Purusha Sooktam - I

पुरुषः सूक्तं ( Purushha Sooktam )

ॐ सहस्राशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रापात्
सा भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वा अत्यातिष्ठददशाङगुलम १

पुरुष एवेदगुं सर्वम् यदभूतं यच्छ भव्यम्
उतामृतत्वस्येशानः यदञेनातिरोहति २

एतावानस्य महिमा अतो ज्यायागांश्र्च पूरुषः
पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानी त्रिपाद्स्यामृतं दिवि 3


त्रिपादूर्ध्व उदैत्पुरुषः पादोऽस्येहाभवात्पुनः
ततो विश्र्वङव्यक्रार्मत साशनानशने अभि 4

तस्माद्विराडजायत विराजो अधि पूरुषः
स जातो अत्यरिच्यत पश्चादभूमि मथो पुरः 5

यत्पुरुषेण हविषा देवा यज्ञमतन्वत
वसन्तो अस्यासीदाज्यम् ग्रीष्म इध्मश्शरध्दविः 6

सप्तास्यासन परिधयः त्रिस्सप्ता समिधः कृताः
देवा यद्याज्ञं तन्वानाः अबन्धन् पुरुषं पशुम् 

तं यज्ञं बर्हिषि प्रौक्षन् पुरुषं जातमग्रतः
तेन देवा अयज्नत साध्या ऋषयस्च ये 7

तस्माद्यज्ञात्सर्वहुतः संभृतं पृषदाज्यम

पशूगुंस्तागंश्चाक्रे वायव्यान् आरण्यान ग्राम्याश्चये 8

तस्माद्यज्ञात्सर्वहुतः ऋचः सामानी जज्ञिरे
छ्न्दाँगसि जज्ञिरे तस्मात् यजुस्तस्मादजायत 9

तस्माद्श्र्वा अजायन्त ये के चोभयाद्तः
गावो ह जज्ञिरे तस्मात् तस्माज्जाता अजावयः १०

यत्पुरुषं व्यदधुः कतिधा व्यकल्पयन्

मुखं किमस्य को बाहू कावूरू पादावुच्येते ११

ब्राह्मणोस्य मुखमासीत् बाहू राजन्यः कृतः
उरू तदस्य यद्वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत १२

चंद्रमा मनसो जातः चक्षोः सूर्यो अजायत
मुखादिन्द्रश्चाग्निस्च प्रानाद्वायुरजायत १३

नाभ्या आसीदन्त्तरिक्षाम् शीर्ष्णो द्यौः समवर्तत
पद्भ्यां भूमिर्दिशः श्रोत्रात् तथा लोकांगा अकल्पयन् १४

वेदाहमेतं पुरुषं महानतम.ह आदित्यावार्नाम तमासस्तु पारे
सर्वानी रूपानी विचित्य धीर्हा नामानी क्रित्वाभिवादंह यदास्ते १५

धाता पुरस्ताद्यमुदाजहार शक्रः प्रविद्वान् प्रदिशश्चतस्त्रः
तमेवं विद्यानमृत इह भवति नान्यः पन्थायनाय विद्यते १६

यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवाः तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन्
ते ह नाकं महिमानः सचन्ते यत्र पूर्वे साध्याः सन्ति देवाः १७

ॐ श्री महा गणपतये नमः पुरुषसुक्तां स्नानं समर्पयामि

ॐ श्री महा गणपतये नमः महा अभिषेक स्नानं समर्पयामी

Meaning : PURUSHA-SUKTA

Thousand-headed is the Purusha, thousand-eyed and thousand-legged. Enveloping the earth from all sides, He transcends it by ten fingers' length.

Note:- This is the first Mantra of the Purusha Sukta of the Veda. Here the transcendent totality of all creation is conceived as the Cosmic Person, the Universal Consciousness animating all manifestation.

The word 'earth' is to be understood in the sense of all creation. 'Dasangulam' is interpreted as ten fingers' length, in which case it is said to refer to the distance of the heart from the navel, the former having been accepted as the seat of the Atma and the latter symbolic of the root of manifestation. The word ten is also said to mean 'infinity', as numbers are only up to nine and what is above is regarded as numberless.
All this (manifestation) is the Purusha alone - whatever was and whatever will be. He is the Lord of Immortality, for He transcends all in His Form as food (the universe). Such is His Glory; but greater still is the Purusha. One-fourth of Him all beings are, (while) three-fourth of Him rises above as the Immortal Being.
That, Three-footed (Immortal) Purusha stood above transcending (all things), and His one foot was this (world of becoming). Then He pervaded (everything) universally, the conscious as well as the unconscious. From That (Supreme Being) did the Cosmic Body (Virat) originate, and in this Cosmic Body did the Omnipresent Intelligence manifest itself. Having manifested Himself, He, appeared as, all diversity, and then as this earth and this body.

When (there being no external material other than the Purusha) the Devas performed a universal sacrifice (in contemplation by mind), with the Purusha Himself as the sacred offering, the spring season was the clarified butter, summer the fuel, autumn the oblation. They set up for sacrifice the Purusha as the object in their meditation, Him who was, prior to all creation, and they, the Devas, Sadhyas and Rishis, performed (this first sacrifice).

From that (Purusha), who was of the form of a Universal Sacrifice, the sacred mixture of curds and ghee (for oblation) was produced. (Then) He brought forth the aerial beings, the forest-dwelling animals, and also the domestic ones. From that (Purusha), who was the Universal Sacrifice, the Riks and the Samans were produced; from Him the metres (of the Mantras) were born; from Him the Yajus was born.

From Him were born horses and whatsoever animals have two rows of teeth. Verily, cows were born of Him; from Him were born goats and sheep. And when they contemplated the Purusha (as the Universal Sacrifice), into how many parts did they divide Him (in their meditations)? What was His mouth called, what His arms, what His thighs, what were His feet called?

The Brahmana (spiritual wisdom and splendour) was His Mouth; the Kshatriya (administrative and military prowess) His Arms became. His Thighs the Vaisya (commercial and business enterprise) was; of His Feet the Sudra (productive and sustaining force) was born. The Moon (symbol of the mind) was born from His (Cosmic) Mind; the Sun (symbol of self and consciousness) was born from His Eyes. Indra (power of grasping and activity) and Agni (will-force) came from His Mouth; from His Vital Energy air was born.

(In that Universal Meditation as Sacrifice) the firmament came from His Navel; the heavens were produced from His head; the earth from His feet; from His ears the quarters of space; - so they constituted the worlds. The enclosures of the sacrificial altar were seven (the seven metres like the Gayatri), and twenty-one (the twelve months, the five seasons, the three worlds and the sun) were the logs of sacrificial fuel, when the gods (the Pranas, senses and the mind) celebrated the universal sacrifice with the Supreme Purusha as the object of contemplation there in.

By sacrifice (universal meditation) did the gods adore and perform (visualize) the sacrifice (Universal Being). These were the original creations and the original laws (that sustain creation). Those great ones (the worshippers of the Cosmic Being by this type of meditation) attain that Supreme Abode in which abide the, primeval contemplators (the gods mentioned above) who thus worshipped that Being.
I know this Great Purusha who shines like the sun beyond darkness. By knowing Him alone does one cross beyond death; there is no other way of going over there.

ॐ नमः शिवाय!  

Sianala, Montreal, July , 2007

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