Purusha Sooktam

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etAvAnasya mahima | ato jyAyAhumshca pooruSHa: |

pAdo asya viSHvA bhootAni | tripAdasyAmrtam divi ||

 

(etAvAn) All that is here seen (asya) is his (mahima)

greatness. (ata:) And then, beyond all this (purusha: ca)

is that puruSHa (jyAyAn) great. (viSHvA bhootani) All

that was created in this world (pAdo) is but one part

(asya) of him. (tripAd) The other three parts are (divi)

in heaven, (amrtam) where they are eternal.

 

This world of name and form (nAma-roopa-bheda-

jagat) is but one part of purusha. sat (truth), chit (being)

and Ananda (bliss) arethe other three parts, that rest in

Narayana alone, and are eternal in him. As Sri Krishna says

in the Gita (10-42), ma eka amshena stitho jagat - By one

of my yogic power alone, I sustain this world. And he is

the one whose sport is this world, who sports without

distinction of name or form. (roopa naama vibhedena jagat

kreedati yo yatha:)

 

All that you see

Is but his glory

He is more

Than all of this

All of creation

Is but a fourth of him..

Three parts eternal

Rest in him alone..

 

 

***

 

tripAdoordhva udaitpuruSHa: | pAdo asyehAbhavatpuna: |

tato vishvaG vyAkramat | sAshanAnashane abhi ||

 

(tripAd) Three parts (puruSHa:) of the puruSHa (udait) rise

above, (oordhva) above all creation. (pAda:) One part alone

(asya) of his (iha) is here (abhavat) manifested (puna:) again and again.

(tata) From that part did (sAshana - anashana) beings that eat and eat not,

(vishvak) all of these (abhivyAkramat) did come forth.

 

Ranganathamuni comments on the greatness of the puruSHa

who looms above all creation. he is filled with grace and

all joy, knowledge, and goodness. He is eternal, and

the basis of all. The world's sustenance is but his sport.

His joy is himself, as he is all. that besides, even the

Vedas wonder about his greatness.. " so anga veda

yadi vA na veda" ( RV, nAsadeeya sookta) - he alone

knows - or maybe he knows not.

 

The way "yadannenAtirohati" and "sAshanAnashane abhi

vyAkramat" are interpreted is a point of some discussion.

Peterson, Renou, and LeMee, who give simply "man"

for puruSHa, interpret these as "man, who grows by food",

"a part of man was made into all things that eat and eat not,

and advanced towards these/as these, outwards". I prefer

sAyaNA's interpretation, as given above. Not only is the

importance of food stressed, two verses before, but now

puruSHa is also that which eats not, life and non-life. This is in

conformity with the vishishtAdvaita view of brahman

manifest as chit and achit.

 

Three parts of his

Are beyond all this

All of this, is but a part..

Again and again,

All that eats,

And that eats not..

Appeared from this

One part of His.

 

****

 

tasmAt virALajAyata | virAjo adhi pooruSHa : |

sa jAto atyaricyata | pashcAd bhoomimatho pura: ||

 

(tasmAt) from that great puruSHa (virAt) did the shining

universe (ajAyata) come forth. (virAjo adhi) From that

virAt, with its needs in heart (puruSHa came forth

Bramha, to care for it. (sa:) He (jAta:) was born

(ati aricyata:) and grew very large, extending (pascAt)

in front (bhoomim) of the earth (ata:) and then (pura:)

behind.

>From puruSHa came forth the universe. The creative aspect

of his, Brahma, came forth, and grew to include everything

in himself. This is why the universe is called "bramhAnda" -

the egg/sphere of Brahma. "bramhAnda" is also an adjective

indicating magnitude. This image of extending above and on

all sides of the earth is in concordance with Ranganathamuni.

 

What did this Bramha do after he was born ? sAyaNA gives

the following interpretation. He grows very large after being

born ( sa jAto atyaricyata:). And then (pascAt) he (sa:) creates

the earth (bhoomim) and then (ata:), (pura:) - cities - bodies for

creatures to live in."virAt vyaktrikto deva-tiryaG-manushyAdi

roopoabhoot". He became large and became the bodies, or gave

form to devas, animals (tiryak) and humans.

 

There is support for the former view from the sAkalya

brAmhaNa, however. In this work, Aniruddha Narayana,

one of the four aspects of Narayana in the first tier of the

Vishaka Yupa, appears to Bramha. This Bramha, engorged

with growth as it were, is inactive, he does nothing. Aniruddha

asks him the reason for his inactivity 'brahman kim tooshNeem

bhavasi - iti' and Bramha replies 'Because of not knowing' -

'agnyAnAt - iti hovAca'. However, Bramha has to create. This

is his nature. So to remove his ignorance, Aniruddha Narayana

instructs him to perform srSHti yagnya, the sacrifice of creation.

 

In the brAmhaNa, this is termed 'kanchana yagnya' - the rite

of gold. 'brahman srSHti-artham kanchana yagnyam kuru'. By

this means will you be able to create the worlds, as you have in

kalpas past. The rest of Aniruddha Narayana's instructions and

the details of the srSHti yagnya are given in the verses to come.

>From him came forth

The bright Universe

And he became a Creator

For its sake

And so he created

The verdant Earth

And creation

Was hi body.

 

***

 

yatpuruSHena haviSHA | deva yagnya matanvata: |

vasanto asyAsee-dAjyam | greeshma idhma sharaddhavi: ||

 

(yat) That (yagnya) rite that (devA:) the Gods (atanvata)

performed, (puruSHena) with the puruSHa himself as

(haviSHA) havis, the fire offering, (vasanta) the Spring

(Aseet) became (Ajyam) its ghee. (greeshma) The summer

became its (idhma) samit-wood firebrand, (sharad) Autumn

became (havi:) its burn offering.

 

What sort of yagnya is this srSHti yagnya ? Nothing exists

but Bramha-Purusha, who envelops all. Logically, none of the

ritual paraphernalia, the materiel, exists. It does not make

consitent sense, to me, to look at this as an actual rite of

"sacrifice, where the Gods sacrificed a giant to create the

world" , as this has sometimes been decribed. This was

in a comparative work that compared the purusha sooktham to

the Norse tale of how the Aesir made the world from the body

of Ymir, the frost-giant.

 

Consider however the traditional view of this as a mAnasa

yagnyanya - a meditative sacrifice, of an in the heart, the first

gedankeneksperiment, if you will!

 

The srSHti yagnya was puruSHa's alone. He was havirbhokta,

he who enjoys/eats the havis - burnt offerings to the fire.

His senses were the devas, the Gods, who were the

ritvik-priests of this sacrifice. Nothing but himself existed

to sacrifice. And so he sacrificed himself (puruSHENa

haviSHa) as the offering into the creative fires of his heart.

A sacrifice of his self to himself, for what or who existed

but he ? So the devas bound Bramha as the beast of sacrifice,

and made ready for the rite.

 

Clarified butter, or ghee, is what is poured on the fire to

make it burn brighter. The fire of course, is an essential part

of any sacrifice. Fire is what speeds betweeen heaven and earth

carrying the food of sacrificial havis offerings to the Gods.

Spring brightens creation as the ghee brightens fire. Samit

(palaash, flame of the forest) twigs are fed to the fire, to

make it hotter - these samit brands are Summer. Autumn with

its brilliant hues was offered into the fire as havis.

 

Spring was the ghee

That brightened the fire

Summer the wood

That fueled it

Autumn was burnt

In this great rite

That the Gods sacrificed

The puruSHa in.