Hymn to Viṣṇu
Rigveda I.154 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Viṣṇu, the wide-striding god whose three steps encompass earth, air, and heaven. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O Viṣṇu! Wide-strider! Lord of the three great strides! Thou hast traversed the earth, the sky, and all the hidden realms beyond in thy mighty footsteps. We praise thee with awe and wonder, O boundless one!
In thy first stride thou didst step upon the earth. Behold! The mountains rose beneath thy foot. The valleys were carved by thy passage. The rivers began to flow following the course of thy movement. The very ground became firm and dwelling-place beneath thy sole.
In thy second stride thou didst step into the sky. Behold! The winds scattered before thee. The clouds assembled in patterns. The birds found their paths through the air. The sun and moon moved in their ordained courses, set in motion by thy power.
But where, O mysterious one, was thy third stride taken? Not in the realm of mortals, not in the realm of the immortals—but in that hidden place that lieth beyond all knowing, where only the initiated perceive, where the greatest mystery resideth! Some say this third step is the realm of the spirit that transcendeth both the manifest and the hidden. Others say it is thee thyself, infinite and eternal.
O Viṣṇu! Thou art the mightiest of all beings! Thy form is as vast as the cosmos itself. Yet thou art also intimate, dwelling within the heart of each creature. Thou art both the greatest and the smallest, the highest and the deepest.
By thy mighty steps thou hast measured out the entire universe. Nothing escapeth thy knowing. All space and all the beings that dwell therein art measured by thee, contained within thee, sustained by thee.
We tiny creatures, who can barely traverse the distance from our dwelling to the water's edge, do marvel at thy incomprehensible vastness. Yet we know that thou carest for us, that thy eye seeth even the smallest sparrow that falleth.
O Viṣṇu! Thou pervader of all existence! Protect us! Guide us! Let us dwell forever within the circle of thy three great strides!
Colophon
Rigveda I.154 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Viṣṇu, the wide-striding god whose three steps encompass earth, air, and heaven. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.154
viṣṇor nu kaṁ vīryāṇi pra vocaṁ yaḥ pārthivāni vimame rajāṁsi |
yo askabhāyad uttaraṁ sadhasthaṁ vicakramāṇas tredhorugāyaḥ || 1 ||
pra tad viṣṇuḥ stavate vīryeṇa mṛgo na bhīmaḥ kucaro giriṣṭhāḥ |
yasyoruṣu triṣu vikramaṇeṣv adhikṣiyanti bhuvanāni viśvā || 2 ||
pra viṣṇave śūṣam etu manma girikṣita urugāyāya vṛṣṇe |
ya idaṁ dīrgham prayataṁ sadhastham eko vimame tribhir it padebhiḥ || 3 ||
yasya trī pūrṇā madhunā padāny akṣīyamāṇā svadhayā madanti |
ya u tridhātu pṛthivīm uta dyām eko dādhāra bhuvanāni viśvā || 4 ||
tad asya priyam abhi pātho aśyāṁ naro yatra devayavo madanti |
urukramasya sa hi bandhur itthā viṣṇoḥ pade parame madhva utsaḥ || 5 ||
tā vāṁ vāstūny uśmasi gamadhyai yatra gāvo bhūriśṛṅgā ayāsaḥ |
atrāha tad urugāyasya vṛṣṇaḥ paramam padam ava bhāti bhūri || 6 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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