The means by which the favour of this god is to be obtained are then explained:--"The supreme Vishnu is propitiated by a man who observes the institutions of caste, order, and purificatory practices; no other path is the way to please him. He who offers sacrifices, sacrifices to him; he who murmurs prayer, prays to him; he who injures living creatures, injures him: for Hari is all things. Kesava is most pleased with him who does good to others; who never utters abuse, calumny, or untruth; who never covets another's wife or another's wealth, and who bears ill-will towards none; who never beats nor slays any animate or inanimate thing; who is ever diligent in the service of the gods, of the Brahmans, and of his spiritual preceptor; who is ever desirous of the welfare of all creatures, of his children, and of his own soul; in whose pure heart no pleasure is derived from the imperfections of love and

hatred. The man who conforms to the duties enjoined by scriptural authority for every caste and condition of life is he who best worships Vishnu; there is no other mode."

Of all the deities now reverenced in India, Vishnu in his many forms has perhaps the largest number of worshippers; and the account of his life and the praises presented to him occupy a very large portion of the later Hindu scriptures. This pre-eminence was certainly not recognized in the Vedic Age, as the following passage will show:--

"In the Rig-Veda are the following verses:--'May the gods preserve us from the place from which Vishnu strode over the seven regions of the earth. Vishnu strode over this [universe]; in three places he planted his step; [the world or his step] was enveloped in his dust. Vishnu, the unconquerable preserver, strode three steps.' [**] In these verses there is probably the germ of the Dwarf Incarnation, and also of the attribute of Preserver. The interpretations of two commentators of the three strides of Vishnu are as follows:--One regards him 'as a god, who, in what are called his three strides, is manifested in a threefold form as Agni on earth, as Indra or Vayu in the atmosphere, and as the Sun in heaven;' [*+] the other interprets Vishnu's three strides as 'the rising, culmination, and setting of the sun.'" [*++]

Vishnu, in the Rig-Veda, is said "to have established the heavens and the earth; to contain all the world in his strides; to have, with Indra, made the atmosphere wide, stretched out the worlds, produced the Sun, the Dawn, and Fire; to have received the homage of Varuna; whilst his greatness is described as having no limit within