sacrifice, while you were generating the sun, the dawn, the fire.
The magical wiles even of the Dāsa Vr̥ ṣaśipra did you smite in the battle drives, you two superior men.
5. O Indra and Viṣṇu, you pierced the nine and ninety fortified strongholds of Śambara.
At one blow you smite the hundred and thousand heroes of the lord Varcin without opposition.
6. Here is a lofty inspired thought that strengthens the two lofty, wide-striding, powerful ones.
I have granted you two praise at the rites of distribution, o Viṣṇu; you two, swell the nourishments in the ritual enclosures, o Indra.
7. I make the vaṣaṭ-cry to you from my mouth, Viṣṇu. Enjoy this oblation of mine, Śipiviṣṭa.
Let my lovely praises, my hymns strengthen you. – Do you protect us always with your blessings.
Commentary:
As has been discussed previously, Viṣṇu, one of the great gods of classical Hinduism, is a marginal figure in the R̥ gveda, generally associated with Indra. Viṣṇu’s primary mythic exploit in Vedic is the “three strides” he made across the cosmos, measuring out, enlarging, and mapping the cosmic spaces. In middle Vedic literature and later, Viṣṇu takes the form of a dwarf when making these vast strides, but there is no trace of this notion in the R̥ gveda.
The first three verses of this hymn are addressed solely to Viṣṇu and allude to his establishment and fixation of the cosmic spaces, though without directly mention- ing his three strides. The first verse does sketch (in the second half) the three sepa- rate realms with which Viṣṇu is associated, an indirect reference to the three strides; but in verses 2 and 3 the action that creates the spaces is “propping,” an action more characteristic of Indra. However, in verse 3 Viṣṇu fastens the earth down with “loom pegs,” a homely device in a way. The word (mayū́ kha) is found only one other time in the R̥ gveda, in verse 2 of the late hymn X.130, where the creation of the sacrifice is likened to weaving. This verse is also noteworthy for Viṣṇu’s direct address to Heaven and Earth as he props them apart.
The second three verses (4–6) are dedicated to Indra and Viṣṇu together, and though heroic deeds are attributed to both of them, the deeds themselves are ones assigned only to Indra elsewhere (e.g., the destruction of Śambara and of Varcin in vs. 5). It is not unusual in hymns addressed to dual divinities for the more dynamic mythology of one to be credited to both.
The final verse is dedicated to Viṣṇu alone (Śipiviṣṭa being an enigmatic epithet of Viṣṇu found in the R̥ gveda only in this and the following hymn), though the sen- timents of the verse are conventional. For further on the epithet, see the next hymn.