1

RV 1.154,
i: drghatam aucathya; devat viu; chanda: triup

iv:[ae/r! nu k<? vI/yaRi[/ vae?c</ y> paiwR?vain ivm/me rja<?is ,

yae ASk?-ay/d! %?r< s/xSw<? ivcma/[s! e/xae?ga/y> . 1-154-01

td! iv:[u? Stvte vI/yR[ m&/gae n -I/m> k?c/rae ig?ir/a> ,

ySyae/;u? i/;u iv/m?[e:v! Aixi]/yiNt/ -uv?nain/ iva? . 1-154-02

iv:[?ve zU/;m! @?tu/ mNm? igir/i]t? %ga/yay/ v&:[e? ,

y #/d< dI/"Rm! y?t< s/xSw/m! @kae? ivm/me i/i-r! #t! p/dei->? . 1-154-03

ySy/ I pU/[aR mxu?na p/daNy! A]I?yma[a Sv/xya/ md?iNt ,

y %? i/xatu? p&iw/vIm! %/t *am! @kae? da/xar/ -uv?nain/ iva? . 1-154-04

td! A?Sy i/ym! A/i- pawae? AZya</ nrae/ y? dev/yvae/ md?iNt ,

%///mSy/ s ih bNxu?r! #/Twa iv:[ae>? p/de p?r/me mXv/ %Ts>? . 1-154-05

ta va</ vaStU?Ny! %Zmis/ gm?XyE/ y/ gavae/ -Uir?z&a A/yas>? ,

Aah/ td! %?ga/ySy/ v&:[>? pr/mm! p/dm! Av? -ait/ -Uir? . 1-154-06
 2

Vishnu, the All-Pervading Godhead 1

The d eity of this hy mn is Vishnu the all-pervading, who in t he Ri g
Veda ha s a close but covert co nn ection and almost an i dentity wi th
the ot her deity exalted in the later rel igion, Rudra. Rudra i s a
fierce and violent godhead with a ben eficent asp ect which
approaches the supreme blissful reality of Vishnu; Vishnu's
constant friendli ness to man and his hel ping gods is shadowed by
an aspect of formidabl e violence,like a terribl e lion ranging i n
evil and difficul t places,which i s spoken of i n terms more
ordinarily appropri ate to Rudra. R udra i s the father o f the
vehemently-battling Maruts; Vi shnu i s hymned in the last Sukta of
the fi fth Mand ala u nder th e name of Evaya M arut as the source
from which they s prang, t hat which they become and himself
identical with the unity and t otality of thei r embattled forces.
Rudra is th e Deva or Deity ascen ding in the cosmos, Vish nu
the same D eva or Deity help ing and evoking th e powers of
the ascent.
It was a vi ew long populari sed by European scholars th at the
great ness of Vishn u and Shiva in the Puranic theogoni es was a
later development and that in th e Veda these gods have a qui te
minor position and are inferior to Indra and Agni. It has even
become a current o pinion among many scholars that Shiva was a
later conception borrowed from the Dravidians and repres ents a
partial conquest of the Vedic rel igi on by the indi genous culture it
had invad ed. Th es e errors ari se inevit ably as part of the total
misunderstandi ng of Vedic thought for which the ol d B rah manic
ritualism is responsible and to which European scholarship by the
exaggerati on of a minor and external element in the Vedic
mythology has onl y given a new and y et more misleading form.
The importance of the Vedi c gods has not to be measured by the
number of hymns devoted to them or by the ext ent to which they
are invoked in t he thought s of the Ri shis, but by the fun ctions
whi ch they p erform. Agni and Indra to whom the majority of the
Vedic hymns are address ed, are not great er than Vishnu and
Rudra, but t he functions which they fulfil in the internal and
external worl d were t he most active, dominant and directly
effective for the psychologi cal discipline of the ancient M ystics;
thi s alone is the reason of their predominance. The Maruts ,
children of Rudra, are not divini ties superi or t o th eir fierce an d
mighty Father; but t hey h av e many hymns add res sed to t hem and
are far more consta ntly mentioned in connection with other gods,

1 Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 343

 3

because t he function they fulfilled was of a const ant and i mmediate

importance in the Vedic discipline. On the other hand, Vishnu,
Rudra, Brahmanaspati , the Vedic originals of the l ater Pura nic
Triad, Vishnu-S hiva-Bra hma, provide the conditions of the Vedic
work and assist it from behind the more present and active gods,
but are less cl ose to it and in appearanc e less conti nually
concerned in its dai ly movements.
Bra hmanaspati is the creator by the Word ; he calls light and visibl e
cosmos out of the darkn ess of th e inconscient ocea n and speeds
the formati ons of conscious being upward to their supreme goal. It
is from this creative a spect of Bra hmanaspati that t he later
conception of Brahma the Creator a rose.
For t he upward movement of Brahman aspati's formations Rudra
supplies the force. He is named in the Veda the Mighty One of
Heaven, but h e begi ns his work upon t he earth and gi ves effect to
the sacrifice on the five planes of our asc ent. He i s the Vi olent One
who leads the upward evoluti on of th e conscious being; his force
battles against al l ev il, smites the si nner and t he enemy; intolera nt
of defect and st umbling he is th e most t errible of the gods, the one
of whom alone the Vedic Rishi s have any real fea r. Agni, the
Kumara, prototype of the Pura nic Skanda, is on earth the c hild of
thi s force of R udra.
The Ma ruts , vital powers whi ch make light for themselves by
violence, are R udra' s children. Agni and the Maruts are the l eaders
of the fi erce struggl e upward from Rudra's first earthly, obscure
creation to th e heav ens of thought, th e luminous worlds. But this
violent and mighty Rudra who breaks down all defecti ve formations
and groupings of outward and inward life, has also a b enigner
aspect. He is the su preme healer. Opposed, he destroys; called on
for aid and propiti ated h e heals all wounds and all evil and all
sufferings. The force that battles is his gift, but also the final
peace and joy. In thes e aspects of th e Vedic god a re all the
pri miti ve materials necessa ry for t he evoluti on of the Pura nic
Shiva-Rudra, th e des troyer and heal er, t he auspicious and terrible,
the Mast er of th e force t hat acts in the worlds and t he Yogin who
enjoys the supreme liberty and peace.
For the formations of Brahmanaspati 's word, for the actions of
Rudra's force Vish nu s uppli es the necess ary static el ements,
Space, th e ordered movements of the worlds, the ascendi ng levels,
the highest goal . He has t aken t hree strides and i n t he space
creat ed by the three strides has established all the worlds. In
thes e worlds he the all-pervading dwel ls and gives l ess or great er
room to the acti on a nd movements of th e gods. When Indra woul d
slay Vritra, he first prays to Vishnu, his friend and comrade in the
great struggle, O Vishnu, pace out in t hy movement with an utter
wideness, and in t hat wideness he destroys Vritra who limits,
 4

Vritra who covers. T he supreme st ep of Vishnu, his hi ghest seat, is

the tri ple world of bl iss and light, priyam padam, which the wise
ones s ee extend ed in heav en like a shi ning eye of vision; it is this
hi ghest seat of Vish nu t hat is t he goal of the Vedi c journey. Here
agai n t he Vedic Vi sh nu is t he n atu ral precursor a nd s uffi ci ent origi n
of the Puranic Narayana, Preserver and L ord of Love.
In the Veda i ndeed its fundamental conception forbids the P ura nic
arrang ement of the supreme Tri nity and the l esser gods. To the
Vedic Rishis there was only one universal Deva of whom Vishnu,
Rudra, Brahmanaspati, Agni, Indra, Vayu, Mitra, Va ru na are all
alike forms and cosmic aspects. Each of them is in hi mself the
whole Deva and c ontai ns all the other gods. It was t he full
emergence in the Upanishads of the i dea of this supreme a nd only
Deva, left i n the Riks vague and und efi ned and someti mes even
spoken of i n t he neut er as That or the one sole existence, t he
ritualistic limitation of the other gods and the prog ressi ve precision
of their huma n or personal aspects under th e stress of a g rowing
mythology that led to thei r degradation and the enthron ement of
the less us ed a nd more general names and forms, B rahma, Vishnu
and R udra, in t he fi nal Puranic formulation of the Hindu theogony.
In this hymn of Dirghatamas Auchat hya t o the all-pervading Vishnu
it is his significant activity, i t is the greatnes s of Vishnu' s three
strides t hat is cel ebrated . We must di smiss from our minds th e
ideas proper to t he later mythology. We have nothing to do here
with the dwarf Vishnu, the Ti tan Bali and th e three divine strides
whi ch took possessi on of Eart h, H eaven a nd th e sunless
subterrestrial worlds of Patala. The three strides of Vishnu in the
Veda are clearly defi ned by Dirghatamas as earth, heaven a nd th e
triple principl e, tridhtu. It is this triple principle beyond Heaven or
superimposed upon it as its highest level, nakasya phe, which is
the s upreme stride or supreme s eat of th e all-pervadi ng dei ty.
Vi shnu i s t he wide-moving one. He is t hat which has gon e abroad
as it is put in the la nguage of th e Isha Upanishad, sa parya gt,
triply extending himself as Seer, Thi nker and Fo rmer, in the
superconscient Bliss, in the heaven of mi nd, in the earth of the
physical consciousness, tredha vicakramaa.

In those t hree st rides he h as meas ured out, he has formed in all

their ext en sion the earthly worlds; for in the Vedic idea th e
material world which we inhabit is only one of s everal steps l eading
to and supporting t he vital and mental worl ds beyond. In thos e
strides he supports upon the eart h and mid-worl d,the eart h the
material , the mid-world the vi tal realms of Vayu, Lord of the
dynamic Li fe-pri ncipl e,the tripl e heaven and its three l uminous
summits, tri rocan. Thes e heavens t he Rishi descri bes as the
hi gher seat of the fulfilling. Eart h, th e mid-worl d and heav en a re
 5

the triple place of the conscious being's progressi ve s elf-fulfilling,

triadha stha, eart h the lower seat, the vi tal world the middle,
heav en the high er. All these are co ntained in t he threefol d
movement of Vishnu. 2
But there is more; there is al so the world where the s elf-fulfilment
is accomplished, Vi shnu' s hi ghest st ride. In th e second verse t he
seer speaks of i t si mply as that; that Vishn u, moving yet
forward in his third pace affirms or fi rmly establishes, pra stavate,
by his divi ne might. Vishnu is then d es cri bed i n language which
hi nts at his essential identity wi th the terrible Rudra, the fierce and
dang erous Lion of the worl ds who begins in the evolution as th e
Master of the animal, Pashupati, and moves upward on the
mountain of being on which he dwells, ranging t hro ugh more and
more difficult and inaccessible pl aces, till he stands upo n the
summits. Thus i n these three wi de movements of Vishnu al l the five
worl ds and their creatures have their ha bitation. Earth, heav en and
that world of bliss are t he three st rides. Between eart h and
heav en is the A ntari ksha, t he vital worl ds, literally the intervening
habi tation. Between heaven a nd the world of bliss is another vast
Antariksha or int erveni ng habi tation, Maha rloka, the world of the
superconscient Truth of things. 3

The force and the t hought of man, the force that proceed s from
Rudra th e Mighty and t he thought th at proceeds from
Bra hmanaspati, the creative Master of the Word, have to go
forward in the great journey for or towards thi s Vishnu who stands
at th e goal, on t he summi t, on the p eak of the mount ain. His is this
wide universal movement; he is the Bull of the world who enjoys
and fertilises all the en ergies of force an d al l the trooping herds of
the tho ught. Thi s fa r-fl ung extended space which appears to us as
the world of our self-fulfilment, as th e triple altar of th e great
sacrifice has been so measured out, so formed by only three
strides of that almighty Infinite. 4

Al l the three are full of the hon ey-wi ne of the delight of existenc e.
Al l of them this Vishnu fills wi th his divine joy of being. By that

2 vor n ka vryi pr voca y p r thivni vimam rjsi

y skab hyad ttara sadh sth a vi cakrams trdhrugy 1.1 54.01

3 pr td vu stavat e vryea mr g n b h m kucar girih

ysyoru t ri vikrmae u adhikiynti bhvanni vv 1.15 4.02
4pr vav e m etu mnma girikta urug y y a v e
y id d rghm pryata sadh st ham ko vimam tribhr t padbhi
1.154.03
 6

they a re eternally maintained a nd they do not waste or perish, but

in the s el f-harmony of thei r nat ural movement hav e always th e
unfai ling ecstasy, the imperishable intoxication of thei r wide and
limitl ess existence. Vi shnu maintains them unfailingl y, pres erv es
them imperi shably.
He is the One, h e alone i s, t he sole-existing Godhead, and he holds
in his being the tripl e divine principle to which we attain in the
worl d of bliss, eart h where we h ave our fou ndation and heaven
also which we touch by the ment al person wi thin us. All the five
worl ds he uphol ds. 5

The tridhtu, t he t riple principl e or triple material of exi stence, is

the Sac hchi dananda of the Vedanta; in the ordinary langu age of
the Ved a it is vasu, substance, rj, aboundi ng force of our being,
pri yam or mayas, deli ght and love in the very essence of our
existence. Of thes e three t hings all that exists is constituted and
we attain to their fullness when we arrive at the goal of our
journey.
That goal is Deli ght, the l ast of Vishnu' s three strides. The Ri shi
takes up t he indef inite word tat by which he first vaguely
indicated it; it si gni fied the del ight that is the goal of Vishn u's
movement. It i s the Ananda which for m an in his ascent is a worl d
in which he tastes divine delight, possess es the ful l energy of
infinite consciousnes s, real ises his infinite exi stence. Th ere i s that
hi gh-placed source of the hon ey-wine of existence of which the
three st rides of Vi shnu are full.
There th e souls that seek t he godhead l ive in the utter ecst asy of
that wine of sweetness. There in th e sup reme stride, in the highest
seat of wide-movi ng Vishnu is th e fount ain of the honey-wine, t he
source of the divine sweet nes s,for th at whi ch dwel ls there i s the
Godhead, the D eva, the perfect Friend a nd Lover of the soul s that
aspire to him, the unmoving and utter reality of Vishnu t o which
the wide-moving God in the cosmos ascends. 6
Thes e are the two, Vi shnu of the movement h ere, the et ern ally
stable, bliss-enjoyi ng D eva there, a nd it is those supreme dwelling-
pl aces of th e Twain, it i s the t ripl e world of Sachchidananda which
we desire a s t he g oal of this long jo urney, this great u pward
movement. It is thither that the many-horn ed herds of the

5 ysya tr pr mdhun pad n i kyam svad hy mdanti

y u tri dh t u pr thiv m ut dy m ko ddh r a bhvanni v v 1.154.04

6 td asya priym abh p t ho ay nro ytra devay vo md anti

urukramsya s h bndh ur itth v o pad param mdhv a tsa
1.154.05
 7

conscious Thought, the conscious Fo rce are movingthat is the

goal , that is t heir resting-place. There in those worlds, gleaming
down on us here, i s the vast, full , illimitabl e shining of the
supreme stri de, the highest seat of t he wi de-moving Bull, master
and lead er of al l thos e many-horned herds,Vishnu the all-
pervadi ng, t he cosmic D eity, the Lover and Friend of our souls, the
Lord of the tran scen dent existence and t he transcend ent delight. 7

Analysis of 1.154

iv:[ae/r! nu k<? vI/yaRi[/ vae?c</ y> paiwR?vain ivm/me rja<?is ,

yae ASk?-ay/d! %?r< s/xSw<? ivcma/[s! e/xae?ga/y> . 1-154-01

vor n k a v ryi pr voca

y p r thivni vimam rjsi
y skab hyad ttara sadh sth a
vicakrams trdhrugy 1.154.01

1. Of Vishnu now I decl are th e mighty works, who h as meas ured

out the earthly worlds and t hat higher seat of our s elf-
accompl ishing he supports, he the wide-movi ng, in the threefold
steps of his u niversal movement.

Interpretation:
I shall speak now of the mightinesses of Vishnu, the All-Pervading Godhead,
who thus measured all the earthly spaces here in the Matter; who thus supports
the Higher Common Station, moving out with his triple steps wide open.

The three strides of Vishnu in t he Veda are clearly defined by

Dirghatamas as earth, heav en a nd th e t ripl e princi ple, tri dhtu. It
is this tri ple principle beyond H eaven or superimposed upon it as
its highest level , n akasya p h e, which is the s upreme stri de or
supreme seat of the all-pervadi ng dei ty.
Vi shnu i s t he wide-moving one. He is t hat which has gon e abroad
as it is put in the la nguage of th e Isha Upanishad, sa parya gt,
triply extending himself as Seer, Thi nker and Fo rmer, in the
superconscient Bliss, in the heaven of mi nd, in the earth of the
physical consciousness, tredha vicakramaa.

7 t v v stni umasi gmadhyai ytra g vo bh r ir g ay s a

tr ha td urug ys ya v a paramm padm va bhti bh r i 1.15 4.06
 8

In those t hree st rides he h as meas ured out, he has formed in all

their ext en sion the earthly worlds; for in the Vedic idea th e
material world which we inhabit is only one of s everal steps l eading
to and supporting t he vital and mental worl ds beyond. In thos e
strides he supports upon the eart h and mid-worl d,the eart h the
material , the mid-world the vi tal realms of Vayu, Lord of the
dynamic Li fe-pri ncipl e,the tripl e heaven and its three l uminous
summits, tri rocan. Thes e heavens t he Rishi descri bes as the
hi gher seat of the fulfilling. Eart h, th e mid-worl d and heav en a re
the triple place of the conscious being's progressi ve s elf-fulfilling,
triadha stha, eart h the lower seat, the vi tal world the middle,
heav en the high er. All these are co ntained in t he threefol d
movement of Vishnu.

Griffiths translation:
I WILL declare the mighty deeds of Visnu, of him who measured out the earthly
regions, Who propped the highest place of congregation, thrice setting down his
footstep, widely striding.

Vocabulary:
nu kam, cf. P. 3-2 , 121(often connected with other particles , esp. with negatives e.g.
nahinu, by no means, nakirnu: no one or nothing at all; often also ghanu, hanu, innu,
nukam &c. nucit, either for ever , evermore ; at once , forthwith or , never , never
more;
skambh, skabh, (prob. a mere phonetic variety of stambh q.v.; in native lists written
skanbh) cl. 5. 9. P. (Dhtup. xxxi , 8 P. 3-1 , 82) skabhnoti, skabhnti (accord. to
Dhtup. x , 27 also cl. 1. A. skambhate [1257,1] ; pr. p. skabhnuvat Br. ; skabhyati, to
prop , support , fix RV. VS.

td! iv:[u? Stvte vI/yR[ m&/gae n -I/m> k?c/rae ig?ir/a> ,

ySyae/;u? i/;u iv/m?[e:v! Aixi]/yiNt/ -uv?nain/ iva? . 1-154-02

pr td v u stav at e vr yea
mr g n bhm kuc ar girih
ysyoru t ri vikrmae u
adhi kiynti bhvan ni vv 1.154.02

2. That Vishnu affirms on high by his mightiness and he is l ike a

terri ble lion that ran ges in the diffi cult places, yea, his lair is on
the mount ai n-tops, h e i n whose three wi de movements al l the
worl ds find their dwelling-pl ace.
 9

Interpretation:
Forward is That affirmed by Mightiness as Vishnu! As if a scary creature, whose
path is unknown, staying in the high mountain; in whose here three wide steps
all the becomings dwell [or, all the worlds find their place to dwell]!

But there is more; there i s also the worl d where th e self-fulfilment

is accomplished, Vi shnu' s hi ghest st ride. In th e second verse t he
seer speaks of i t si mply as that; that Vishn u, moving yet
forward in his third pace affirms or fi rmly establishes, pra stavate,
by his divi ne might. Vishnu is then d es cri bed i n language which
hi nts at his essential identity wi th the terrible Rudra, the fierce and
dang erous Lion of the worl ds who begins in the evolution as th e
Master of the animal, Pashupati, and moves upward on the
mountain of being on which he dwells, ranging t hro ugh more and
more difficult and inaccessible pl aces, till he stands upo n the
summits. Thus i n these three wi de movements of Vishnu al l the five
worl ds and their creatures have their ha bitation. Earth, heav en and
that world of bliss are t he three st rides. Between eart h and
heav en is the A ntari ksha, t he vital worl ds, literally the intervening
habi tation. Between heaven a nd the world of bliss is another vast
Antariksha or int erv eni ng habi tation, Maha rloka, the world of the
superconscient Truth of things.

Griffiths translation:
For this his mighty deed is Visnu lauded, like some wild beast, dread, prowling,
mountainroaming; He within whose three wideextended paces all living
creatures have their habitation.

Vocabulary:
Ku-cara, mfn. roaming about RV. i , 154 , 2; following evil practices , wicked MBh. xiv ,
107

iv:[?ve zU/;m! @?tu/ mNm? igir/i]t? %ga/yay/ v&:[e? ,

y #/d< dI/"Rm! y?t< s/xSw/m! @kae? ivm/me i/i-r! #t! p/dei->? . 1-154-03

pr v av e m et u mnma
gi rikta urugy y a v e
y id d rghm pryata sadh st ham
ko vimam tribhr t padbhi 1.15 4.0 3

3. Let our strength and our t hought go forward to Vishnu the all-
pervadi ng, t he wide-moving Bull whose dwelling-place is on the
mountain, h e who being One has measured all thi s l ong and fa r-
 10

extendi ng s eat of our self-accomplishing by onl y three of hi s

strides.

Interpretation:
Forward must go o ur Shini ng Strengt h a nd Word carrying Thought!
To Vishnu, dwell ing on the hei ghts, girikite, to the Bull wi de
moving, urugyya ve!
Who this huge, drgham, and expanded, p rayat am, common seat of
Al l, sadhastham, alone, eka, has meas ured [or, creat ed], vimame,
by hi s three st eps.

The force and t he thought of man, the force that proceeds from
Rudra th e Mighty and t he thought th at proceeds from
Bra hmanaspati, the creative Master of the Word, have to go
forward in the great journey for or towards thi s Vishnu who stands
at th e goal, on t he summi t, on the p eak of the mount ain. His is this
wide universal movement; he is the Bull of the world who enjoys
and fertilises all the en ergies of force an d al l the trooping herds of
the tho ught. Thi s fa r-fl ung extended space which appears to us as
the world of our self-fulfilment, as th e triple altar of th e great
sacrifice has been so measured out, so formed by only three
strides of that almighty Infinite.

Griffiths translation:
Let the hymn lift itself as strength to Visnu, the Bull farstriding, dwelling on the
mountains, Him who alone with triple step hath measured this common
dwellingplace, long, far extended.

Vocabulary:
manman, n. thought , understanding , intellect , wisdom RV.; expression of thought i.e.
hymn , prayer , petition ib.

ySy/ I pU/[aR mxu?na p/daNy! A]I?yma[a Sv/xya/ md?iNt ,

y %? i/xatu? p&iw/vIm! %/t *am! @kae? da/xar/ -uv?nain/ iva? . 1-154-04

ysya tr pr mdhun pad n i

kyam svadh y mdanti
y u tri dh t u pr thiv m ut dy m
ko dd h r a bhv an ni v v 1.15 4.0 4

4. He whose th ree st eps are full of the honey-wine and t hey perish
not but have ecsta sy by the s elf-harmony of their nat ure; yea , he
 11

being One holds th e triple principle and earth and heaven also,
even all the worlds.

Interpretation:
Whose t hree st eps a re i mperishabl e, akyamn, full of Honey,
and by th emselves a re thus rejoi cing, svadhay madanti! Who is
alone upholdi ng vast triple Foundation, a nd Earth and Heaven , and
all the worlds of becoming.

All the th ree are full of the honey-wine of the d el ight of existence.
Al l of them this Vishnu fills wi th his divine joy of being. By that
they a re eternally maintained a nd they do not waste or perish, but
in the s el f-harmony of thei r nat ural movement hav e always th e
unfai ling ecstasy, the imperishable intoxication of thei r wide and
limitl ess existence. Vi shnu maintains them unfailingl y, pres erv es
them imperi shably.
He is the One, h e alone i s, t he sole-existing Godhead, and he holds
in his being the tripl e divine principle to which we attain in the
worl d of bliss, eart h where we h ave our fou ndation and heaven
also which we touch by the ment al person wi thin us. All the five
worl ds he uphol ds.

Griffiths translation:
Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it
may list them, who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and
all living creatures.

td! A?Sy i/ym! A/i- pawae? AZya</ nrae/ y? dev/yvae/ md?iNt ,

%///mSy/ s ih bNxu?r! #/Twa iv:[ae>? p/de p?r/me mXv/ %Ts>? . 1-154-05

td asy a priym abh p t ho ay

nro y tra devayvo mdanti
urukramsya s h bndh ur itth
vo pad param mdhva tsa 1.15 4.05

5. May I attai n to and enjoy t hat goal of his movement, the

Delight, where souls that seek t he godhead have the raptu re; for
there i n that highest step of the wi de-moving Vi shnu is that F riend
of men who is the fount of th e sweet ness.

Interpretation:
May I realize a nd partake in That Del ight of hi s, which is the Goal
of his Path, where th e souls of men, s eeking the Divine realization,
 12

rejoice, for He i s the Friend of the wi de-s triding Vishnu, the

fountain of hi s sweet ness in his tran scend ent movement!
The bandhu , the relative or fri end of Vishnu and of men i s
mentioned, nandamaya pu ru a, a s i t were, who th us relates to
men and to t he Godh ead, and who i s the fountain of his sweet nes s
here. S ri Aurobi ndo expl ains that this ba ndhu is the Transcendental
static Spirit, wherea s Vishnu is the dyna mic power of creation.
Thes e two creat e al l dwelling spaces here, mentioned in th e n ext
vers e.

The tridht u, the triple principle or tri ple material of exi stence, is
the Sac hchi dananda of the Vedanta; in the ordinary langu age of
the Ved a it is vasu, substance, rj, aboundi ng force of our being,
pri yam or mayas, deli ght and love in the very essence of our
existence. Of thes e three t hings all that exists is constituted and
we attain to their fullness when we arrive at the goal of our
journey.
That goal is Deli ght, the l ast of Vishnu' s three strides. The Ri shi
takes up t he indef inite word tat by which he first vaguely
indicated it; it si gni fied the del ight that is the goal of Vishn u's
movement. It i s the Ananda which for m an in his ascent is a worl d
in which he tastes divine delight, possess es the ful l energy of
infinite consciousnes s, real ises his infinite exi stence. Th ere is that
hi gh-placed source of the hon ey-wine of existence of which the
three st rides of Vi shnu are full.
There th e souls that seek t he godhead l ive in the utter ecst asy of
that wine of sweetness. There in th e sup reme stride, in the highest
seat of wide-movi ng Vishnu is th e fount ain of the honey-wine, t he
source of the divine sweet nes s,for th at whi ch dwel ls there i s the
Godhead, the D eva, the perfect Friend a nd Lover of the soul s that
aspire to him, the unmoving and utter reality of Vishnu t o which
the wide-moving God in the cosmos ascends.

Griffiths translation:
May I attain to that his wellloved mansion where men devoted to the Gods are
happy. For there springs, close akin to the WideStrider, the well of meath in
Visnu's highest footstep.

Vocabulary:
pthas, n. a spot , place RV. AV. Br.; food Nir. viii , 17; air ib. vi , 7; water Kv. Rjat.

ta va</ vaStU?Ny! %Zmis/ gm?XyE/ y/ gavae/ -Uir?z&a A/yas>? ,

Aah/ td! %?ga/ySy/ v&:[>? pr/mm! p/dm! Av? -ait/ -Uir? . 1-154-06
 13

t v v s tni uma si gmadhyai

ytra g v o bh r ir g ay s a
tr h a td urug ys ya v a
paramm padm va bhti bh r i 1.15 4.06

6. Those are t he dwelling-pl aces of ye twain which we desi re as

the go al of our journey where th e many-h orn ed h erds of Li ght go
travel ling; the highest step of wi de-moving Vishnu shines do wn on
us h ere i n its manifold vastness .

Interpretation:
Thes e two dwelling spaces of yours we want to possess, where th e
many-horned h erds of light of Knowl edge do return! Here That, the
Highest Place of the wide-moving Bull, is shining over us i n its own
vastness.

Thes e are t he two, Vishnu of th e movement h ere, t he eternally

stable, bliss-enjoyi ng D eva there, a nd it is those supreme dwelling-
pl aces of th e Twain, it i s the t ripl e world of Sachchidananda which
we desire a s t he g oal of this long journey, this great u pward
movement. It is thither that the many-horn ed herds of the
conscious Thought, the conscious Fo rce are movingthat is the
goal , that is t heir resting-place. There in those worlds, gleaming
down on us here, i s the vast, full , illimitabl e shining of the
supreme stri de, the highest seat of t he wi de-moving Bull, master
and lead er of al l thos e many-horned herds,Vishnu the all-
pervadi ng, t he cosmic D eity, the Lover and Friend of our souls, the
Lord of the tran scen dent existence and t he transcend ent delight.

Griffiths translation:
Fain would we go unto your dwelli ngplaces where there a re
manyhorned and nimbl e oxen, For mightily, there, shin eth down
upon us the widelystriding Bull's sublimest mansion.

Vocabulary:
vstu, n. (m. only in BhP.) the site or foundation of a house , site , ground , building or
dwellingplace , habitation , homestead , house RV. &c. &c.
va, 2. P. (Dhtup. xxiv , 71) vai , (1. pl. uma4si, or masi RV. ; 3. pl. uanti ib.), to
will , command (p. uamna, "'having at command "') RV. AV.; to desire, wish, long for,
be fond of, like (also with inf.) RV. &c. &c. ; Part. willing , glad , eager , zealous ,
obedient etc.
aya, m. going (only ifc. cf. abhyastamaya) (with gavm), the going or the turn of the
cows; N. of a periodical sacrifice MBh.