
Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin. Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. It seems to be an interpolation into the Rig veda since it is out of character with the other hymns dedicated to nature gods. The concept of the Purusha is from the Samkhya Philosophy which is traced to the Indus Valley period. The sukta gives an expression to immanence of radical unity in diversity and is therefore, seen as the foundation of the Vaishnava thought, Bhedabheda school of philosophy and Bhagavata theology. The Vedantins take the Purusha sukta to allegorize the principles of upasanaknowledge jnanadevotion bhaktiand rituals and duties dharma and karma. The Purusha sukta, in the seventh verse, hints at the organic connectedness of the various classes of society. From this being, the sukta holds, the original creative will ldentified with Viswakarma, Hiranyagarbha or Prajapati proceeds which causes the projection of the universe in space and time. It presents the nature of Purusha or the cosmic being as both immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent to it. Purusha sukta is hymn of the Rigveda The Purusha sukta gives a description of the spiritual unity of the universe. C4v reducible representationĪt that time [ The eighteen mahapuranas total overshlokas metrical couplets and date to at least several centuries BCE.

Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. In the seventeenth verse, the concept of Yajna itself is held to have arisen out of this original sacrifice.Purusha-sukta means something in BuddhismPali, HinduismSanskrit. All forms of existence are held to be grounded in this primordial yajna. The Purusha Sukta holds that the world is created by and out of a Yajna or exchange of the Purusha. The firmament comes from his navel, the heavens from his head, the earth from his feet and quarters of space from his ears. Indra and Agni descend from his mouth and from his vital breath, air is born. After the verse, the Sukta states that the moon takes birth from the Purusha's mind and the sun from his eyes. Then follows a verse which states that from his mouth, arms, thighs, feet the four varnas categories are born. In the verses following, it is held that Purusha through a sacrifice of himself, brings forth the avian, forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the three Vedasthe metres of the mantras. In Virat, omnipresent intelligence manifests itself which causes the appearance of diversity. Creation is described to have started with the origination of Virat, or the cosmic body from the Purusha. Verses hold the creation of the Rig Veda. Finally, his glory is held to be even greater than the portrayal in this Sukta. The immanence of the Purusha in manifestation and yet his transcendence of it is similar to the viewpoint held by panentheists. He is poetically depicted as a being with thousand heads, eyes and legs, enveloping not just the earth, but the entire universe from all sides and transcending it by ten fingers length - or transcending in all 10 dimensions.Īll manifestations, in past, present and future, is held to be the Purusha alone. He is described as a being who pervades everything conscious and unconscious universally. The Purusha is defined in verses 2 to 5 of the Sukta. It presents the nature of Purusha, or the cosmic being, as both immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent to it. The Purusha Sukta gives a description of the spiritual unity of the universe.

Some scholars state that certain verses of Purusha Sukta are later interpolations to the Rigveda. Another version of the Sukta consists of 24 verses with the first 18 mantras designated as the Purva-narayana and the later portion termed as the Uttara-narayana probably in honour of Rishi Narayana. It is also found in the Shukla Yajurveda Samhita Slightly different versions of the Sukta appear in different Vedas. Norman Brown"The verses of Purusha Sukta are definitely a reference to Vishnuwho, through his three steps, is all pervading i.
