-2

As far as I can tell, in the Rig Veda, Indra,Rudra Agni Soma have been extolled as the mightiest, separately (what westerners call henotheism). It is not even clear if Vishnu in the rig veda is depicted anthropomorphically. This question is specific to Rig Veda.

S K
  • 1
  • 4
  • 22
  • 79
  • No one has cited anything analogous to what is said about Rudra: HYMN XXXIII. Rudra. 3 Chief of all born art thou in glory, Rudra, armed with the thunder, mightiest of the mighty. Also, is anything sia din the Rig Veda that acsribes human qualities to Vishnu (or is he only an abstract principle, like a manifestaion of the sun?). – S K Nov 24 '17 at 14:02

1 Answers1

5

Yes, Lord Vishnu is also said supreme God in Rig veda

Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures.(Rig veda book 1 hymn 154)

In this hymn he has said alone to uphold creatures and the earth and heaven.

We laud this manly power of him the Mighty One, preserver, inoffensive, bounteous and benign;(Rig veda hymn 155 mantra 4)

Here in this verse Lord Vishnu is said to be Mighty,one preserver inoffensive.

5 With offerings I propitiate the branches of this swift-moving God, the bounteous Viṣṇu.
Hence Rudra gained his Rudra-strength:(Rig Veda book 7 hymn 40 verse 5)

Here Lord Rudra is said to gain strength from Lord Vishnu. In Rig Veda many deities are praised as Supreme as Vedas praises 1 God(Brahman) with different names and forms.

Sarvabhouma
  • 25,803
  • 11
  • 123
  • 202
Karmanya Nanda
  • 5,204
  • 3
  • 25
  • 61
  • 1
    "Vedas praises 1 God(Brahman)with different names and forms." It may be true that it praises one god, people say there are different devatas for each and every mantra. So, they are different and distinct when it comes to Vedas. Each devata gets the share of their havis. So, they are different when receiving the havis. – Sarvabhouma Nov 24 '17 at 04:44
  • 4
    I disagree. Vishnu in Rigveda was just a sidekick of Indra. 1/3 of the hymns are addressed to Indra, Agni, and Soma. –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:28
  • 1
    @shanu Rudra is said to be father of maruts and maruts have more hymns them Rudra then does it mean maruts are more superior then Rudra their mighty father??Vishnu is mention with Indra as he helped Indra killing vritra and destroying 99 shambara forts – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 07:34
  • 1
    @shanu vishnu s third step is praised in Rig Veda and his place is praised as the highest heaven.katha upanishad says one who has attained moksha recives the third step of vishnu,The concept of vaikuntha or spiritual wolrd of Vishnu is already present in Rig Veda and he has said to create surya,agni,Dawn in Rig Veda 7.99 – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 07:36
  • Yes, that's true, Maruts are mighter because they are companions of Indra. Maruts were also addressed as Rudra in many hymns. Most of major rigvedic deities has some natural phenomena associated with them. Maruts signify thunderstorm. –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:42
  • @KarmanyaNanda you can not use later texts to justify Rigveda. Later text came into existence because those who wrote RV kept the meaning to themselves and that created a vacuum –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:44
  • @shanu Maruts Are mighter then Rudra:p.a big No! Maruts are sons of Rudra and Rudra is said to be Lord of universe;chief of beings,best among gods and Lord Rudra s poistion is rises more in yajurveda where in shri Rudram Rudra is said to be creator,form of all,supreme God,first god etc. – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 07:45
  • @shanu Ok So according to you griffit,James brereton has understood the Rig Veda and the writers of upansihads are creating a vacuum?what do you think about Yajurveda which says Lord rudra/Shiva as supreme and even manyu sukta says manyu is rudra,varuna,manyu is a name of Rudra(according to yajurveda) and now you may say that yajurveda is a later text but Rig Veda itself mentions yajus. – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 07:50
  • @KarmanyaNanda Even in many verse Tvasta is said to be Indra's father but does not make him the great. Also, Rudra's position is extauled in the aranykas or brahmanas assoicuated with Yajurveda. –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:50
  • @shanu Lord rudra is said to be destructive in Rig Veda and as well as auspicious(shiva) in Rig Veda 10.90 and lord Rudra poistion is not only extoled in aryanakas or brahmans but in Yajurveda itself – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 07:54
  • @ Griffths translations is flawed so is James Brerton. You can check Yaska interpretation of RV and also niguntha which contains difficult RV words whos meaning was unknown to later generations. Problem is that we may never know why they wrote RV, is it for ritual purpose or its purpose was like the Geeta where only recital of the verse yield results. –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:56
  • @KarmanyaNanda 10.90 does not mean than Rudra is mighter. Indra is said to mightest in several of the hymns even Varuna is also called as mightest –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:57
  • Many of Upanishads idea about rebirth, karma etc was unknown to the writers of Rigveda. –  Nov 24 '17 at 07:59
  • @KarmanyaNanda What I am sayin is that in a polytheist religion like ours the position of Supreme gods changes after some time. Now a days in my region people started worshiping Sai baba like any thing. After 100 years or so Sai baba may surpass Lord Hanuman. –  Nov 24 '17 at 08:03
  • @shanu Actually Rig Veda mentions mang dieties supreme like in 1 hymn it is said that neither Rudra nor Indra can pass savitar s authority and rig veda also say they call him Indra,Varuna,Agni.truth is one sages call it by diffearent names.actually the concept of Rig Veda is not that Indra or varuna is supreme and all are minor dieties,the concept is 1 God with diffearent forms and every form is praised as Supreme.and regarding karma rebirth is an idea in the Upanishads.during the time of vedas people were not really aware of this idea and this was established by Upanishads. – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 08:09
  • And yes sai baba was a great human who helped many people similarly was shri Rama and Krishna and these people are treated as gods as they did good deeds. – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 08:10
  • For further more we should continue discussion in chat as these comments are not allowed under an answer. – Karmanya Nanda Nov 24 '17 at 08:11
  • No need for such discussion the god who has praised as godhead ( The strength of Godhead never departs from Rudra ) and soverign of the universe then not a lot argument need to happen.

    sthirebhiraṅghaiḥ pururūpa ughro babhruḥ śukrebhiḥ pipiśehiraṇyaiḥ īśānādasya bhuvanasya bhūrerna vā u yoṣad rudrādasuryam (RV 2.33.9)

    With firm limbs, multiform, the strong, the tawny adorns himself with bright gold decorations: The strength of Godhead never departs from Rudra, him who is Sovereign of this world, the mighty.

     – Fierce lord Nov 29 '17 at 16:07