12/20/2017 : Purusha Suktam

Purusha Suktam
Introduction

Puruaskta ( ) is a Vedic hymn found in Rig Veda (X.90). Purua refers to Brahman, original source of the universe. Skta means
song of praise, generally from Vedas. Rig Veda mentions Nryaa as the ii for Puruaskta. There are sixteen verses in the first part of
Puruaskta, which is known as Puruaskta and there is second part comprising of six verses, which is known as Uttara Puruaskta. They
are also known as first and second anuvka-s respectively. Both first part and second parts of Puruaskta are available in Taittirya
rayaka. Second part is not available in Rig Veda. rayaka prescribes rituals and sometimes, philosophy too. According to Taittirya
rayaka, first part consists of eighteen verses (as against sixteen Riks of Rig Veda) and second part six verses. Japa and homa are done with
Puruaskta. Along with r Rudra, Puruaskta is also recited by households. It is said that every household should chant daily, the above
two along with Viu Sahasranma, some Upaniad-s and some verses from Bhagavad Gt.
Purua is explained in various Upaniad-s. Kaha Upaniad (II.1.12) says, aguhamtra puruo madhya
tmani tihati ||, which means Purua in the size of a thumb rests in the middle of the body. Here Purua refers to the Self, which we also
call as tman. It further says that It is seen as a smokeless flame and controls past, present and future. Muaka Upaniad (II.i.2) says,
divya purua amrta which means that Purua is luminous and formless. It further says that It is all pervasive, without mind,
without breath and It is pure and superior to my and Prakti. Bhadrayaka Upaniad, Chndogya Upaniad and Prana Upaniad refer
sun as Purua. Thus Purua is undoubtedly Brahman without attributes or Nirgua Brahman.
A brief note on Purua from Advaita point of view.
Individual soul is also known as purua or tman. Individual soul is the preternatural existence of the Brahman without attributes or the
nirgua Brahman. The individual soul is nothing but the manifestation of the Brahman. This explains why we should look within. The
Brahman is not elsewhere. He is within us. The pure Brahman or the Brahman without attributes cannot create on His own. There was a
necessity for Him to divide Himself into two and His carved out portion exclusively for the purpose of creation and sustenance is the sagua
Brahman. Whatever we discuss here is only about the sagua Brahman as the nirgua Brahman is beyond comprehension. It is like a man
attempting to explore the sun by trying to enter the core of the sun. Generally the sagua Brahman alone is called God. Therefore, God
becomes the creative aspect of the universe and not the pure Brahman or nirgua Brahman. He is the static energy from whom sagua
Brahman has originated. Sagua Brahman begins to create through His projecting power or illusory power called my.
The individual soul becomes active only if it is covered by my. The soul gets embodiment only to undergo experience arising out of karmic
account embedded in it. The individual soul as such is passive and does not partake in any of the activities of the physical body. It always
remains as a witness. The soul does not undergo modifications. The journey of the soul is a tough one. It gets human embodiment only after
undergoing several births and deaths in different shapes and forms. The soul can attain liberation only in a human birth, as realisation of the
Self can happen only through mind. Though, soul is imperishable and beyond modification, it is subjected to change of field, from lower
planes to higher planes. During this process, the soul as such does not undergo any change, but the plane in which it operates alone changes.
All this happens to the soul as it gets itself veiled by the influence of my. Due to this influence, it forgets its original nature. Though, it
forgets its original nature, still it does not cause any actions in its embodiment, nor gets modified by the actions carried out by karmic
influences in conjunction with the impressions in the subconscious mind.
Souls are only the differential manifestations of the Brahman. Typically speaking, a soul is nothing but a tiny spark of the Self-illuminating
Brahman. A human is not aware that soul is the cause of his existence. His ignorance about the soul is due to his inherent ego. The ego is
inherent in human life as ego alone provides individual identity. Ego induces him to think that he, as a physical body is responsible for all
his actions. Though, soul is also not directly responsible for his actions, actions unfold because of the soul within. There may be several
bulbs. But electricity is needed to make them burn. In the same way, there are trillions of beings and for their active lives souls need to be
present in them. The ultimate realisation of the Brahman happens only in a human mind and the individual soul aids the process of mental
evolution though by itself, it does make this happen.
The Supreme Self and the individual souls can be compared to the reflection of sun in water kept in different vessels. Same sun gets reflected
in different vessels with water, making one to believe that the reflected sun is different from the real sun in the sky. This belief arises out of
ignorance, which is also known my. Ultimately, just like water bubbles becoming one with the waters of ocean, the individual souls
become one with the Brahman. The souls journey from the lowest level of consciousness to the Supreme Consciousness is an
incomprehensible process of evolution. It is incomprehensible because, the evolution of the soul is beyond the reach of human perception,
including the great sages and saints.
Bhadrayaka Upaniad (II.v.18) says, On account of His dwelling in all bodies, He is called Purua. There is nothing that is covered by
Him, nothing that is not pervaded by Him.
With this brief introduction, Puruasktam is now being taken up for discussion.

sahasrar purua sahasrka sahasrapt |

sa bhmi vivato vtv atyatihaddagulam || (I.1)

Purua has thousands of heads, thousands of eyes and thousands of feet. He is all pervasive in the universe. He transcends the universe by
ten finger lengths (inches).

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Innumerable heads, eyes and feet are referred with an understandable numeric thousand. In fact, it is infinity. Arjuna tells Ka
inBhagavad Gt (XI.16), O! Lord of the universe! I see You endowed with numerous arms, bellies, mouths and eyes and having
innumerable forms extended on all sides. I see neither Your beginning, nor middle not even your end, as You are in the form of universe.
There are two nma-s (14 and 406) in Viu Sahasranma addressing Viu as Purua. Nma 14 is explained like this, The one who resides
in a body. Pura means a fort. Body is compared to a fort. Nine openings in the body are the nine gates. Bhagavad Gita (V.13) says, navadvre
pure. The nine openings in the body are pair of eyes, pair of ears, pair of nostrils, mouth, organs of procreation and excretion. Purua
refers to the individual Soul. Soul by remaining within the fort, rules the fort. Purua is often used in Skhya philosophy and Bhagavad Gita
is based on this. As per Skhya philosophy, the existence is based on twenty five principles or tattva-s, out of which Purua is the foremost.
Purua is the conscious spirit which only acts a witness. They are passive and non-productive. There are number of such purua-s, also
known as souls. What is called as purua in Skhya philosophy is known as tman in Vedanta. The fact is whether we call it as tman or
purua, it is the indispensable factor in creation of a life. But Purua referred Puruaskta is Brahman. However, it is to be understood that
there is no difference between Brahman and the individual soul. Both are the same.
By going by these interpretations, we can say that Purua manifests in the form of all living and non-living beings and hence, He is called
omnipresence. Again, the ten finger lengths is only a figurative expression like thousand heads, eyes and feet. He is encompassing the entire
universe and thus He is above the universe by ten inches. There is another interpretation which says that dagulam refers to the seat of the
soul, the heart.
vetvatara Upaniad (III.3) says, All eyes are His eyes, all faces are His faces, all hands are His hands and all feet are His feet.
This verse and the next verse are in vetvatara Upaniad (III.14 and 15). This verse is interpreted as This Being has thousand heads,
thousand eyes and thousand feet. He fills the universe both inside and outside and also He transcends it. He is in the heart, ten inches above
the navel. It is said that soul is placed ten inches above the navel in the centre of the chest (navel chakra and heart chakra). There is another
interpretation also. It is said that the whole creation is ten fingers measure and these ten fingers represent five pra-s, four components of
antakaraa and the soul.
According to akarcrya, dagulam means anantam and apram, which means infinite and limitless. There are many Scriptures like
Pacada talk about dagulam. Pacada (II.57) says, The Supreme Spirit, pervading the world on every side, yet extends ten fingers
beyond it (universe). This ten inch is like hallo of sun and moon or aura of human beings.
Ka says in Bhagavad Gt (VIII.22), Arjuna, that eternal Purua, within whom all beings exist and by whom all this is pervaded, is
attainable only through steadfast devotion.

purua eveda # sarva yadbhta yacca bhavyam |

utmtatvasyena yadannentirohati || (I.2)

In case there is a square in this word, please read this word as eveda.
Whatever all this is, whatever has been in the past and whatever is going to be in future, all that is in fact is Purua, who is also the Lord of
immortality and of all what grows by food.
Past, present and future, all these come from Purua. He also gives immortality. He is everything in this universe. He is the cause for the
emergence of this world from nowhere and sustains this universe with food. vetvatara Upaniad (VI.5) says, triklt para which means
that Purua is beyond the three times past, present and future. Similarly, Bhadrayaka Upaniad (II.v.14) says, He is the ruler of all
beings. The same Upaniad (III.vii.15) talks about immortality and says, He who inhabits all beings, but is within them whom no being
knows, whose body is all beings and who controls all beings within (as Purua) is the internal ruler (Purua), your own immortal Self. Thus,
Vedic conveyances are always supported by Upaniad-s.
The verse says that the universe is annamaya (made or composed of food). Taittirya Upaniad (II.2) says, All living beings come from food
and are sustained by food and dissolve into food. Thus, Purua becomes the creator, maintainer and the dissolver, which goes to prove that
Purua described here is Brahman. Food that is vital for all the above three activities (birth, living and death) originate from Purua only.
Again Taittirya Upaniad (II.1) says, From that Self (Purua) came k, from k air, from air fire, from fire water and from water earth
originated. From earth plants and herbs and from them, food and from food human beings have come forth. Thus Purua not only causes
the emergence of this universe, but also sustains it with food and therefore, there is no difference between Purua and Brahman.
Purua is the Supreme Reality called Brahman and assumes of the world in order that sentient beings may enjoy the fruit of their acts, but
this is not a true condition. Purua which in its own state of inertness becomes the visible world or the universe in order to make these living
beings to reap the fruits of their acts (karmas) and also attain liberation, in the absence of karmas. Thus, Purua is the giver of immortality,
which is subtly conveyed in this verse as annena (food).
Ka says in Bhagavad Gt (XIII. 19 23) Know that both Purua and Prakti are beginningless. All modifications and qualities are due to
Prakti. Prakti is the cause for the body and its senses, whereas, Purua is the cause of experiencing happiness and unhappiness. Purua by
being seated in Prakti, experiences the three gua-s. Attachment to the three qualities is the deciding factor for being born in a good or evil
womb. The Purua in a body is the Brahman and is being spoken of as the witness, guide, the sustainer, the experiencer and the Supreme
Self. He, who thus realizes Purua and Prakti along with the three gua-s are liberated and not to be born again.

etvnasya mahim atojyy ca purua |

pdo'sya vi bhtni tripdasyamta divi || (I.3)

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Such is His Grandeur. But in fact Purua is greater even than this. The entire creation is only a quarter of His being; other three quarters are
immortal in Heaven.
The universe created by Him and visible to us is just a quarter of His Grandeur. The rest is invisible to us, beyond our reach and remains as
immortal. There is subtle conveyance through one quarter and three quarters. One quarter, which is universe manifested in the form of
names and forms. But the other three quarters comprise of sat, cit and nanda (saccidnanda existence, consciousness and bliss). In other
words, the cosmos created by Him is just one fourth of Him and the balance is present in Himself.
Ka says in Bhagavad Gt (X.42), It is enough to say that I stand holding the entire universe by a fraction of My yogic power.
Pacada (II.55) says, Creation is only quarter of Brahman; the other three quarters are self-revealing. Self-revealing means that it does not
depend upon My (His own Power). My covers only one fourth of Puruas Grandeur, leading to the formation of Cosmos. The source of
creation is called Mahat. Mahat means abundance. It also refers to the buddhi, or Intellect, or the intellectual principle. (according to the
Skhya philosophy the second of the twenty three principles produced from Prakti and so called, as the great source of ahakra, 'self-
consciousness' (ego), and manas, 'the mind'.)
There is yet another subtle conveyance. This Absolute form is also called parvc form. This parvc is primeval stage. The sound in this
stage can be called as a seed that has not yet germinated. When the seed begins its germination, the stage is called payant. At this stage the
seed has the desire to grow. The stem becomes visible and the seed is set to commence its journey of growth. Though it is known for certain
that there is going to be a tree at a future date, one does not know how the tree would be, big or small, fruit bearing or barren etc. When the
sapling grows to a certain height, one is able to see its leaves, he will be able to identify what type of tree that would be. This stage is called
madhyam. The sapling further grows to become a tree, when one is able to see its flowers and fruits. He is able to recognize the nature of
this seed totally now. The complete form of the tree is known at this stage. This is called vaikhar stage. These three stages originated from
the form of the Absolute, the seed in this example. Absolute form is called as parvc. Par mean the highest form or the supreme form and
vc means sound. Parvc means the supreme form of sound. From this par form or the seed form sound germinates, grows and yields
words. Out of these four stages of sound, three remain within the body and only vaikhar is delivered to the world. This explains that the
universe created by Him and visible to us is just a quarter of His Grandeur, which is vaikhar here.
Muaka Upaniad (II.ii.5) gives another subtle conveyance. Purua is resting everything, the heaven, the earth and antarika (the
intermediate space between heaven and earth), as well as the mind with life and the sense organs. This means that the beings represent a
quarter and heaven, the earth and antarika represent three quarters.
This is also explained by Brahma Stra (III.ii.23) which says tadvyaktamha hi ( ). This means That Brahman is un-manifest.
This is further explained as It is not comprehended through the eye, or through speech, or through other senses. Nor is it attained through
austerity or karma. It is imperceptible, for It is never perceived.

tripdrdhva udaitpurua pdo'syeh bhavat puna |

tato viva vyakrmat snnaane abhi || (I.4)

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