He had the ascetic's staff and water-pot in
hand, and was marked with the emblem of a curl of hair on the breast.
And that adorable Being wore matted locks and the sacrificial thread,
and he was stout and handsome and resplendent with lustre. And that
Being, arriving at the sacrificial enclosure of Vali, king of the
_Danavas_, entered the sacrificial assembly with the aid of Vrihaspati.
And beholding that dwarf-bodied Being, Vali was well-pleased and said
unto him, "I am glad to see thee, O Brahmana! Say what is it that thou
wantest from me!" Thus addressed by Vali, the dwarf-god replied with a
smile, saying, "So be it! Do thou, lord of the _Danavas_, give me three
paces of ground!" And Vali contented to give what that Brahmana of
infinite power had asked. And while measuring with his paces the space
he sought, Hari assumed a wonderful and extraordinary form. And with
only three paces he instantly covered this illimitable world. And then
that everlasting God, Vishnu, gave it away unto Indra. This history
which has just been related to thee, is celebrated as the "_Incarnation
of the Dwarf_." And from him, all the gods had their being, and after
him the world is said to be _Vaishnava_, or pervaded by Vishnu. And for
the destruction of the wicked and the preservation of religion, even He
hath taken his birth among men in the race of the Yadus. And the
adorable Vishnu is styled Krishna. These, O king of Sindhu, are the
achievements of the Lord whom all the worlds worship and whom the
learned describe as without beginning and without end, unborn and
Divine! They call Him, the unconquerable Krishna with conchshell, discus
and mace, and adorned with the emblem of a curl of hair, Divine, clad in
silken robes of yellow hue, and the best of those versed in the art of
war.
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