Purusha Sooktam - 2

[Guest guest]

Greetings to all, and a Happy Monday =)

 

I'm picking my way through this translation pretty slowly I must admit,

learning this by the seat of my pants and catching myself in more than

a few errors.. This is why the output is rather low =) However, I feel

happy enough doing this to make everything worth the while..

 

Again, and always, I look forward to your comments..

 

Sundar

 

---Begin---

 

 

 

shree:

 

shree puruSHa sooktam

 

prathama anuvAkam

 

***

 

sahasra sheerSHA puruSHa: | sahasrAksha: sahasrapAt |

sa bhoomim vishvato vrtvA | atyatiSHTad dashAngulam ||

 

***

 

(sahasra) Thousands (sheerhsA) of heads has (puruSHa)

the great p. (sahasra) Thousands of (aksha) eyes has he,

(sahasra pAt) and thousands of legs. (sa) He (vrtva)

manifests (bhoomim) the world. (attyatiSHTad) He stands

beyond (dashAngulam) the count of ten fingers.

 

The words puruSha in its most literal sense means man.

This is not a generic for human, but includes the masculine

sense and principle of the world. In one way, it is interpreted

as Narayana alone is puruSHa, and all the rest of prakriti,

creation, is female. Purusha may also be split as pura+usha -

the dawn-light (usha) of the city of the body (pura). Or pu+

ruSHa, one whose passions are refined. Or even puru+SHa,

filled with wisdom and happiness. Which puruSHa is

referred to here ?

 

Man - is a simple answer, with some merit for its

arguments. Man was created first, and he is a creature

that knows not its own glory, and he is sacrificed for the

rest of creation - a humbling thought for us.

 

However, theistic and mystic sources tend to interpret

puruSHa as paramapuruSHa, the supreme puruSHa,

puruSHottama,the best among puruSHas, Sriman

Narayana. He is the source and the basis of all creation,

he manifests himself in all of it. All creation is his body

- the vishvaroopa mahAkAya. He encompasses it.

 

So why does this puruSHa have thousands of feet, hands,

eyes ? One must remember that large numbers, like a

thousand, can refer to a fuzzy 'uncountable'. sAyaNAcArya

interprets this as the puruSHa manifesting himself in all

that lives.. And since all was created from his body, as

we shall see, all heads are his heads, all eyes his eyes,

all feet his feet.

 

And then we see that the puruSHa extends beyond ten

fingers. Rather limited that seems .. Until we read

sAyaNA again. The ten fingers here are the digits,

the ten fingers of human hands. They are the basis of

count, of all mathematics, of all the logic and science

built on mathematics. However, they are all limited when

it comes to analyzing puruSHa. He is transcendent, and

beyond such limited understanding.

 

With uncounted heads

Uncounted eyes, and

Uncounted feet, He

Moves, as all of

Creation

Verily is He

Uncountable..

Beyond the grasp..

Of the hands of men..

 

 

***

 

 

***

 

puruSHa evedahum sarvam | yadbhootam yacca bhavyam |

utAmrtatvas - yeshAna | yadannainAtirohati ||

 

***

 

(puruSHa) Purusha (eva) alone (idam sarvam) is all

of this, (yad bhootam) that which was, (yacca bhavyam) and

that which is too be. (uta) Moreover (amrtatva-sya) of

immortality too (eeshAna) is he alone Lord. (yad) That

which (annena) as food (atirohati) shows itself, that too is

puruSHa.

 

puruSHa is creation, this we know. In time, he is all that

is, all that was, and all that is to be. Does he have an end,

like death ? No. He is Lord of immortality, of the eternal

that dies not (a-mrta).

 

Creation feeds on itself. It requires food to grow, to

flourish. What is food but other life ? Life feeds on life,

be it plant, or animal life. This is why we say the world

grows on food, the world is fill of food (annamayam

jagat). All that is hidden in creation, and all that emerges,

to show itself and be food, all this is purusha. He sustains

creation as food.

 

That which is,

Was, and is to be.

All of this

Is he alone..

And the eternal,

Beyond all end,

He is Lord,

Alone, of that.

The world is food..

That which hides,

And ventures forth,

He is that too.