Purusha Sukta - Forgotten Books
Transcript of Purusha Sukta - Forgotten Books
2 T HE PURUSHA SUKT A .
spiration from w estern savants, makes the
follow ing remarks on th is Sfik ta*— “ T he
hymn itselfw as composed centuries after thet ime w hen the B igVeda hymns w ere gene
rally composed, as is proved byits languageand its ideas . I t w as c omposed after the R ik
and the Saman and the Yajur Vedas hadbeen sepa rately c lassified (verse and after
the idea of the sacrifice of the Supreme
B eing(unknown elsew here I n the R igVeda )had found a place in the Hindu rel igion.
I t w as composed, as Colebrooke states, after
the rude versification of the B igVeda had
given place to the more sonorous me tre of
a later age . Weber, Max Muller, Muirand o ther scho lars all agree as to th is hymnbe ingcomparatively
'
modern .
!
Muir says that th is Sfik ta w as‘ev idently
produced a t a period w hen the ceremonialof sacrifice had become largely developed,w hen great v irtue w as supposed to
‘
resideL
D ntt'
s Ancient I ndia B k . 1. Chapter 5.
I N T RO D UCT I O N .
in its -
proper celebrat ion, and when a mys
t ical meaning had come to be a ttached to
the various materials and instruments of
the ritual as Well as to the different mem‘
bers of the v ictim.
’
'
We leave the question of the rela tive
posteriori ty of the‘
several hymns to the
scho lars o fEurope , w ho seem to have"
a
spec ial aptitude for th is branch of inquiry ,We, I ndians, concern oursel ves w ith w ha t issaid, more than who said it and when. I t
is th is tendency of the Indian mind that
accounts for the absence ofh istorical w orksin our literature and has given a pretty
longte ther to the theorising propensit ieso f w estern Sansk ritists . B ut w e may no te
o ne o r tw o th ings w ith regard to th is hymn.
1 . I t w ill not do to say that the hymnis oflate origin simply because it containsreferences to some of the details . of cere
monial sacrifice. or to the caste~system. . Sac
rifice seems to be the keynote of the R iff
4 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
Veda as it is indisputably of the o ther
V edas nd hymns may be found in severalMan w h ich have sole reference to thetechnicalities of sacrific ial lore . Indiant radit ion has it that the RigVeda w as com
piled to meet the requirements ofthe Hotar,one of the ch ief offi c ia ting priests at a sac
rifice, and the statement made by Goldstticker that some of the hymns w ill hardly lend themselves to the purposes of sac
rifice w ill no t, even ifsubstantiated, w eakenour position as our content ion is simply tha tthe majorportion of the R ig Veda hymns
refers to sacrificemore or less directly .
W e hold that.
the caste - system existedw hen many of the hymns of the R igVeda.
w ere composed, though not in its present
h ide - bound form and though free from the
blind rigidity of later t imes . We are aw are
that Mr. R . 0 . B utt brings forw ard positive
and nega tive proofs to show that there w as
no caste- system during the Vedic period
IN T R O D UCTI O N . 5
and the very w ords B ralnnana, Vipra and
Kshatriya are used in the R ig Veda w ith
out any reference to the castes . W e are
also aw are that w estern scholarsh ip w illbe shocked to see such a theory as ours
maintained at a t ime w hen,they th ink , the
question has been finally set tled once for
all . B ut w e are of opinion that the quest ion can w ell bear a re - examinat ion, and
w e propose to offer a few remarks on the
subject in our comments on Rik XIII .2 . Mr . R . C. Dutt maintains that the
PurushaSfik ta w as composed after the Rik ,
the Saman, and the Yajur Vedas had beenseparately classified and bases th is inferenceo f h is on the ninth verse of th is hymn,w here Richas, Samurai and Yan are men
tioned by name . I f th is v erse had been
mmposed after the several Vedas had beencomp iled into dist inc t books, how came th isverse and th is hymn to be found in the
body of one of them ! Does he mean to say
6 Tm:PURUSHA SUKTA .
that th is particular hymn w as composed
afterw ards and inserted into the body
of the book that it migh t not be regarded
as a later and spurious addition ! W hyall th is to rturing and tw isting to upho ld
a particular theory ! There is no t the
ghost of a reference to the distinct com
p ilo tions of the several Vedas in the v erse .
R iehas , Samcmi and Yujue do no t there
refer to the several Vedas but simplyto R ik
, Saman and Yajus verses and tarts ,
al l ofw h ich w ere and must have been in
existence longbef ore the time of their codification into separa te trea tises and each
of w h ich had a distinc t purpose and appli
cation in sacrific ial ceremonials . V idyaranya does no t in h is commentary take the
w ords to refer to the several Vedas . N o
one w ill th ink of igno ring the plura l f orm
of the w ords used and take the tro uble of
interpret ingthem in the co l lec tive sense
to fall, as the rew ard of th is trouble into
I N TRO D UCT I O N .
the fallacy of arguingin a c irc le !
3 . T he language of th is hymn is parti
cularly sw eet , rhythmical and polished and
th is has led to its being regarded as the
produc t of a later age w hen the capabilities
of the language had been developed . B ut.
the polish may be due to the artistic sk illof the particular author, to the nature of
the subjec t and to several o ther causes
than mere posteriori ty in t ime . W e migh tas w ell say that Chaucermust have lived
centuries after Grow er, because the languageof the former is so refined and that of the
latter, so rugged . W e mus t a t the same
t ime confess that w e are unable to discoverany distinct linguistic peculiarity in the
hymn w h ich w ill stamp it as of a laterorigin .
4. Rev . Maurice Phillips observesThough human sacrifices w ere know n dur
ing the mantras or the oldest hymns of
1" The teach ingof th e Vedas p . 198 .
8 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
the Veda, the ev idence is too scanty for us
to conclude that they w ere common. T he
nine tieth hymn of the tenth Mandala of
the R igVeda in w h ic h Purusha , the primeval male , is described as cut to pieces andoffered as a sacrifice by the Gods
’
show s
that the idea of offering a man,Pm'
asha ,
w as familiar to the anc ient Aryans . I t is
true that the Purusha in the hymn is an
imaginary being but the description of
h is immolat ion is so real and minute as to
justify the conclusion that it w as taken
from the w ell - know n manner in w h ich human heino s w ere sacrificed . Professor Max
Muller also is of opinion that human sacritices, prevailed amongthe ancient Hindus,
(not in the B rahmanic or the Vedic periodbut a t a still earlier age) . D r. Rajendra L al
also inclines to th is V iew L et our
V ide h is History of Sanskrit L i t erature pp. 419 and 420 .
1'We may in th is connect ion refer our readers to the l ife
and le tters of Sambuchandra Mukerji by Mr . Skrine I . C . S. ,
w h ere w e get some idea of th e w ay in w hich D r. R . L .
Mitra h as tried to hunt up for references to human sacrifices .
IN T R O D UCTI O N . 9
readers study the Purusha Sl’ik ta and judgefor themselves how far the conclusions of
Rev . M . Ph illips are justified.
T he hymn is attributed to a R ish i namedN arayana and is therefore called N arayanai nuvaka . I t is used by th e B rahmans in
their religious ceremonies in a v arietv of
w ays and many w ho cannot spare t ime fo r
a study of the complete Veda generallycontent themselves w i th learningthe Rud
rzidhyfiya and the Purusha Siik ta . W e
propose to deal w ith the Purusha Suk ta
here and expla in it a t some length .
Gil):murus lmEinldaR I K 1 .
sw fisfir’m assing
-ea
Purushah= T he Supreme B eing,ras
'
irshd==hath a thousand heads , Sahas
rdlcshahz ha th a thousand eyes , Sakasra
pat= hath a thousand feet ; Sah=He , B htl
mim= the Universe , Vis'
ra tah= on all sides .
Vritvd= pervading, D as’
dnyulam= to the
extent of ten inches,A tya tishthat
— lay be
yond .
T he Supreme B eing ha th a thousand
heads, a thousand eyes
,a thousand feet
pervadingthe Universe on all sides , He lay
beyond it to the extent of ten inch es .
T he w hole Universe of existing th ingsanimate as w ell as inanimate is regarded
R I K II . 11
as the body of Purusha— the Supreme
B e ing. Hence the eyes of all liv ingbe ingsare His their heads , His heads their feet ,His feet . He is thus spoken of as hav inga thousand eyes, &c . T housand is here
used for Countless by w hat is called Upo
lalcshana . Upa la lcshana is defined as
W i émd W W tie. the im
plica tion of someth ing no t expressed,in
addition to that w hich has been expressed .
D as'
dnyalam is also used here by w av of
Upalal'
shana . All that is meant is tha t the
Supreme B eingis someth ingover and above
th is Universe , w h ich forms only a part of
Him.
R I K I I .
as:as 63age! W I
3m masse sses ll
I dam= th is , Sarvam= all (is), Purusha/1
eca rz the Supreme B eingalone, I’
atz w hat,
14 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA.
diffi cult to say. I t is the indefinable cause
w h ich , by assoc iat ion w ith B rahman, pro
jec ts the appearance ofmaterial w o rld com
prisingdist inct indiv idua l existences . Maya ,by a progressive evo lution ,
modifies itselfinto the several material elements and the
bodily organs of various livingbeings . T he
indiv idual souls are really the UniversalB rahman
, brough t by Maya under her in
fluence . Under the material encumbrancesimposed byMaya
,they are unable to real ise
their t rue nature and so have come to
regard themselves as separa te ent ities dis
t inc t'from the Univ ersal soul . Thus it is
that souls wh ich are only B rahman a re
conditioned,indiv idualised and enveloped
in a material case by Maya and become
age nts and enjoyers . T he actions of
these souls have t heir merit and demerit ,w hose fruits they are to reap in a series of
future existences . A t the end of everyKalpa the who le material w orld is merged
Rm I I . 15
into Maya and the indiv idual souls lie in a
latent state . B ut the fruits of their Karmahave not yet been exhausted ; so w hen
after the pra laya a new w orld is evolvedout ofMaya, these Souls once more enter
the cycle of birth and rebirth . They are
finally released from this coil of Samsara
w hen they realise their real nature and theirabsolute identity w ith the universal souland the illusory restric tions imposed by
Maya . True know ledge, as taugh t by
S'
ruti and learned from the Acharya after
a preliminary course of self- sacrificingdisc ipline , leads to th is realisat ion and such
realisation brings about the extinc tion of
the seed ofKarma and final emanc ipat ionfrom the thraldom ofMaya .
Th is, in brief, is the teach ing of S'
anka
ra . T he v is ible universe around us con
sists of tw o dist inc t elements—matter and
spirit (Jiva) . Matter is evolved Maya and
Maya, w hatever its essence may be , is but
18 T HE m sna SUKTA .
to form part of the Supreme B eing.
«same Yad annena atirohati. ~Muir
translates t he expression thus ‘vSince (or
when) byfood he expands.’
Colebrooke alsotransla tes it by He grow s by
3175! (anna) means' food o r nourishment
B ut to say that the Supreme B eing eXpands
by‘
food or grow s by nourishment makes nosense . T he oexPression is pregnant w ithmeaning. I t serves to reconc ile t he inconsistencv be tw een the two preceding state
ments—( l ) All th is (perishable) Universe isHe alone (2) and yet He is the L ord of
immo rtality. And it show s, for w hat purpose
the I mmortal Lo rd also comes to assume
th is transient form. W e have , here as
elsew here, follow ed Vidyaranya and it is
difficult to see w hy h is interpretation has
failed to commend itself to’
these scholars,unless perhaps it be that it is based on the.
theory of re- birth (Janmantara and Karma)- any reference to w h ich theory western
20 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
Asya His,Mahima
‘
z manifestation of
pow er or glory ; Gho=and, Piirushahz -T he
Supreme B eing(is) , Jyaydnz—much greater
Ala/i m than th is, Vis’
va= all , B hutani==th 1ngs
that exist , (are) Pddah= a fourth , Asya==of
Him. Asya=His , T i ipdd= three- fourths , .
Amritam= being immortal and changeless,D ivi= (remains) in self- luminous effulgence
(as B rahman) .
This Universe '
of exis tingth ings, together
w ith all that w as and w ill be is only a manifesta tion ofHis pow er orglory , not His realnature . For all existing th ings are but a
quarter ofHim, w h ile three - fourths remain
immortal and changeless as the Self- lumi
nous B rahman .
R I K . I V .
T i 'ij idté T hree- fo urth s, P‘
l l O’
UShah= T l le
Supreme B eing, Uda it= w ent up, L’
rdhvah
R I K I V . 2 1
above (the trammels ofSamsi‘tra) ; Pridahone - fourth , Asya= o i m,
I ha —.here , Abha
ra t= came,Punah= again and again ; T a tah
==then, (th is one - fourth part ofHim), Vya
lerdmat= spread, Vishvany-
z on allsides, Scis
ana—unas’
ane Abhir - over th ings tha t eat
and th ings that do no t eat .
T he Supreme B eingw ho has been calledthe three - fourths portion is above all phenomenon . I t is only a quarter ofHim that
duringprfd aya lies in a nascent sta te and
afterw ards comes out as the v is ible universea round us . I t is th is one fourth part that
s preads in all direct ions as the phenomenalw orld consistingof th ings animate as w ell
as inanimate .
C omment (on Rih'
s 3 and - These tw o rihslay dow n the relat ion tha t exists betw een
the Supreme I ieingand the universe . All
the phenomenal w orld is no th ing but a
portion of the Supreme B eing; o ver and
above th is phenomenalmanifestat ion,there
22 T un PURUSHA SUKTA .
remains the Supreme Lord w ho is abov e al l
change, w ho never comes w ith in the t ram
mels of Samsiira . That w h ich w e see as
the v isible w orld around us is but a small
portion ofHis Essence , w h ich is absorbed
in Him duringevery p i'
alaga , and comesout
ofHim at th e beginningofeveryKalpa . T he
true theory of vira rta,difficul t tograsp
'
an‘
d
reserved for the last s tage of me taphysicalenquiry, is but barely h inted a t in th e
second R ik and the transfo rmation~thefiory,
w h ich is bandr and easier of comprehen
sion, does excellently w ell as a w orkinghypo thesis and is therefore taken up once
more in the th ird and fo llow ing rilcs for
th e eluc ida t ion of Vedic cosmology. T he
first half of R ik 3 alludes to vicarta and
distinc tly says tha t all phenomenon is but
His glory and He is above all manifestation.
B ut. in the very nex t half the parindma
theo ry steps in and speaks o f one - fourth
and‘three - fourths of God, as if the terms
R I K I V ‘ 23
part and w hole wh ich can apply only to
matter could be used w i th reference to Spiritw h ich , in ultimate analysis, is O ne, indict!sible and incapable of parts . Th is methodof procedure is called Alandhati - dars'anaN ydya . I t has required the genius of
S'
ankara to grasp the Vivarta theory , workit out in all its b earings and expla in all the
seemingcontradic tions of the Scriptures .
Punah . Vidyfiranya takes it to heequivalent to punah punah , again and agaiii ;
tha t is, after every pralaya , the universew h ich had been dissolved into B rahman
assumes again the v isible material form.
Vishvang==on all sides . Vidyaranya inter
prets it thus .W U!W zfi m sum
ingvariousforms such asgods and animals .
Sds'
ana—anas'
ané. Griffi ths remarks thus ;According toSfiyana andMah idhara
, over
bo th classes ofc rea ted th ings , those capableof enjoyment, that is, w ho can taste the
rew ard and punishment ofgood and evil
24 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
ac t ions, such as gods, men and low er ani
male, and those who are incapable thereof,
such as mo untains and rivers .
!
Co lebrookea lso translates the expression thus w ha t
does and w hat does not taste ( the rew ard ofgood an dbad actions . )All that we can say is tha t Sayana' does
no t say anyth ing of the k ind. He says
«maxi:immfimmfifiddrawshaman,ca
m :W W I ivingbmngsthat perfo rm the func t ions of alimenta tionand lifeless t hings such as mounta ins and
rivers tha t a re no t capable of such func
tions .
R I K . V .
T asmdt= From Him (i s . the Supreme
Being), Virdt= the sum total of the material
ofw h ich the universe is made up, Ajdyata=
R I K V . 25
w as bo rn ; Virdjé a dhi= o ver (i .e. pene tra t
ing into ) th is mass of ma tte r, Piirushah=the L ord (transfo rmed Himself into the
animating princ iple of th is universe o f
matter) Jdtah= (After be ingthus) born (i . a.
after th is transfo rmat ion), Sa ll= He, al tyaril
«rhyata=became differentiated as the indiv i
dual souls ofgods, men &c Paschdt= then
B h iimim= (He shaped theshapeless ,primeval
mass ofmatter into the earth and the othe r.
spheres) ; Atho - then, Farah— (out of the
same ma t ter) he prov ided the severalindiv idual souls, tha t w ere lyingunbodied,w ith bodies .
From th is same Supreme B eing w as born
all the shapeless, primeval mass of matter
of the universe . I nto th is mass the Lord
penetrated and became its life principle.
He then became differentiated as the severalindividual souls of men, gods &c , w h ileretainingat the same t ime a dist inc t spiritual fo rm as the presidingDei ty of the uni
26 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
verse of matter . Then he shaped the c rude
mass of ma tte r into the earth and the
heavenly spheres . Then he prov ided the
several indiv idual souls of gods, men 850 ,
w ith bodies suited to th eir particular condit ions .
Commentw - Thisi
expla ins very briefly andtersely how the w hole universe of spiri t andmatter came into exis tence and the succeeding riles merely expound the details of
creation and the modus operandi bywh ich
th e several classes of existingth ings cameinto being.
O ne thingmust be fi rs t premised . T he
Sfik ta does not propose to explain how all
th is v isiblemul tiplic ityof shapes and beings
first came into existence . N e ither the
Veda nor the’
Vedftnta at tempts the solut ionof the problemof origina l creat ion . T he
mind ofman is limited. and has to stop some
w he re . I t v ainly fabrica tes a fic t ion that
there w as a time w hen there w as absolutely
2 8 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
c omplica ted disguises, it is equal ly v ic ious,e qually unth inkable . B e it a fragment ofmat
ter,o rsome po tential fo rmo fmat ter, o r some
more remo te and sti ll less imaginable cause,o ur concept ion of its self- existence can . be
fo rmed only by jo iningw i th it the no tion ofunlimitedduration through past time . And as
unlimited durat ion is inconceivable, all thoseformal ideas into w hich it ente rs are incoac eivable , and indeed, if such an expressionis allow able
,are the more inconceivable in
propo rt io n as the o ther elements of the ideasare indefinite . So that in fac t , impossiblea s it is to think of the ac tual universe as
self- exist ing, we do butmultiply impossibilit ies of t ho ugh t by every a t tempt w e maket o explain its existence .
!
[For further
information v ide pp. 30—36 . Herbert
Spencer’
s First Princ iples of Synthetic
A ll tha t the rik does is simply to point
o ut how creat ion proceeds at the end‘
of a
R I K V . 29 .
zw alwyn and at the beginning of a Kalpa .
Duringpralctya, the souls ofall liv ingbeings
w ith the latent possibilities of their past
Karma. are merged into B rahman (the Sn
preme B e ing) ; and al l matter, becomingex tremelv a t tenuated and etheria lised is
ultima tely reso lved into Maya and th is
Maya is likew ise abso rbed into B rahman
Thus duringpr
alaya, one alone exists and
tha t is . B rahman, containingw i thinHimself.how ever, numberless po tential existences .
At th e end of the pralnya , Maya first gets
out ofB rahman and becomes a crude nebularmass ofmatter, w h ich is technically know nas Virdi. Then B rahman breathes a par:ofHimself. into this inert mass of matter
and becomes its animating and sus tainingprinc iple and its presiding Deity , who is
technically know n as Prajcipati . T hen the
several souls ofgods, men, beasts
had been absorbed in B rahman w ith th e:accumulated force of their. past Karma .
30 . T HE PURUSHA SUK ’
I A .
po tent ial but no t ext inc t, issue out as
Jivcis , ready to take such forms as are determined by t heir former deeds .
T he fi rst Jivcis that came of B rahman are
the gods and the Sadhyas and they
c ontempla te on and pray to Prajapat i forthe c rea tion of the o ther th ings of the
Universe . Then the c rude mass ofmatter
is s haped out into the several spheres and
the remainingnubodied souls that had issuedo ut of B rahman are prov ided w ith . bodies .
T he sequel explains the several details of
t his Uttarc Srishti or later crea tion .
I t must be no ted tha t all th is mat ter and .
the spirits proceed out of w hat has been
c alled in B ike 3 and 4 as the one - fourth part:
o f the Supreme B eing. I t is th is one - fourth
part that becomes Prajapat i . or the'
v ital
princ iple of the Universe . I t is fromth is .
one-fourth part that the material Universe .
and the several souls issue out . This one
fourth part that becomes thus subject to !
R I K V . 31
these s everal changes and transformat ionsunder the influence ofMaya is technicallyknow n as the remainingthreefour
’
ths that never undergo any change
const itute w ha t is called S'
uddha B ra/imam.
Tasmdt (From him) h ere therefore refers to
the one-fourth portion. ment ioned in . the
precedingriks . Virdj is-
the produc t ofMaya ,
w h ich comes out of I s'
vara in the'
formof
B rahmanda or the mundane egg. Mr. Wallisin his ‘Cosmo logy of the B igVeda
’
baa ths
follo w ingno te on the w o rd . f‘ Virtij w hosename (in Rig-Veda X 159, 3) appears to
mean ‘queen’
w ould seem to be the female
counterpart of Purusha as Adit i of Dakshain'X124, 5 c . f. B rihadaranyaka Upanishad
4 . 2 . Th is is true in a sense ; for
Maya'
represents thefemale essence of I s'
vara
and Virdj is the product of Maya. I t is
needless to state that all these explanat ionsare only provis ionally true, Vydvahdrika,not Pdra
i
mdrthika, be ing based on the
32 T HE PURUSHA SUK '
rA .
prov isional hypo thesis of Pa rimima .
Paschc‘
t‘
t t imz'
mAtI to Purah . Vidyaranya
interpretspurah thus, «mmi l
’
fll'
fibh bodies w h ich are made up o f the
seven k inds of t issues, muscles, bone &c .
Th is interpretation has no t commended itselfto w estern scho lars . They are ev idently ofO pinion that it is far fetched, and take the
expression to mean ‘eastw ard and w estward
over t/16 earth’
t'
. 6 . bo th before and beh ind theearth . They all translate th is rile more or
less in th is stra in —“From h im Viraj w as
born ; again Purusha fro in Viraj w as bo rn .
A s soon as he w as. bo rn he spread eastward
and w estw ard over the earth .
!
W e w ish toknow what these scholars mean by sayingthat from. Purusha Viraj w as born and from
Viraj w as Purusha born . Does this not
look like a paradox ! Curiously enough
none of these scholars think it necessary
to explain the inconsistency.
T he fac t is that to those who are not
RI K VI . 33
sa turated w ith the ideas ofVedantic ph iloso
phy, the interpretat ion ofV idyaranya must
seem unfamiliar and forced . B ut w ithoutth e clue furnished by Vedanta , the passage
w ill be dark as the darkest . oracle —and the
only w ay of escaping out of the difficultyw ould be not to a ppear to not ice it .
V I . R I K .
5187 W ‘m !Hafi z
Ya t=w hen, D evcih=the devas or th e gods ,A tanva ta=performed, Yajnam=the (mental)sacrifice, Purushena= w ith t he Supreme
B eing, Haviskdz as the Items or the sacrificial offering, Asya, for th is (sacrifice) ,Vasantch=the
sacrific ial butter ; Grishmah=t he summer,
I dhmah=(became) the fuel ; S’
ara t=the
autumn, Havis=(became) the offering (of
purodss'
a&c . )When the gods performed the mental
3
34 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
sacrifice w ith Purusha as the offering, thespring formed the sacrific ial but ter ; thesummer wa s the fuel and the autumn w as
theh oly offering.
Comment —I t has alreadybeen remarkedthat the gods w ere the first to come out of
the Supreme Beingafter pra-l aya and to be
provided w ith bodies . Among these gods
are also inc luded certain semi- divine fbeingscalled Sfidhyfis and R ishis or sages , the
Vedic seers . T hese gods, Sadhyz'is and
R ishis, Vidayaranya regards as the representa tives of the life and the senses of
Prajapa t i—th e presiding Dei ty of Viraj.
Just as life ~ and the senses draw out the
ac tivity of a person, so these powers bringout the latent poss ibilit ies of Prajapa t i .When they thus came out , they saw nothingbut the B rahmanda or the mundane egg, a
shapeless mass of nebular matter, w hich
the Supreme B e ing animated as its v i tal
princ iple and presiding Deity. T he gods
36 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
and all that is, lives and moves and has its
beingin Him. I t is a pity that th is significant conception ofPurusha
’
s Sacrifice shouldhave been distorted into a reference to
human sacrifice .
V I I . R I K .
Asya=For th is (mental sacrifice) , Asc otthere w ere, Sapta=sev en, Parid/taya lt
sacred enclosingsticks ; flassapta= thriceseven, Samidhah=fuel - st icks, Kritcth=w ere
prepared ; Yat=w hen,D eed/t: th e gods,
Tanvdndit=performed, Yajnamz the sacrifice ,Abadhnan=theybound, Pumcskamz the
Supreme B eing, Pas’
um==as th e v ic t im.
For th is sacrifice , there w ere seven paridln
'
s or fenc inglogs and thriceeseven fuel ~
sticks w ere prepared w hen the'
gods per
formed . th is sacrifice, they bound“
the
Supreme B e ing (to the sacrificial o
post) . as
R I K V I I . 37
the v ic tim (to be immolated) .
Comment. Th is rileoccurs as the fifteenth
in the R igveda Samh ita ; but is placed as
the seventh in the T aittiriya Aranyaka .
We have follow ed the T aittiriyic arrange
ment , as th is verse forms a natural continuat ion of the sixth rile.
T he same figure is kept up in th is rile asalso in the sequel . Enclosingthe sacrificialfires on all sides are placed certain sacred
tw igs, seven in number— three round the
Ahavaniya fi re,
‘three round the Uttara
vedt'
and one represent ing the sun . And
a bundle of tw entv - one small st icks is
throw n into the fi re as a preliminary to thesacrifice .
“T here are three sacred fires pertaining to sacri
fice: — that w hich is perpetuallymaintainedbya grihapa ti or householder, w hich he receives
from his father and transmits to his descendants, andfrom w hich fires for sacrificial purposes are lighted .
(2 ) Aha vaniya— the eastern fire burningat filmvane or
a sacrifice , taken from the gdrhapatya fire. The sacri
38 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
T he rile gives us no clue as to w ha t
th ings , in th is mental sacrifice, representedthe sevenparidhis or enclosingtw igs and thetw enty - one sticks . Vidyaranya says that
the seven Vedic metres such as Gavatri ,
Anushtup, Jagati &c . , here represent the
seven paridhis . These sev en metres w ere, it
must be admitted, no t in ac tual existenceat the time of this allegorical sacrifice for
w e find it expressly stated in a la ter rile
that rik, yajus , edman and the several metresissue out of th is same sacrifice . B ut it is
believed that the Vedas and, by implication ,
the Vedic me tres are eternal and therefore
must have existed in the minds of the gods,the Sfidhvas and the R ish is , w ho are the
flea proper is performed in this fire . (3) D ak shinathe sacred fire (also called anvdhéryapachana )—placedsouthwards, used in the anvfiharya sacrifice, w hich isan expiatory ceremony performed for the removal offaults of omission or commission that may have creptin, in the course of the sacrifice proper and in w hichfood, gifts and sac rificial ofi erings are presented to theR itti ks or officiating priests . Utteravedi is the
northern altar made for the sacred fire .
R I K V I I . 39
performers of th is figurative sacrifice . I t
is the above-mentioned R ish is, that receive
the ligh t ofrevelation through div ine inspi
rat ion and through w hom it is made know n
to the world . Stripped of the figure, the rift
w ould mean that the eternal Vedic truth
illumined the minds of these div ine and
semi-div inesacrificersand they contemplatedon the nature of the Supreme Lord as w e
find it set forth , la ter on, in Vedic metres .
R . T . H . Griffi ths observes that Mah idhara ,
another commentator, is of opinion that theseven oceans may have been intended bythe seven parid/tis ; but w e
'
fa il to see
the appropriateness of the interpretation .
Vidyaranya says that the tw elvemonths
the five seasons, thethree w orlds and the
sun are intended by the tw enty - one sticks .
T he,
tw elve months and the fi ve seasons"
m m (spring) including sha ttra and mis'ékha. grit/mmthe
,summer) the next tw o months ;pram-i t ( the rainy season)
0 next two ; a'crat ( autumn) the next tw o ; r
'is'tra and
hw m ta comprising. the las t four month s of the year beingh ere regarded as one season—that of dew .
40 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA
as represent ingt ime may w ell have been
meant here ; but the three w orlds,and the
sun, a t the t ime of th is sacrifice
,w ere yet
to come into existence and so the appro
priateness of these last hav ingbeen intendedby the fuel - sticks is not very clear .
They bound the Purusha or the‘
L '
ord (tothe sacrificial po st) , as the v ict im to be
offered ; ev idently because there w as
no th ing else-
to be oflered up as sacrifice .
From Him sacrificed, w as to proceed al l
the universe of existingth ings and to Him
w as the sacrifice offered. Probably in a
metaphorical description of th is k ind w e
should no t be do ing just ice to the spirit ofthe author of the hymn,
if w e shouldexpec t the metaphor to ;stand on all fours .
A ruth less analysis of an expressive figure
maygo to strip many a beaut iful passage,here as elsew here, of its intrinsic charm,
may perhaps be indicat ive of a st iff- necked
sc ientific spirit, but is certainly subversiv e
Rm V II I . 41
of all canons of goo d taste and generous
critic ism.
A ll that is implied by th is as w ell as the
precedingrile is that the D evds, thed hyds
and the Rishis contemplated for a longw h ile on the glory of the Lord— such gloryas w e find set forth in th e Vedas, prayed toHim devout ly and regarded Him as both
the sacrifice and the Lord of the sacrifice ,that is, as bo th the material and the
effic ient cause of the universe .
Inc identally, these tw o riks show that
at the t ime of the hymn the ceremonial of
sacrifice must have been considerablyelaborated . Th is is
,how ever, true ofmany
another hymn of the R igveda . As w e have
already remarked, sacrifice is the keynote
of th is Veda, as it is clearly of the others .
VI I I R I K .
42 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
Tam=that , Yajnam=sacrific ial offering,Purusham=the Lo rd, Jcitam=born, Agrata/a.
before all th ings, Proulcshan=they immolated, B arhishi=on the sacrificial fire ;T enaw ith th is thegods,Ye (andthey) w ho (w ere), d hydh=tlie Sfidhyfis ,
R ishayascha z and the R ishis, Ayajanta r
performed the sacrifice .
T hey immolated on the sacrific ial fire
that sacrificial offering, Purusha, w ho w as
born before all other th ings ; w ith th isoffering, the Gods , the Shdhyfis and the
Rish is performed the sacrifice .
Comment—I t should be no ted that th isimmolation of Purusha , is also to be takenfigura tively . A t the time of th is mentalsacrifice, the one- fourth part of Purushahad, as already remarked, assumed tw o
forms—one , Prajapat i or, as He is know n
in later systems of ph ilosophy, I s’
vara,and
the o ther, nebular ma t ter called Viraj,w h ich th is Prajapat i animated as its v ital
44 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
T he expression is capable of bo th the
interpretat ions . There is no materialdifference betw een the tw o ; yet w hat w e
w ish to po int out is that it w ill not be safe toset aside Vidyaranya
’
s meaning unless for
very strongreasons, and even then, such
reasons should be explic itly stated. W e
have know n Pandits of immense learning,
w ho w hen they fa iled to understand Vidyaranya, did no t how ever proceed to condemn
h im but sincerely set it dow n to their ow n
ignorance and regarded the condemnat iono fVidyaranya as little short of heresy .
d /zyd/z—Wallis, in h is ‘Cosmology of the
Rigveda’
has th is no te on the w ord .
‘T he
Sfidhyas w ould seem to be div ine ancientsacrificers . Compare X,
10 9, 4 ; also X ,
191,2; V I I ; 2 1 . 7; and X Vidya
ranya h as these remarks on sadhyas and
R ish is .
R I K IX . 45
i .e,’ Those w ho , (by their penance)
w ere'
capable of accomplishing the w ork of
creation—gods w ho , as already no ted, re
presented the life and senses or the act ive
pow ers of Prajapati—and the vedic seers .
R I K . I X .
W W W !T asmat From that , Yajndt= sac rifice ,
Sarra - ka tak=in w h ich , all , t . e, Virad
purusha, w as offered up, Prishad-ajyam=
ghee mixed w ith curd, Sambhri tam=w as
produced ; Chalcre=He (Prajapat i) (then)created, Tdn=(all ) these, Pas
’
zinz animals ,
Ye d avycin that have the air for their
deity,Aranydn=those liv ing in forests,
Grcimyds cha=and those liv ingin v illages .
From th is sacrifice in w h ich V irt‘
ij w as
sacrificed w as produced ghee mixed w ith
curd . He (Prajapa t i) then created all the
animals—those liv ingin the air, and those
that are w ild as w ell as domest ic .
46 T HE PURUSHA SUKT A .
Comment. Th is sacrifice is termed
sarvaha t’
, because sa rva i .e. , V iraj, w h ichcontained the germ of a ll the th ings of the
universe , w as regarded as the oblation to
the Lord . Ghee mixed w ith card’
is used
here, by w ay of Upalakshana , to deno te all
those th ings that serve as sustenance to all
liv ing beings . Animals are said to have
Vayu or the God ofwmd for their presidingdeity ; Vidyaranya quo tes T aittiriya B rah
mana I I I— l 2—3 in suppo rt of this fact .
Wallis thus translates the rile ; Whenthe sac rifice w as completed, they co llec tedthedrippingfat from it , it formed the beasts
of the air, of the w ild places and of th e
v illage .
! Wa llis th inks that the fat drippingfrom the sacrificed v ic tim formed the
animals w ild and domestic . B ut accordingto V idyaranya , from th is universal sacrifice,w ere produced al l th ings that serve as
sustenance and similarly He created . all
animals w ild and tame .
R I K X . 47
Tasmdt=From that , Sarvahutahz univer
sal , Yajncit=sacrifice, R ichah=the rile verses ,Sdmdni—(and) the Stiman verses, Jajnire=
w ere born; Tasmdt=from that , Chhanddmsiz
the metres, Jajnire=sprang Yaju8==theYajus texts, ajdyata=sprang, Tasnuit=fromtha t .
From tha t universal sarifice“
w ere born
the rih:and the edman verses ; the severalmetres such as Gdyatri &c .
,w ere also
produced from the same ; the Yajus texts
w ere born therefrom.
Comme nt. T he Vedas are regarded as
e ternal, be ing the w ord of God ; but herethey are expressly sta ted to have been born
o ut of th is sac rifice . T he tw o s tatements
are not to be taken as mutually conflic t ing.
Veda is eternal truth o r sacred know ledge
48 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
and lived in the Supreme B e ing. Whenthese Sfidhyas and R ish is contemplated on
Him and prayed to Him, He illumined the irhearts w ith the div ine know ledge , and th e
Eternal Truth flashed on their minds w ithsuch v iv idness and brilliancy that theyseemed to see and hear it . Hence it is that
the w ord ofGod is termed S’
ruti or w hat
w as heard, and the R ish is w ho w ere the
rec ipients of th is div ine know ledge are
termedmantrdrishta‘
ra h, i .e. ,those that saw
the hymns . T he present rile conveys the
same idea, namely , that the Vedic truths
came out of th is sacrificed Purusha and the
recipients thereof, the Sadhyas and the
R ish is,w hose minds had been thus illumined
gave out these truths to the w orld inmetricalform, w hose harmonious outflow is also
attributed to the same div ine agency. Th is,in short , is the orthodox theory of the
div ine inspiration and eternity of the Scrip
R I K X . 49
T he ment ion of Ri/c, Yajus and Sdman in
th is v erse has led many scholars to believetha t the R igVeda , the Yajur Veda and the
Sauna Veda alone w ere in exis tence a t fi rst
and th e Atharva Veda came la ter on intoexistence . There is noth ingin the v erse to
support th is V iew . T he w o rds r iehas , sdmdni
and yajus canno t here mean the severalcomp ila tions bearing these names . Such an
interpre tat ion presumes tha t th is verse mus thave been w rit ten after the three distinct
compila tions had been comple ted . I f so ,it
has to be pro ved w hen and by w hom, t hisverse came to be w ritten and inserted in the
body of one of them. B ut the meaning is
plain and s imple . A t the t ime w hen many
of the hymns of the R igveda w ere sany,
(composed, no t comp iled) , the ceremonial ofthe sac rifice had been considerably dev eloped and Vedic songs and composit ions hadbeen classified into three distinc t varieties
,
the fundamentum divisionis being their
50 Tm:PURUSHA SUKTA .
subjec t mat ter, the sacrific ial purposesthey serv ed, and th eir me trical and musica l
( in the absence of a mo re accura te expression) peculiari ties Thus any Vedic verse
o r passage must come under any of these
t h ree heads hence th e Vedas w ere designated by the compreh ensive term
,T ray! or
T rayi Vidyd. T he expression Tmyi Vidydthus comprises the A tha rva Veda also , as
the songs of th is Veda are riles , though
many o f them are no t to be met w i th (andnecessari ly so) in the R igvedic compila t ion .
I t w as only at a la ter stage that these v erses
and texts w ere codified into dist inc t books,to mee t dist inc t , sac rific ial and o ther
requirements . T ill then, these v erses and
texts lived on, in thememory of the people,loosely and unstrung, but each and everyo ne of them labelled as a R ik, Yajus or
Stimc‘
tn according to its variety and each
serv inga distinc t purpose ; and such songs
and texts as w ere new lygiven out by w ise
52 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
tha t the B igVedic and the Atharvana Vedicsongs mus t hav e existed side by side and
represent tw o concurrent streams of though t .
Chhanddmsi . Griffi ths th inks w ith Wallisthat th e w ord may be taken to mean“spells and incantations
!
. He is probablyof opinion that the w ord may therefore be
regarded as indirec tly referring to the
A tharvana Veda w h ich mainlv consists of
spells and incantations . B ut, as w e hav e
pointed out abov e,the Atharvana Vedic
songs are sufficiently included under the
terms B ichas, Sdmdni and Yajus . Vidyar
anya takes the w ord to mean Gdya tryd
d ini (Gayatri and the other metres) , and no
reason can be assigned to set aside th is
interpretat ion .
W W W :7hsmdt= From that , Aj oy
anta=w ere born Ye Ke Cha=and all those,
R I K XII . 53
Ubhaydda tah=th a t have tw o row s of tee th ;
T asmdt=from tha t , d ahz cow s,Ha=(an
exple tive), Jagnire z w ere born ; T asmdt
from that, Aja - a oayah
=goa ts and sheep .
From th is sac rifice w ere born ho rses and
a ll (cat tle) w i th tw o row s of tee th . T he
cow s w ere also genera ted from the same ;
and from it w ere producedgoats and sheep .
Comment— Th is verse should, properly
speak ing, be placed immedia tely after verse
IX,as both th ese verses desc ri be the c rea t ion
of all the low er animals and thus t reat of
the same subj ec t .
XII .
flats; Wigwam 811m l
0
Y at=w hen, Vyadadhah=they div ided
,
Purusham=the Lord (sacrificed) , Katidhd=
into how many parts, Vyalcalpayan=did
they form Him ! K im=w hat w as, Asya
His, Kau=w hat tw o, Ush
54 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
yete—have been called
, Behal f -His arms,
Kanz w hat tw o, Ur il==
-(His) th ighs, PdddsHis feet .
When the Devas, the Shdhyas and the
R ish is, w ho represent the v ital ac tiv ities of
the Lord or Prajapati, cut Him up into
several parts to be offered up in th e
sacrifice , into how many parts did they
div ide Him,w ha t w as His month , What.
w ere called His arms , w hat His th igh s andfeet !
Comment. T he hymn now proceeds to
explain the creat ion of the several castes
&c . and puts th e mat ter in the form of
questions and answ ers . T he questions keepup the figure ofsacrifice . T he v ic tim to be
offered up is cut up into parts and the
several parts into w h ich the Lord w as
div ided are enumerated in the next verse ;
B rahma S'
ri S’
rinivasa S'
astri in h is com
mentary on the Shk ta , thus interprets theR ik .
R I K XII I . 55
When they created man, w as he born
as a single type or w ere several distinc tc lasses of men brough t into exis tencesimultaneously T he context w ould not
allow us to interpre t Purusham vyadadhuh
to mean “theycrea ted man
!
; but the po intis w orthy of note that the objec t of the
quest ion proposed in the verse seems to be tobring into prominence the belief that w henman w as created several classes of men
came into beingand no t a. single class .
XIII
W W W :W @ W | I
B rdhmanah=T he B rahman, Asit=w as (i . e.
came from), Asya=HisI ll a/cham=mouth Rdjanyah=the Kshatriya ,
56 T HE PURUSHA Suk '
rA .
Jfritah=w as made (i . e . proceeded from H is) ,B dh ii z tw o arms ; T ad=then, Yad Vais
'
yah
— the Vais’ya , Asyd=(came from) His, Urdtw o thighs, S
'
ddrahrz the S'
udra , Ajdya ta
sprang, Padbhydmz from (His) tw o feet .
T he B rahman w as born from the mouth
ofPrajapa ti ; the K sha triya , fromHis arms;
the Vais’ya , fromHis th ighs ; and the S'
udra
w as bo rn from His fee t .
Comment 1 . T he S'
udra alone is repre
sented in th is R ik as h av ings'p rangfrom the
fee t of Prajapa t i . The three h igher castes
a re here represented as consti tuting some
spec ified limbs of Prajapati . Probably theauthor of the hymn had some dis tinc tion inV iew ; the w ordingof the r ile seems to implythat
,in the author
’
s v iew, the th ree h igher
castes w ere coeval w ith the Div ine B eingand lived as parts of Him before theyassumed their several forms, - w hereas the
S'
udra sprangout of His feet . Vidyaranya ,
how ever,does no t note th is difference.
R I K XIII . 57
9 T he Rik must ev idently be taken
figura tively . I t suggests tha t the caste
system w as originally based on a div isionof labour. T he mouth is typical of learningand teach ing and the B rahman w as the
repository of all learningsacred and seen
lar and t o h im alone w as entrus ted the
task of spreadingthe ligh t of know ledge .
His life indeed w as consec ra ted to the
pursuit and the dissemina tion ofknow ledge .
T he arms of Prajapa t i represent physicalstrength and the K sha triya therefore
typifies the strength of arm that secures
peace and order in the realm and pro tec ts
the country from foreign invasion T he
th ighs are symbol ioial of trav el (and com
merce) and the Vais’ya thus represents the
several arts and trades ; and the S'
udra, as
sprungfrom the feet of Prajapati , w as the
servant of all the o thers .
3 . T he Rik may be also regarded as
implying that the B rahman came first in
58 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
the order of rank and the o thers came after
h im in due order . I t does no t speak ill ofthe Indian mind that the representative of
the national intellec t should have been
accorded the h ighest place in the soc ialscale .
4 . Mr. R . C . Dut t , fo llow ing the leadof w estern scholars, is of opinion that thecaste - system did not exist during the t ime
w hen the R igveda hymns w ere generallycomposed. He argues that if that w onder
ful system had then exis ted,it is no t
possible to explain how there is no allusion
to th is fundamental principle of soc iety inthe ten thousand verses of the R igveda .
He th inks that the solita ry mention of the
four castes in th is Sfik ta canno t w eaken
h is argument , as the Sfik ta itself w as
composed centuries after the general bulkof the R igvedic hymns . He also says thatw ords like Kshatriya , Vipra , are used as
adjec tiv es in the sense of strongand w ise
60 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
several cas tes ;and th is is more than any
of the scho lars has a ttempted . As w ell mayi t be said that there w ere no r ishis in the
R igvedic days, because w efind the w ord rishi
used in the sense of al l - w ise and applied to
Indra and o ther Gods,as fo r instance in VIII
6,41 . 553
“
q gala" &c . w h ich Vidyaranva thus
interprets .
‘a‘zfi
'fi firs t ails:sa nsApart from the numerous references
to th e castes in the Tai tt . Samh ita w here
in the seventh Kanda , l st B ras'
ma, a detailed
account of the origin of the castes similar
to the one in the present Sfik ta is given, w e
migh t say that in the R igveda itselfment ionis made of the B rahman &c . in several
places some of these references w ill beexamined on a future occasion but one
instance may be quoted here .
T he passage w e refer to is R iks 16 , 17
and 18 in the 35th Sfik ta of the VIIIMandala .
R I K XIII . 61
They are as follow
M anama faith s with (triennial:I
es teem !fines t gear elem na it
Th ese B iks exac tlv agree w ith one
another except in the beginning. T he
portion w h ich is common to these riksinvokes the As
’
v ins to come w ith Surya ,
partake of the yajamdna’
s libation of soma ,
and destroy th e Rakshasas . Tha t portionw h ich is spec ial to the first Rik prays to
the As'
v ins to mak e the B rahman happyand st imulate h is understanding (or ac tiv ities, according to Vidyaranya) . T he
spec ial portion of the second R ik similarlv
prays that the As’
v ins should make the
K sha triya h appy and bless the w arriors
66 T HE PURUSHA SUKT A .
rish'
i means is . th is:“ Urged by a desire
for w ealth , each of us is engaged in a
different pursui t . I . am a composer of
hymns ; my father (or my son) is a bhishalc;
mv mother is a grinder of corn. As cow s
w ander severally in pursuit of pasture , sow e go our several w ays in pursui t of
w ealth . T hus absorbed in money -makingavocations, w e have hardly t ime to th inkof mat ters spiritual . W e thus stand in
Spec ial need of div ine grace . O h Soma,
flow ,therefore, for I ndra .
!
A modern B rahman poet , born and bred
up in the present h ide- bound artifi c ial net
system of sub- castes, can exclaim w ithoutany the least impropriety, O h L ord,
what mad men ha th love of money made
of us all ! B ehold, my father toils andsw eats as a Vaidika B rahman eager for
dalcshind. My mother k neads dough for
house- hold consumpt ion and pinches and
starves to make bo th ends meet ; and I go
R I K XIII . 67
about singingpra ises of rich men and tryingto get money from them. Thus severallyengaged, w e have hardly time to th ink of
T hee . Therefo re O h Lord have mercy on3,
us . I t w ould be as safe to argue from
such‘
a specimen tha t there are no castes
now .
(6) I n the particular ri/c relied upon by
Mr. Dutt , the R ishi calls h imselfa composer
o f hymns— a proper avocat ion for a
B rahman ; h is mo ther grinds corn, w hich iso ne of the legi timate occupat ions of the
mistress of a house in a B rahman family ;h is father is (even as understood by Muirand o ther w estern scholars) a physic ianand there is no th ingto show tha t a B rahman
could no t be a t the same time a physician .
I t is true that ih'
the Dharma Sutras of
Apastamba and Gautama, there is no
mention of th is profession among those
w h ich a B rahman can follow in an emer
gency. B ut Aya rceda has been regar ded
68 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
as a Vedé‘
mga ; a particularsanct ity has everbeen at tached to this art . T he div ineAs
’
vins are the first teachers of th is a rt
and its first promulgators, like Dhanvantari ,Charaka and S
'
us’
ruta are'
regarded as
B rahman and accorded a
'
semi - div inehomage . I n these circumstances , there is .
noth ing in the rik w h ich w ould conflic t
w i th the v iew tha t at the time w hen it
w as composed all the four castes migh th ave been in existence .
(c) B ut , ifV idvaranya is to be accepted,
the rik is innocent of all reference to the
physic ian He says
‘fss afi’
“
term I ass as sins:
So , accordingto V idyaranya , the passage
means “ My fa ther is the ! superintendingpriest at a sac rifice and Vidyaranya sup
ports th is interpretation byano ther passagefrom the S
'
ruti,w here w e have the very
R I K XIII .
w ord w Which dec ides the po int ,
furt her le t us‘
remember that V idyaranya
has ;no particular hobby to ride likewestern scho lars and proposes alterna tiv emeaningsw herever he th inks the passages
admi t of the same and no conv incingreason
can be given to show tha t the interpretat ion of w estern Sanskritists is any w ay
better than Vidyaranya’
s or more sui ted tothecontext . Yet it is on the strength of
passages like these that these scholars
e stablish some of their most cherishedtheories !
‘
Yet one more point and w e have done .
T he Parnshaszilcta may be admi tted to be
o f later origin than the general bulk of the
hymns of the R igveda ; but it is undoubtedthat it must be centuries earlier than the
t ime w hen the R igveda w as compiled, as, if
t here had b een then the sligh test suspic ionof its later origin it w ould not have been
incorporated in the Samhitd. B ut the caste
70 T HE PURUSHA SUKT A .
system must be of even earlier date than
th is hymn. For the present rile does no t
betray any consc iousness of the human
origin of caste . Grant ing then that the
cas te- systemw as a human institution or, a
gradual grow th , it must have been in
existence (of course only in its broades t
outlines) so long before the time of th isSukta that it should have been thought at
that t ime '
to be coeval w ith the beginningof th ings ; there is no cause to show that
the interval oft ime that w e presume betw eenthe incept ion of the caste - system and th e
present Sfikta is shorter than that w h ich ‘
is
believed to separate hymns like th is one
from the earlier ones .
T he innumerable sub- sec ts among the
four castes‘
are certainly of very late origin ;they find no sanc tion in our sacred w orks
for th eir raison d’
etre. These are due to theseveral w aves of Aryan emigra tion into
Southern I ndia , to differe nces of local
72 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
breath , d ah==the air, Ajayata=w as
produced.
Simarly the moon w as born of His
mind, and from His eyes came the sun ;
from His month proceeded I ndra and Agniand from His brea th w as the air produced.
XV .
33stW :dismal imamN dbhys rom (His) navel , Asitz w as (i . e
°
came) , Anta rilcsham= the intermediateregion betw een heaven and earth ; Sir
shnah=from (His) head ; D yans:h eaven,Samavartata=proceeded Padbhydm=from
(His) feet, B hamih -z (came) the Earth ,
S'
rétrdt:from (His) ear, the
direc tions . T a thd=in th is manner (did
the several limbs ofPrajapati) , Alca lpayancreate, L olcdn= the (several) w orlds .
From His navel came the atmosphere
R I K XV . 73
from His head, the sky ; from (His) . feet
proceeded the Earth and from His ears
came the several direc tions . I n th is mannerdid His several limbs create . the severalw orlds .
Comment on B ilos I 4 and
.
15; Grantedthat these passages are figurative , it need
scarcely be po inted out h ow appropriatelythe several limbs are chosen to typify the
various members of the Universe . T he
subtle band of connec tion betw een the mindand the moon has been recognised amongmore na tions than one . Similarly the sun
is very appropria tely represented as the eye
of the Lord. With regard to the connec t ionhere mentioned betw een the ear and the
direc tions it should be no ted that in latersystems o f Indian ph ilosophy the ear is
regarded as no th ing more than dlcds'
a
c ircumscribed w ith in the cav i ty of that
o rgan and tha t s’
dbda or sound is regarded
as the distinguish ingcharacteristic ofdkds'
a .
74’
T HE PURUSHA SUK '
rA .
T he rest do not call for anyspecial remark .
D hirahr -T he all - w ise Purusha , Yad=yahw ho, Sarcdni=beings (such as gods, men
Vichintya=bringing into existence ,N dmdni K ritrd=(and) giv ing names (to
them) , Aste==re1nains, Abhivadan=calling
them by their names, E tam—th is, P-
arush’
am,
=Purusha , hfahdntamz w ho transcends all
attributes, Adityavarnam:(and) w ho sh ineslike the sun, Aham=l , Veda=know ,
T a r
but (He exists), Pdre=on the shore,
T amasah=of ignorance .
Exp lana tory meaning.
I t has been given to me to know (by.
direc t intuit ion) th is all - w ise Purusha w ho ,
li fter bringinginto exis tence all beings such
as men , gods and the like and giv ingthem
Rm XV I . 75.
names, goes on (sus ta ining the universe)
calling every creature by, its name , w ho
transcends all attributes , w ho is resplen
dent like the sun, and w ho lies beyond theocean of ignorance .
Comment - Th is and the next ri/c are no t
to be found in the R igveda text of the
Si‘ik ta . T hey are however met w ith in thetext of the Snk ta as given in th e T ait tiriya
Aranyaka . T hey are in a more pol isheds tyle than the rest of the miles, and in a
more developed metre . Moreov er they
bear a more direc t relation to the teach ingof the Vedanta as expounded in th e Chhan
dogya and o ther Upanish ads and in the
Vedanta Sfi tras . And Sayana interpre t sthem agreeably to the teach ing of the
Vedantic pll llO SO plly. For these reasons
the tw o ri/cs w ill be considered by w estern
scho lars as a la ter addi tion . B ut it is the
T aittiriya Text that is . in gene ral use in
Southern India and besides, the riks them
76 T HE PURUSHA SUKT A .
selves are interestingand so follow ing th e'
T aittiriya text w e have inserted these tw o
riks also .
XVII .
margrtgwgmg'
ri I traw l-
Emagfigrawla:It hat fia sqzigs slaw l sw armstalemate! I IYamz w hom, t td=Prajapati,Parastdt
fi rst , Uddjahdra=made know n, Sa lorah:
Indra ( then made kno w n) , Pra vidvdn=w ellknow ing, Chatasrah Pradis
'
ah (all the
beings liv ing in all) the four direc tions,
T am=Him,E vam Vidvdn=he w ho know s .
thus, B havati=becomes, Amritah=immorta l,in th is life ; N a - anyah no
o ther Panthd path , Vidya te=there is,
Ayanaya:for eternal bliss .
Prajapati fi rst made known (the E ternal
truth about) Him then Indra know ingthe (beings living in all the) four quarters
( taught the truth to the w orld) . Tha t man
R I K XVII . 77
w ho comes to know Him thus , becomes
immortal ev en in th is w orld . There is no .
o th er path that leads to e ternal bliss .
Comment on riks 1 6’
and 1:1 . Mahdntam==I nfinite, zinconditioned .
T he objec t of th e tw o riks is to identify th e
crea tor of the w orld (w ho is technicallyknow n as I s
'
vara in the Vedantic systemand w ho is often called Prajapat i in theearlier litera ture) w i th the N irguna B rah
man— the Absolute , the O ne w ithout a
second . Accordingto S'
ankara’
s unqualifiedAbsolutism,
even I s'
vara is Mayopadh ika .
I s’
vara has only a phenomenal existence . He
does no t exist in the real sense of the term.
He can be said to exist only in tha t sense
in w h ich th e v is ible univ erse is said to exis t .
I n Pdramdrthiha reali ty , N irguna B rahmanalone exists ; and to explain the creation o f
the univ erse w h ich has only a phenomena lor Vydz
'
ahdri/ca existence a phenomenallyexisting I s
’
vara is brough t in . T he difl'
er ~
T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
ence betw een absolute and phenomena l
existence may be thus briefly , though
inadequately , illustra ted. Aman, w hen
'
he
is hypno tised, undergoes many experiencesh e sees, for instance, duringh is hypno tisedc ondi tion a grand palace . So longas the
hypno tic condition remains, the man regards
h is experience as genuine ; to him,for the
t ime being, the grand palace really exis ts .
I t is only w hen he gets out of th is conditiont hat he comes to see tha t the palace w as
o nly an illusory appea rance conjured up
into a temporary existence by the mayi !
pow er of the hypno t iser . N ow to applyt h is analogy . T he Supreme B eing is the
grand hypno tiser . All beings in the
universe are under the influence of His
hypno tism. When one comes to know di
r ectly that all th is phenomenal universe hasbeen projec ted into existence by His mayic
pow er, the illusion vanishes and one sees
t hat all the w hile the illusion lasted, there
80 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
w a ter (prov ided the larger sheet'
ofw ater is
near enough ) and the air in the pot becomesinextricably mixed up w ith the atmosphere .
Only Vedantic ph ilosophy does nO t profess
to explainhow th isfl
hypuotismbegan orw hen,
or how so many be ings came to be under
i ts spell . I t is enough fto know t hat this
hypnotism now exists ; and the only th ingone can do under the c ircumstances is to
see how one can get cut of its influence ,and naturally the only w ay ofgetting out
of it is to know that it is no thing but
hypno tism,that the hyp
’
n'
otist alone reallyexists and causes all th is Wonderful appear
ance . Sfiyana therefore explains the w ord
mahdutam thus survuguuairadhikam=trans~
cending all attributes i . e.
,unconditioned,
absolute.
2 . like the
sun .
"
T he Absolute is not to be regarded
as possessingsplendour but as srapmktisa
r ilpa . I f He be r egarded as hav ing
R I K XVII . 8 1
Splendour it w ill become an at tribute of
His and th is w ill conflic t w ith the prev iousstatement that He transcends all attributes .
Hence the expression should be taken to
mean tha t He is Ligh t , the L igh t of chit (M ) ;He is essentially Spirituality .
3 . T amat astu Pdre. Tamas is Mayaor
ignorance . He is no t under the influence ofMaya. I t is w e tha t are under the
hypno tic spell ofHis Maya. T he Supreme
B eing should therefore be dist inguishedfrom I s
'
vara w ho is h imself Mdyds’
aba litu
and w hose phenomenal existence is
postulated to expla in all the rest of the
phenomenon .
4 . He gave al l th ings a name and a
shape and it is He tha t remains ca llingthem
by their names . T w o th ings are stated here .
First . He is the source ofall crea ted th ings .
Secondly,He it is tha t goeth about callinn'
th ings by th eir names . That is , it is He
alone that is engaged in the several pursuits6
82 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
of Samsara . This is contrary to our
o rdinary experience. I t is men and the
several crea tures that w e find engaged in
the various ac tiv i ties of life . Moreover
the second statement conflic ts w i th the
fi rst , w hich says that it is He tha t has
c rea ted a ll beings W hom w e find busy in
the several w alks of life . How then is th isinconsistency to be explained !T he Chhandogyopanishad th us explains
the matter (V I Chapter, Sec t ions II and III) .
A t first This alone w as B eing, O ne onlyw ithout a second. I t w illed thus:I w illmultiply and be born.
’
I t created T ejas
(Fire) ; then w ater (W ) came into being; andthen earth Hav ingthus brough t intoexistence the several elements (air and e ther
being inc luded by implication) , that Deity
w illed thus:‘fi fi fimfiflfifl m s
7
c Enteringthese threedevatds (earth, w ater
R I K XVII . 83
a nd fi re ) in the forms of Jiva I shall he
manifest in various forms and names .
!
Thus w e see tha t the phenomenal
universe is no t a distinct entity brough t intoe xistence by the W ill of a Supreme B eing,w ho remains distinct from all phenomenon.
B ut He it is that has become manifest asse veral fo rms and names . I t is in th issense alone that He can be said to
h ave created al l th ings . Thus the indiv idualsouls tha t are seen tossed about in th e sea
o f Samsara are no t entities distinc t fromHim but they are even He only they nowappea r condi t ioned and c ircumscribed by“eye.
O ne diffi culty natura lly presents itselfhere . I t maybe thus sta ted and explainedin the w o rds ’
of S’
ankara in h is comment
on th is passage . I t may be said that it
w ould no t appear consistent for a div ine
rendered by D r. Rajendra L al nitra ( B ibl iotheca.I ndica) .
84 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
omnisc ient Deity intelligently to w ish to
enter a created body , the receptacle of
innumerable evils and undergo the frui ts
thereof. N or is it consis tent that , beingindependent , He should cease to be so by
amalgamat ion w i th a subordinate . I n
reply I admi t that i t w ould no t be con
sistent if tha t Deity w ere to enter a bodyand undergo the sufferings indiv idually ,w i thout any transformation . B ut such is
no t the case . How so B ecause the w ords
in the text are I n the form ofJiva Jiva
is but th e reflec tion of the Supreme DeityI t is produced by its relat ion to intelligence
(B uddh i) and o ther subtle elements,like the
image o f the sun in w ater o r ofa man in a
look ingglass . T he re la tion to B uddh i,of
that Dei ty of inscrutable and endless pow er
and th e reflec tion of His intelligence havefor their instrumental cause the ignorance
ofHis true nature , and from them proceed
the feelings of I am happy , I am suffering,
R I K XVII . 85
I am igno rant &c’
entering into mundane
objec ts in the form of a reflec tion, that
D eity in His own self is no t involved in any
co rporeal pleasure or pa in . A human
beingor th e sun entering a mirror or w ater
in the form of a reflec tion canno t h imself
acquire the defects of the reflectingsurface .
So is the case w ith the Dei ty .
!
For a detailed eluc idat ion of this v iew
w e may refer our readers to the thirteenthAdhikarana of the 3rd Pada of the Second
Adhyaya of the Vedanta Sutras, w here
S'
ankara examines the several posnions indetail .5 . 1) 1t (itd D htitd or theo riginal
progenitor of the human race and I ndra are
stated in the Upanishads to have been the
first promulgators of the Vedantic truths .
V ide for instance Chhandogya , V I I— l 5—1 .
6 . T hese tw o riks,though no t found in
the R igveda yet occur in ano ther Samhitci
(Vfijasaneya -Samhitit 31—8) in a sligh tly
86 T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
different form. T h e tw o riks in the Tai tt .
A ranyaka v ersion canno t therefore be set
dow n as the latest produc t ofVedic ac tiv ity ,though a rela tive posteriority may be
assigned to them among the produc ts of
wh at w estern scholars call ‘the Chhandas
period .
’
I t may be no ted tha t the rik as
given in the Vajasaneya -Samh ita is alsorepeated in the S
’
vetas’
va taraUpanishad ( I I I
Chap .
XVIII .
fi dwflw fi w fi sfilfimmw lei l
D evdh=T he w orsh ip
ped, Yajnam the sacrifice (namely, Lord
Prajapati) Yajnena=by the sacrifice (of
Contemplat ion) Asan (thus) came ,
Pruthamciniz the fi rst and essential, Tuni
(and) w ell know n, D harmdni=law s (byw h ich the universe isgoverned) ; ill uhimcinab- those great souls (that w orsh ip Prajapat i)
T HE PURUSHA SUKTA .
the Sac rifice . Vidy“aranya explains N dlcum
M W W — no th ing but union w ith
the Lord .
HERE EN D S PART I .
PA R T I I.
UTTARA PURUSHASUKT A.
R I K . I .
was:Hutu:Elamfinfifiw:enafiarfil Iawardmew
This universal ma t ter kno w n as Virdt,
Sumblnttah=sprang, Adbhyah=trom the
w a ters, Chuz and, Rasdtz from the w ateryessence , Prithivyui=bltumydh=of the earth .
T he presidingdeity of the universe , know na s Viratpurusha , Adhi=w ith all h is ex
c ellence, Samavartttta=sprang, Vis'
va lcar+
manuh=from the Universal Creator ; T vashtti- Th is Universal Creator, Vidadha t=bringinginto existence, R 12pam=the form, Tusya
of the V irittpurusha , E ti=busies Himse lf.
90 T HE U'
I'
I‘
ARA PU’
RUSHA SUKTA .
T a tsarram —All th is, Purushatsyuz presided
over by V iratpurusha , Ajdnam=( thusspread) on al l sides, Agrez at th e beginning(of creation) .Th is universal ma tter know n as Virdt
sprangfrom the waters and from the w atery
essence of the earth . T he Dei ty presidingover the universe, Himself know n as V irat
purusha , sprangw i th al l his excellence fromtheUniversalCreator . This Universal Creatorbrough t into existence the outward form of
V irfitpurusha , w h ich consists in the v isibleuniverse about us . Thus did all th is
presided o ver by Viratpurusha spread on
all sides at the beginningof creation .
Comment . 1 . Th is Anuvdlca is the sequelof the Purusha-Sfik ta proper, and is calledUttara
I
drdyuna Anuzidlca, and is ascribed to
the same R ish i N arayana.2 . Adbhyas &c . This rik , agreeably to
the teach ingof the former part , postulatesthe existence of tw o Div ine B eings . T he
R I K I . 91
fi rst is called Vis’
vu/carman or T ra s/ttri
the Prime Source of all th ings created
From th is B e ing, know n as B rahman in
Vedant ic philosophy , sprang a second
B eingcalled Viratpurusha—the presidingDeity of the v isible universe . Jus t as the
human body corresponds to the indiv idualsoul w hich resides in it
, so the w holeuniverse is regarded as the body of the
V iratpurusha .
'
Th is body is know n as
V irat . V irat is said in th is rik to have
sprungadbltya/t , from w a ter. (Byw ater is
probably meant w hat is know n as nebularmatter) . All w ater came out of the fluid
part of the nebula and all earthly mat tercame out of the th icker part of nebula . I t
appears thus that the theory of creat ion as
given here is a succinc t statement of the
theory of evolution, one of the proudest
ach ievements ofmodern sc ience . Originalnebular matter gradually cooled a nd th ickened and earth and w ater are but th e
92 T HE UT’
I‘
ARA PURUSHA SUKTA .
produc ts ofva rious degrees ofc ondensation .
So says also Sayana in his comment on th is
passage .
Heismfigai‘
sgs ited-invent 513110d
asses—s ir( 3mggfi fi
'
fim E ager:«as set to:await!! can:m alaise EFfl
W e may truly transla te the passage thusFrom ja la that w as spread on all sides
sprang th is universal globe, l ike c ream fromthe midst of milk . N o t simply from the
liquid but also from Pdrthiva essence (the
essence of matte r) ; the th icker part of thescum became so lid ma tter and the liquid
parts of the scum became the wa ters . So
says the Veda ,“ T he th icker is the solid
earth and the liquid part is the w aters .
!
T he rik i tself briefly h ints a t the evolat ion theory and Sayana, livingas he did in
R I K II AN D I I I . 93
the 14th century A . C, could hardly be
suspected of reading nineteenth centuryscience into th is hoary passage . Such an
instinctive grasp of sc ientific truths in t imesalmost pre- h istoric is perhaps the bes t
comment on the inspired charac ter of th e
Vedas .
R I K . II .
aft-
Jags gin ssFé'
l
afi afifii ads:sitar!“ai l! limi ts s
‘
e data
Th is Rik has already been explained inthe First Part .
R I K III .
94 T HE UTTARA PURUSHA SUKTA
Prujdpatift z T he Lord of beings, Anta ltCharatiz mo ves through , Garb/tex th universeAjdyamcinah=tho ugh birthless, Viidyatez Heis born, B uhudhci z in several fo rms D hirdft
the w ise, Pa rijtinanti=w ell know , Tass/a x
His ; Yonim=rea1essence w h ich is the sourceo f c rea tion These w ise men
,Ved/tasah:
(becoming) the Lords of creation, I c/whhanti—W ish fo r (andobtain) , Pudumz
- the (exal ted)state , JI aric/aindm=of Marich i (A tri and
o ther Prajapatis) .
T he Lord ofbeings pervades all th ings .
T hough no t subjec t to bi rth He is yet bornin several fo rms . T he
"
w ise w ell know His
real essence and know ing it w ish for and
o btain the exalted s ta te ofMarich i and the
o ther Prajitpatis and become the lords ofc rea tion .
Comment. 1 . Anton C/turati =I t is He
t hat pervades and susta ins the unive rse and
«direc ts all c reatures in their severala ctiv ities and pursuits . He is jthe Ania /yd
96 T HE UT TARA PURUSHA SUKTA .
Prayapa-tis , h is mind- born sons, w ho c om
pleted the w o rk of c reat ion .
A ccording to ano ther account,Maric h i
w as the son of B rahma his son w as K as’
yapa from w hom sprangVirusmt . FromV ivasva t w as born Manu w ho w as th e
pro- creator of all human beings .
T he R ik thus means that those w ho kno w
th e real na ture of the Supreme Lord become
immo rtal lords of creat ion and a ttain tha t
blissful sta te of existence , w h ich is enj oyed
by Marich i and the o th er Prajapatis .
B rahmas’
ri S’
rinivasa Sastri giv es an
al ternative interpre ta tion o f Marichindm.
l l l ctrichindm Padam— the path of rays or
w hat is called in la ter ph iI O SO phv as
archirtid'
t mdrgam - th e pa th tha t through
the sun and the moon leads on to eternal
bliss .
w m l wfi fiflgw éflr l
véii w th a ws:wfil samws’ml
R IK7I V . 97
Ya/t=w ho , D evebhyuh z on account of the
Devas, Atupatiz sh ines everyw he re ; Yul:w ho , P the priest , D erdmtm~
of the Devas ; Yahz w ho , Ja‘
,tult=w as bo rn,
Pnrvah=antecedent , D et~ebltya it=t o all the
Devas ; N amuh=salutat ion,Ta sma i r to that,
Rucluiya=resplendent, B rti/tmrtyez Supreme
Lord .
Salutation to that resplendent SupremeLord w ho sh ines everyw h ere on account
of the D evas, w ho became the priest of theDevas, and w ho w as born befo re the Devas .
Comment. ( 1) D et eb/tyo/t Atoputi . Vi
dv“aranya thus explains it . 23TH!mm
«was 3371163101 new wrhfiafi . 11 i s the
Lord that enters into the heart o f eve1yDeva and sh ines there as the spiri tual ligh t
w ith in . I t i s th is Divine es sence shining 111
them more than in o ther beings , tha t. hasexalte d them to the rank ofgods .
(2) D evttndm Pnrohita lt . B rihaspat i ,accordingto Vidyaranya . I t is the Supreme
98 T HE UT T ARA PURUSHA SUK’
I‘A .
Lord that has assumed the form of B rihas
pati , the priest of the Devas, and is guidingthem by his w ise counsels .
(3) D evebhyuh Pdrva la=T he Lord before
1al creation became manifest as
Himnyagarbha (the golden egg) and from
Him proceeded all creation . Compare the
Vedic passage“m il:mafia wit!
(4) B rdhmaye. Vidyaranya interpretsit in tw o w ays . (1)
'Pum6rahmasvarzipdya
w ho , in His real essence, is the Supreme
Lord (2 ) B rahmand= Vedena Pratipddydyu-
z
w hose nature is set forth in the B rit/amend .
or the Veda .
V .
Agrez l n the beginning of the creation(after the pralnya) , Junaycntal t= w h ilebringing o ut, Ruchttm=the intellec tuallight , B rit/imam=of the Supreme L ord,
Rm V . 99
D eed/t -
z the Devas , Abruvft n=(thus) address
ed, Tul=it ; B rethmanalt z T he B rahman, Yak
=w ho , Vidydt knows,T voi Thee , E nam
thus, D evdh=the Devas (i . e . w e) , Asun=are'
,
Tasya, Vas’
e-
under h is control .
I n the commencement of creation after
the pralaya , the Devas, w hile.giv ingout for
the benefi t ofthe w orld the truenature of theintellectual essence of the Supreme Lordthus addressed it:O h , Thou essence of the
Lord, he w ho know s T hy real nature (asdescribed in the above riks), under his
control do w e Devas come .
Comment. T he true know ledge of the
nature of the Supreme Lord is believed tohave been communicated to mankind by
the Devas w ho, as remarked in the
precedingpages, w ere instrumental in the
completion of creation bytheir contemplation. What the Devas mean by the ir
address is that he w ho comes to know the
real nature of the Lord becomes one w i th
10 0 THE U'
I‘
TARA PURUSHA SUKT A .
Him and thus becomes the -Antarg/dmin of
a ll the gods and rules them. Vidyaranya
quo tes from the Vajasaneyins (i . e . the
w hite Yajur Veda) in support of th is sta tement .
W W W e w s fi m l
m fi a ww ifi u
He w ho know s h imself to be identicalw ith B rahman becomes all th ings h imselfand over h im the Devas have no pow er .
V I (Yajus) .
swim w t l was! we! I
O h Lord!Hri/t Cha z Hri and, L aks/tmisc/tu
Lakshmi , Te=are T hy, Putnyau=tw o
w ives ; Alw rdtrez day and night , Pdrs’
ve
(are T hy) sides . N akehutrdni=T he stars ,
I t’v‘
qutm=are T hyform. As’
vinau= the tw o As’
v ins, Vycittamz mre T hy) openedmouth . O h
Rm VI . (Yams ) 10 1
Lor dof such glory ! Mantishdna=grant us,
[slammz our desires (i . e. know ledge o fSelf) .
Amumz a ll th is (w ealth) th at w e see ,
i ll unisltdna=grant us SurvamManislutm
grant us all .
O h Lord ! B ri and Lakshmi s 1e T hy tw ow ives day and night are T hy sides ; thestars are T hybbdyand the As v ins are T hymouth . Grant us (know ledge of Self)w h ich w e desire, w ealth and all o ther good
th ings .
Comment.Vidyaranya takes Hri to mean L uiicibkb
mdnini D eratd, the presidingGoddess of
shame and L akshmi to mean A'
is'
varycibhi
r utuini D evatd=“the presidingGoddess of
w ea lth . Probably the idea is. this . Hri or
T; ajjfi. is the surest preserver of v irtue ; itis this feeling tha t keeps us from do inganyth ing mean or sinful . Hence, Hri is
used here to deno temi (Dharma) and L akshmi, Sui (Artha) ; D harma and Artha , the
102 T HE UTTARA Y uansHA SUKTA .
fi rs t tw o purushdrthas , beinghere regarded
figuratively as the w ives of the Lord .
2 . As’
vinuu is the name of tw o divine
beings w ho a re said to appear in the sky
before the daw n in a golden carriage
draw n by horses . They are believed to
bring treasures to men and avert misfor
tune and sickness . They are ment ioned hereas perhaps represent ing Kama, (w orldlye njoyment), w hich is the th ird purushdrthu.
T o regard the stars as His body and day
and nigh t as His tw o sides is a sublimeconception of the Supreme D eity, w hose
sublimity even familiarity has no t been
able ent irely to efiace .
I shtam T hough the w ord means w hat
is desired in general , Vidyarauya here
takes it to refer to a particular one— the
know ledge of Self w h ich leads to the
a ttainment of the fourth purushdrtha or
final bliss .
l s .