Thread by @DefiledGod

Interesting event in Taittiriya Samhita (2.1.7):

“Devas and asuras vied with each other in respect of the Lordship (of these worlds). Vishnu saw a “Vāmana" (Dwarf Pasu, sacrificial animal), that he offered to himself as the Deity...."+

#Vedas #Hinduism #SanatanaDharma

"...By this act, he conquered the worlds. He who vies (in this manner) shall offer a dwarf to Vishnu. He will become Vishnu himself and conquer all these worlds.”

Sayana takes “Vāmana" as dwarf animal (ox) & links it to a sacrificial offering+

#Hinduism #Vedas #SanatanaDharma

Appayya Dikshita goes one step further & says this is a rite to attain “Vishnu Padavi" as it says “he becomes Vishnu.

If only it were that easy, "Sacrifice an Ox, become Lord Vishnu"😂 Reality - this isn't an animal sacrifice. As below+

#Hinduism #Vedas #SanatanaDharma #Vedic

दे॒वा॒सु॒रा ए॒षु लो॒केष्व॑स्पर्धन्त॒

[The devas and asuras vied with each other for the mastery of the worlds.]

This incident is a description of the battle between Indra and Vritra. That will be made clear below.+

#Hinduism #Vedas #SanatanaDharma #Vedic

स ए॒तं विष्णु॑र्वाम॒नम॑पश्य॒त्त२

[Indra, who has Vishnu as his innerself, saw (meditated) on the (essential nature of) the subtle individual self (vāmana), ie, he understood the self as subservient to the Lord.]+

#Hinduism #Vedas #Mahabharata #SanatanaDharma #Sanatani #Vedic

“Vishnu” here indeed does refer to Lord Vishnu, but as the indweller of Indra. I.E., it means, “Vishnu, in the form of Indra”. As Indra is his body and he is the self, Indra can be called as “Vishnu”. Thus, the person here is Indra, who has Vishnu as his innerself+

#Hinduism

A reverse example is also seen here in the Rāmāyaṇa:

tataḥ samabhavad brahmā svayambhūr daivataiḥ saha ॥ sa varāhaḥ tato bhūtvā (Ayodhya Kh)

[Brahmā, Svayambhu with all gods came into existence. Thereafter, that Brahmā, assumed the form of boar (Lord Varāha)]..+

#Vedas

Varāha is not an avatāra of Brahmā. Then why does the text say Brahmā became Varāha? -- “Brahmā” refers to the indwelling self of the god Brahmā, ie, Vishnu. Similarly, when a deva is called “Vishnu”, it means he has the Lord as his innerself.+

#Vedas #Ramayana #Hinduism

The reason for calling Indra by his innerself “Vishnu” is because in the war with Vritra, Indra was empowered by the Lord. Mahābhārata (Vana Parva) clearly says that Vishnu imparted his power to Indra during the battle with Vritra as follows+

#Mahabharata #SanatanaDharma #Vedas

taṃ śakraṃ kaśmalāviṣṭaṃ dṛṣṭvā viṣṇuḥ sanātanaḥsvatejo vyadadhāc chakre balam asya vivardhayan

[Seeing Indra dejected (due to might of Vrtra’s army), Lord Vishnu, the eternal (means), augmented the former’s strength by imparting his own might.]+

#Hinduism

How did Indra attain grace of Vishnu? By “vāmanam paśyataḥ". Overpowered by Vritra, Indra meditated on his true nature, the nature of the individual self called “vāmana" as it is minute or subtle, understanding his true nature as “sesha" to the Lord+

#Hinduism #Mahabharata

After realizing his true nature, what did Indra do?

स्वायै॑ दे॒वता॑या॒ आल॑भत॒

[(Indra) sacrificed himself (in self-surrender) to the Supreme Brahman (devata).]

MB says: jagāma śaraṇaṃ śīghraṃ taṃ tu nārāyaṇaṃ prabhum – Indra sought the refuge of Nārāyaṇa.+

#Vedas

It is not some animal sacrifice that is mentioned here. Rather, Indra recognized his true nature of seshatva & performed śaranāgati to Bhagavān. “Devata" refers to the Supreme Brahman, who has been identified with Vishnu as the innerself of Indra already.+

#Vedas #Hinduism

ततो॒ वै स इ॒मान् लो॒कान॒भ्य॑जयद्वैष्ण॒वं वा॑म॒नमाल॑भेत॒ स्पर्ध॑मानो॒ विष्णु॑रे॒व भू॒त्वेमा३ꣳल्लो॒कान॒भि ज॑यति॒

[By (self-surrender), he (Indra) won all the worlds. (Thus) He who vies (with Saṃsāra) shall sacrifice (surrender) the self (Vāmana) to Vishnu.]+

#Vedas

विष्णु॑रे॒व भू॒त्वेमा३ꣳल्लो॒कान॒भि ज॑यति॒

[He will attain the nature of Vishnu and conquer all these worlds.]

#Vedas #Hinduism #Sanatani #SanatanDharm #SanatanaDharma #Vedanta #Hindus #Vedic #YajurVeda

“विष्णु॑रे॒व भू॒त्व” – “He becomes Vishnu” doesn't mean he attains Vishnu-padavi. It is the Upanishadic “brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati” – mukta attains the nature of Brahman in the form of 8 auspicious qualities (apahatapāpma etc) & has free movement in all the worlds.+

#Hinduism

Without vedānta-jñāna, this incident was misinterepreted as “sacrifice a dwarf animal to Vishnu”. There are no animal sacrifices directly to Vishnu in the Veda (Yes, I am aware of the other instances too). Textbook eg of why one should not trust veda bhāṣyakārās too blindly.//

@threadreaderapp unroll.