"10 feet", "1000 heads, eyes and feet"

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> --- Sadagopan <sgopan wrote:

> > Dear Sri Sampath KumAran :

> > I have a question ofr you on the passage

> > quoted from Purusha Sooktham below:

> > ( Sa BhUmim VisvathO vruthvA ,adhyathishtath

> > dasAngulam ) > This passage salutes the MahA vyApi

, who> transcends> > every thig in this Universe and

is beyond the> > arithmetic of counting with ten

fingers (digits) .

That> > Purushan ,> > who is sarva vyApi is not

subject to the rules of > > mathematical count .

"anantha yOjanAn adhIthya> > athishtathi "

> > is the commentary of SaayanA . The order beyond>

>regference> > is some waht correct , but "atleast

10feet beyond> > the reach of this one " does not go

well .

> > V.Sadagopan

 

Dear Sriman.Sadagopan,

 

Without giving the impression of being argumentative

(I am not) and with the sole purpose of further

learning, adiyen must request you to explain why "at

least 10feet beyond the reach of this worlddoes not

go well" with you,Sir.

 

adiyen was discussing the poetry of tiruppAvai. And in

the course of explaining that "gnyAni-s" and

"mumukshu-s" look to another world apart for their

inspiration in life ("purushArthA") adiyen had tried

to convey that message through the phrase

"athyatishta-dasangulam"... meaning that such a world

is beyond the pale of this one. This world is only an

infinitesmal fraction of that one.

 

Poetically, the Rg. measures or predicates the

relationship between this world and the other one

through the phrase "atyatishtA-dasAngulam". It intends

to convey that although Man thinks this world is

enormous, the endless world of the Virat-purushA

encompasses all this world and countless more! This

fact the Rg.conveys poetically, saying that such a

"purushA" is one with a "1000 heads, a 1000 eyes and a

1000 feet".

 

Further, as if it feared that man's small mind may not

comprehend what is meant by "1000-headed, 1000 eyed,

1000-footed " VirAt-purusha, the Rg goes further. It

next asks us to imagine the unimaginably enormous form

of the "virAt-purusha" by measuring its location in

relation to our own world. It is in that context that

the Rg. again poetically says "atyatishta=dasAngulam"

i.e. the VirAtpurusha pervades this world but also

stands apart ... "over 10 inches" above it.

 

adiyen is well aware that what this rg. conveys is

that this universe is nothing but the "samasti" or

conglomeration of the 'vyastis' or beings comprising

it.

 

adiyen also knows that the numbers "1000" or "10" used

in the Rg. are not definite limiting numbers but

poetic euphemisms. They are "upalakshana-s" signifying

the "virat" nature of the "purusha".

 

But there is no question about the "10 inches or feet"

being mentioned by the Rg. is there? It is a poetic

measure. And that is the very same sense in which

adiyen also translated it as "at least 10 feet (or

inches) beyond the reach of this world", so as to say,

"however large and expansive or grand we may conceive

our world to be, the world of the "purusha" which

"gnyAni-s" and "mumukshus" seek is at least "10 feet

(or inches) away and above it."

 

So adiyen is not clear why devarir feels "it does not

go well"? I thought it goes down rather extremely

well.

 

Any thoughts?

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

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