Page:The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.djvu/375

Rh "And may Vishnu and the wind, uninjuring, and Soma, the CHAP, bestower of riches, give us happiness. And may the Ribhus, "

Asvins, Tvashtri, and Vibhvan be favourable to us, so as to grant us weahh. " ^ Much of the later mythology respecting Vishnu turns on the Dwarf In- Dwarf Incarnation, which may be compared with the myth of the maimed Hephaistos. In both cases the defect is simply a veil putting out of view the irresistible power of the god. The fire at its birth is weak, and its flame puny ; the sun sheds but little warmth as he rests on the horizon at his rising ; and it might well be said that none could tell how vast a power lay in these seemingly weak and helpless beings. So Vishnu, manifesting himself as the Dwarf, obtains from the Asuras as much as he can lie upon, or as much as he can cover in three strides. It is thus that Bali, the great enemy of the gods, is overcome. Having conquered the three worlds, Bali terrifies Indra, who, with other deities, beseeches Vishnu to take the shape of a dwarf and deceive their conqueror. Having in this shape approached the son of Virochana and obtained the boon of the three paces, " the thrice-stepping Vishnu assumed a miraculous form, and with three paces took possession of the worlds. For with one step he occupied the whole earth, with a second the eternal atmosphere, and with a third the sky. Having then assigned to the Asura Bali an abode in Patala (the infernal region), he gave the empire of the three worlds to Indra. " ^ In the Mahabharata this fact is ascribed to Krishna, who, having become tbe son of Aditi, was called Vishnu.* In the Bhagavata Purana the story assumes proportions almost as vast as those of the god whom it seeks to glorify. No sooner has Bali granted the seemingly moderate request of Hari or Vishnu, than the body of the dwarf begins to expand and fills the whole universe, and Bali is bound with the chains of Varuna.^ This dwarf appears elsewhere in the person of the child Kumara, the son of Aushasi, the daughter of the dawn.^ Thus throughout we are dealing with phrases which the Hindu commentators knew to be mere phrases; and thus also without a thought of injustice done to the deities whom he seemed to

' R. V. V. 46 ; Muir, Sansh-tt pared with Menelaos : in other words, Texts, pt. iv. p. 69. he is Shortshanks (Grimm). Boots is

^ Ramayana, i. 2,22 ',Mnir, ib. 1 17. despised for his insignilkant stature, 118. contempt. The idea of mere diminu-
 * Muir, Sans/cHl Texts, pt. iv. p. and the Master Thief incurs the same

of many of the heroes of popular tradi- reality as little to be despised as any tion must be traced to this idea. Odys- other hero of Aryan legends. seus is small, when he stands, as com-
 * /(/. i!>. p. 125, &c. tivcness issues at length in the stories of
 * Id. ill. p. 284. The diminutive size Tom Thumb : but Tom Thumb is in