Stories 13
Tradition: All traditions · clear
Aditi wins the first and the last offering
Why the Soma sacrifice opens and closes with a pot of rice for Aditi: the earth, left out of the rite, confounds it until she is given a share.
Agni hides in the waters
Agni, afraid of the priestly work, hides in the waters and plants.
Chyavana made young again
Chyavana is left behind on earth, decrepit and ghostlike.
Indra shares out the guilt of killing Vishvarupa
Indra beheads the three-headed priest Vishvarupa, carries the guilt for a year and divides it among earth, trees and women (and, later, water), each for a boon.
Prajapati falls apart and is rebuilt
Prajapati creates the worlds, the gods and the creatures out of himself.
The Ashvins win the race at Surya's wedding
Prajapati gives his daughter Surya Savitri to King Soma; all the gods come as groomsmen.
The Ashvins win their share of Soma
The gods sacrifice without the Ashvins, who are held unclean for wandering among men as physicians.
The Maruts stand by Indra against Vritra
Indra, about to kill Vritra, asks all the gods to support him.
The dwarf who lay down and won the earth
The Asuras have won the earth and are dividing it. They grant the gods only as much as Vishnu, a dwarf who is the sacrifice, can lie on; the gods enclose him with the metres and win the whole earth by worship. The Bhagavata Purana tells the bargain as Vamana and King Bali.
The three strides of Vishnu, from the Rigveda to the dwarf and King Bali
In the Rigveda Vishnu's one deed is to take three steps that measure out the world and make room for people; the third step is a honeyed place out of sight. The Brahmanas turn the steps into earth, air and sky, the Ramayana gives them a dwarf and a king named Bali, and festivals in Kerala and the Deccan welcome that king home.
Vac is sent to the Gandharvas for Soma
Speech is the price paid to the Gandharvas for Soma, and returns to the gods because they sing.
Vac leaves the gods: the waters, the trees, the lioness
Speech walks out on the gods, hides in the waters and the trees, and on another occasion becomes a lioness.
Vayu wins the first cup of Soma
Why the first Soma cup of the morning pressing belongs to Vayu and only a quarter of it to Indra.