Vishnu and Shiva

[Vidyasankar]

It looks like my message got sent in a truncated manner. Apologies for the
double post.

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I have been trying to keep out of this discussion, but may I just point out
a few problems?

1. The devI sUkta begins, "ahaM rudrebhir vasubhiS carAmy aham Adityair uta
viSvedevaiH" - Note that rudra is in plural, i.e. the 11 rudra-s, not the
one Rudra as we think in popular terms. Similarly with vasu, i.e. the 8
vasu-s and Aditya, i.e. the 12 Aditya-s.

2. Note that if you are to interpret this as meaning that devI is the power
behind rudra, so also is She the power behind Aditya. And we know from gItA
10.21-23 that vishNu is one of the Aditya-s (AdityAnAm ahaM vishNuH), just
as Sankara is one of the rudra-s (rudrANAM SankaraS cAsmi).

3. It is meaningless to take vedic sUkta-s selectively and to interpret
them as one pleases. Along with Srikrishna, I would urge a good study of
the bRhaddevatA, as also the commentary of sAyaNAcArya on the Rgveda,
before venturing to form one's own opinions.

Vidyasankar