Question

In the Rigveda, Indra murders the boar Emusha so that this god can steal odaná, a rice porridge. The Purusha myth resembles a passage from the Shatapatha (“shuh-TUH-puh-tuh”) Brāhmaṇa in which the defeated devas sacrifice this god’s body to get a portion of the world from the victorious asuras. This god’s Rigvedic epithet urugāyá, meaning “wide-ranging,” refers to how he reached the heavens with a sequence of three deeds called the trivikrama (10[1])(“tree-VICK-ruh-muh”). In a much later myth, this god avenges a defeat of Indra’s by approaching a yajña, receiving holy water despite the protests of Shukrācārya (“shoo-krah-CHAR-yuh”), and receiving a boon. Thereafter, this god metes out the world with his three strides (10[2])and banishes (10[1])the (10[2])daitya (10[1])(“DAIT-yuh”) king Mahābalī (-5[1])to (10[1])the shadow realm pātāla. For 10 points, (10[1])name this Hindu god who manifests as the dwarf Vāmana, (10[2])the fifth (10[2])of his (10[2])ten avatars. (10[1])■END■ (10[4])

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