Page:Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Purānic.djvu/182

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
158
ADITI, AND THE ADITYAS.

whose story has just been given, was king over the three worlds--heaven, earth and sky. In the form of a Brāhman dwarf, Vishnu appears, and asks, as a gift, all he could cross over in three steps. This the king grants. Immediately the pigmy becomes a giant, and

THE VAMANA AVATARA.

with one step strides over heaven, and with the second over the earth, and thus fulfils his purpose. The