The Sources and Nature of purua in the Puruaskta (Rigveda 10. 91) Author(s): W.

Norman Brown Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Jun., 1931), pp. 108-118 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/593661 Accessed: 08/10/2010 09:12
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THE SOURCES AND NATURE OF purusa IN THE PURUSAS-ITKTA (RIGVEDA 10. 91) W.
NORMAN

BROWN

UNIVERSITrY OF PENNSYLVANIA

of puarsa "male" in the ACCEPTED INTERPRETATiON THE Purusasfikta (RV 10. 90) is that he represents a primitive conception of the cosmos as a great man,1 and some commentators compare him with the Norse world-giant Ymir or the Germanic Tuisto, Mannus, often finding a genetic relationship between them.2 But a close examination of the hymn shows that it contailns a number of lexical and mythological integers drawn from the sphere of the related deities Agni, Sftrya, and Viisnu, and it seems probable, therefore, that Purusa has his chief importance as a blend of these derivative elements, which are treated with a rudimentary personification, perhaps faintly re-echoing an old folk notion, and for the nonce posited as the substance offered at the primal cosmological sacrifice. There follows here an enumeration of the elements which seem to me important in the appraisal of Purusa's nature, with a translation of the hymn based upon that conception.3 The word purusa occurs in four other hymns of the RV. Once it is used in the plural meaning " men " as contrasted with cows (10. 165. 3); once it is used in the singular meaning " man " (iusadhinacn "the vital ele(7. 104. 15). In 10. 51. 8 purumsamn ment of the plants ", is one of the things demanded by Agni as
:'There seems to be no reason for listing the enormous bibliography of this important hymn; it has been treated by Colebrooke, Weber (Ind. Stud. 9. 1-10), Muir (OST 1. 6-10; 2. 454ff.; 5. 367 ff.), Zimmer (AIL 217 f.), and many others including Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der 1?igund Atharva-Veda-Sanhitd, 1887, pp. 11-23; Deussen, Geschichte der Philosophie, 4te Auf., 1920, I. 1. 150-158; Macdonell, A Vedic Reader for Students, 1917, pp. 195-203. 2 Golther, German. Myth., pp. 513 ff.; Giintert, Der arische Weltkonig und Heiland (Halle, 1923), pp. 315 ff. Keith, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda, 1925, II. 439, gives a tentative endorsement to the notion. here offered is based only on material from the 3 The interpretation is so liable to follow ideas not really contained material Rigveda; later in the Rigveda that it is at best only confirmatory.

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The Sources and Nature of ptruqsain the Purusasiikta

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his portion of the sacrificial offerings; the hymn concerns Agni's well-known flight from the sacrifice and his discovery by Yama in the waters and the plants; the pi'rWsaof the plants is Agni hinmself who had entered them (10. 51. 3), now paradoxically demanded by the god. The same interpretation of piirusa is probably indicated in the fourth hymn where the word occurs, the hymn to the plants (10. 97). The results here are not decisive, but the fact that puirusa, where it has a specialized usage, appears in an Agni context is. at least suggestive. Additional confirmation of the hint given by the usage of the word piurusa may perhaps be drawn from a consideration of the word pu'ns, a synonym for piurusa,which appears instead of pu'rusa in the Sacrifice hymn, pwimanenarn tanuta iUt Icrnatti puiman vA tatne 6dhi a~ke asmi"n(10. 130. 2). The word puns, it happens, appears clearly as an epithet of Agni in three cases: pium~an agnih (4. 3. 10), da'sa svasaro agruvah samicdh pu'mnhsarm jitadm abhi san' rabhante (3. 29. 13), pra sa&mrajoasurasya prasastimrpuhsbh krstindm anumaddyasya(7. 6. 1). Possibly pu'itmn in the hymn to the Weapons (6. 75.14) contains a reflection of Agni as the demon-destroyer, and when the epithet is applied to Soma asked to dispel the darkness (avd kalpesu nah pumas tda'mdhsi soma yddhya tani pun na janghanah, 9. 9. 7), there is probably a metaphorical use with reference to Agni or S-drya. In other cases puns means "man " or " men " (1. 124. 7; 1. 162. 22; 1. 164. 16; 5. 61. 6, 8; 6. 75. 14; 7. 104. 24; 10. 32. 3), without any application to a deity. As an epithet it belongs to Agni, and so too, we may not implausibly assume, does its synonym purusa, especially since the latter, as we have already seen, has an Agni application. Three compositional epithets are applied to Purusa in the first stanza of our hymn, which use the element sahasra "thousand " in the sense of " manifold ". The first, sahasras'irsan " manyheaded ", occurs nowhere else in the RV and offers us no assistance. The second, sahasrdksa " many-eyed ", appears in three other passages of the RV: once of Agni (1. 79. 12), once of the havms(10. 161. 3 ), once of Indra-VYyu (1. 23. 3); the same idea, but not expressed in a compound, is once applied to Agni (sahasram ak.sabhirvi cakse 'gne, 10. 79. 5). The third compound, sahasrapid "many-footed ", is found in only one other passage, and there it refers to the sun (a tMI suosipradampate ratharmtisthd hiranyayam,

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arzsari svastigam anehasam, sacevahi saka'srapadam adha dyumcsanm 8. 69. 16). The evidence again is not conclusive; nevertheless it is suggestive of Agni and Siirya. In the second stanza the phraseology indicates more positively that we are in an Agni milieu. We have it stated of Purusa that he is the lord of immortality when he rises through food, utdmrtatv4sye'sanoyacdc'nnendtirohati. The word amrtatva4somewhat surprisingly appears regularly in the RV in an Agni, or Savitr, context. Checking all the twenty-five other citations in Grassmann's W6rterbuch, I find it used directly with Agni nine times (1. 31. 7; 1. 72. 9; 1. 96. 6; 4. 58. 1; 5. 4. 10; 6. 7. 4; 10. 52. 5; 10. 53. 10; 10. 124. 2), with Afigiras twice (3.31.9; 10. 62. 1), with Savitr three times (1. 110. 3, 4; 4. 54. 2), probably with Sfirya once (10. 107. 2; cf. 1. 125. 6); with the Visve Devdh twice (10. 63. 4; 10. 92. 3), in a riddle stanza with no clearly indicated deity once (1. 164. 23), with Mitra-Varuna once (5. 63. 2), with the Maruts compared with Sfirya once (5. 55. 4), twice with Soma, in one case with a definitely indicated comparison with Sfirya in the same hymn (9. 94. 4; cf. vs. 1) and in the other with a comparison possibly intended (9. 108. 3), with the R.bhus as given to them in reward for their skill three times (3. 60. 3; 4. 33. 4; 4. 36. 4), a gift which it is stated elsewhere they received from Savitr (1. 110). Agni is indeed the custodian and bestower of immortality (1. 31. 7; 6. 7. 4; 7. 4. 6; 10. 53. 10), and has as one of his common epithets eimartia (sometimes applied also to Soma). The root TSI have not found elsewhere used with amrtatva' and only once with camr.ta (the Maruts isire amnrtasya(5. 58. 1), but two verses farther on in the same hymn the Maruts are associated with Agni). The verb ati-\Iruh demands consideration. In addition to this passage it seems to occur only once in the RV, being applied there to Sormain comparison with Siirya (a6titrOsoma rocanr r6han na bhrajase divam, isnAn suryaT na codayah, 9. 17. 5). Many other formations with V/ruoh,chiefly combined with 6, show the root is invoked to rise to the world of used of the sun's risina, S-dry& immortality (a roha stryge amrtasya lokalm, 10. 85. 20); S-drya mounts to the sky (udyatnn adya' mitramaha aro'han, 1. 50. 11; pasyema s'frya, 10. pairi vayadm. arohantam . tva . 37. 8); so also Brhaspati (10. 67. 10). Varuna and Mitra make so (1. 7. 3; 1. 51. 4; the sun rise to heaven (4. 13. 2) ; Indra does"

The Sources and Nature of pirusa in the Puruscasitkta 111 8. 89. 7; 2. 12. 12); Soma does so (9. 86. 22; 9. 107. 7); Agni does so (10. 156. 4); so also Afigiras (10. 62. 3): in all these instances aV \ruh is followed by div, except once when followed by dydm (10. 67. 10). The verb V/ruh without prefix is used of the Visve Dev5Ih in making the sun mount (10. 65. 11); Varuna himself mounts, the usage apparently being secondary (8. 41. 8). It seems clear that lati\/ruh' brings us face to face with a characteristic of Silrya. The word anna "food" is used with many gods, yet prevailingly with Agni; of the citations in Grassmnann's Wbrhterbuch more than half are to passages concerning Agni (18 times, possibly 19) or related deities, namely Brhaspati (once), Brahmanaspati (once), ApAm. napat (many times in a single hymn, 2. 35), Marditr (once, 10. 117, in which hymn also occur the otherwise unrecorded words annavat and Annakama). Of other deities Indra has the word 14 times, VAc once, the Asvins once. The a&rat AEyoevov annavrdh (10. 1. 4)l is used of Agni. The clause yad ainnenatirohati has no exact parallel in the RV, yet I have noticed as used of Agni niticti y6 vdray mnncmdtti vayiir nd rstry 6ty ety aktutn (6. 4. 5). In the fourth stanza occur two verbs with specialized application, namely, ud\/i and viV\/kram. Of these ud\/i is almost exclusively a Sfirya word. Besides this passage there are 43 others cited in Grassmann's Warterbuch as containing it. Of these 34 show it in certain application to S-drya (or S-dra): 1. 50. 5, 11; 1. 124. 1; 1. 157. 1; 1. 163. 1; 1. 191. 8; 3. 15. 2; 4. 13. 1; 5. 54. 10; 7. 35. 8; 7.60.1; 7.61.1; 7.63.1,2,3,4,5; 7.65.1; 7.66.4,7,12,14; 7. 81.2; 8.1.29; 8.13.13; 8.27.19,21; 9.17.5; 10.35.8; 10. 37. 2, 7, 9; 10. 88. 6; 10. 121.6. One other shows it used in an implied comparison with the sun (7. 104. 3; cf. 9. 17. 5); another shows it used of vasu in an Agni context (8. 103. 11); two others show it in a Brhaspati context (2. 24. 6; 10. 108. 11); one other shows it riddlesomely of the water (1. 164. 51), possibly with some concealed reference to the sun as in other stanzas of the same hymn; one more in what seems to be a sun context (10. 27. 15 ); one of Vasistha rising from the jar in which he was born (7. 33. 13); one of the war cries raised when Indra fights (10. 103. 10); one in a riddle stanza in an Indra context (10. 27. 23). The only other verb forms of V/i combined with ud that I can find are of ud a \/i, appearing only twice, once being of the sun (6. 51. 1),

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the other possibly containing an implied comparison with the sun (10. 17. 10); of utd abhi+\i, appearing only once, that being in a stanza in which Indra is called sitrya (8. 93. 1); and of abhi ud\/i, appearing only once, that being of S-drya (7. 60. 2). Various nominal forms from.ud Vi belong exclusi rely to the sun, as the word uddyana and the word i'diti, used ten times of the rising or setting (or rising by night)4 of the sun and once of the extinction of the fire at the conclusion of the sacrifice. Again we are clearly faced with an idea drawn from the milieu of S-drya. The base viV Ikramis with equal certainty indicative of Visnu. Verbal forms from it are cited 14 times by Grassmann. Of these 11 are used directly with Visnu (1. 22. 16.17.18; 1. 154.1; 4. 18.11; 7.100.3,4; 8.12.27; 8.29.7; 8.52.3; 8. 100. 12), one is used of the sun, of which Visnu is a form (5. 47. 3), one is in a Visve Devdh hymn (8. 93. 14), and one in a riddle stanza (10. 1.17.8).5 With the bases udi/i and viV\/kram is used the word tripad, occurring elsewhere in the RV only in the riddle stanza just mentioned. The three strides (trfni padadni) of Visnu are so well known in the RY that there is no necessity to cite passages, and if any god is to have the epithet trip d it would certainly be Vis-nu. Of characteristics which Purusa derives from Agni, Siirya, and Vipiu the most important is probably Agni's quality as the generative principle in creatures, the spark of life. Agni dwells in the sacrificial wood and is born from it (4. 7. 6; 5. 11. 6; 6. 3. 3; 10. 79. 7; etc.); more, he enters the plants and waters (8. 43. 9) and is the embryo within them (1. 70. 4; 2. 1. 1, 14; 3. 1. 13; etc.). Not only does Agni have many bodies (3. 55. 4; 10. 51. 1, 2; 10. 98. 10) and comprise all creatures and plants (2. 10. 4; 1. 98. 2), he is also the vital spark (gacrbha)of what is stationary and what moves (garbho y6 apar garbho vaindnim gairbhas ca sthdtam g6rbhacs car'thcm, 'drdu cid acsmJantar duron' visar m vivo cmrtah svddhli, 1. 70. 3, 4; cf. 10. 91), engenders all by depositing the embryo (10. 183. 3, provided this hymn is correctly understood as dedicated to Agni; 3. 2. 10; 10. 80. 1), generates the two worlds
4 Cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 10; cf. note 3 to my translation of stanza 4 below. " 6kapdd bhkyo dvipddo vi cakrame dvip`it tripddam abhy &ti pagcat Odtusp&d eti dvipaddm abhifvar6 sampasiyan pauiktir upat'sthamdnab.

The Sources and Nature of pitrusca in the Purusasitkta 113 (1.96.4; 7.5.7; cf. 1.67.3; 3.6.2,5; 6.8.3; 7.5.4; 10.88.4, 14), and is the embryo of the rite (garbham rtasya, 6. 48. 5). He is the male principle, the vital element (purusa) of plants and waters, as has been mentioned above, and is in the hearts of men (10. 5. 1), that is, according to Macdonell (Vedic Mythology, p. 94), he is animal heat. Similarly the sun, which is another form of Agni, is the atiman of what moves and stands still (siArya&tmd jagatas tasthusas ca, 1. 115. 1; cf. 7. 60. 2); he rises from the sea, having sprung from the primal seed (8. 6. 29, 30). Finally, with great importance to the ritualistically-minded priests, Agni seats himself in the womb of the rite (sidann rtasya y6nim a, 6. 16. 35; cf. 6. 48. 5), that is, on the altar (see below, notes on stanza 1).6 Secondly, Agni's connection with the sacrifice is the basis for identifying Purfisa with the magic sacrifice that produces the cosmos. Agni, as is well known, is the sacrificer par excellence, and no passages need be cited in that connection. In Agni alone is the sacrifice made (1. 26. 6); the gods through his aid at the sacrifice obtain immortality (1. 94. 3; 2. 1. 14; 7. 11. 1, 5; etc.); he makes the earth and sky with the sacrifice (6. 11. 4). He is himself manifoldly kindled as the sacrifice (8. 58. 1, 2 VWl.). Agni produces all through the sacrifice and he is the sacrifice. From this idea arises the idea of relating a deity with the sacrifice. Visvakarman is so treated (10. 81), in which connection it is interesting to note, parenthetically, that the only occurrences of the adjective vis'vdkarman outside the two Visvakarman hymns are once as a clear epithet of Siirya (10. 170. 4) and once as an epithet of Indra in a passage where he is said to have given S-drya his light, that is, Indra is henotheistically granted Sftrya's qualities (8. 98. 2). In the period after the RV, Visnu is identified with the sacrifice (Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 41; Keith, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda I. 111), and Visnu is an aspect of the sun, and so is connected with Agni. Purusa seems, then, to be a blend of characteristics of (1) Agni, as the typical male, as the essence of plants, waters, all that moves and stands, and the sacrifice, as the lord of immortality, as the lord of the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself; (2) S-arya, as rising above the worlds to the place of immortality; (3) Visnu, as the
o Agni is the navel of the universe, that is, the creative point, and so too he is the navel of the sacrifice (fABV. 7. 1. 9).

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encompasser of earth, air, and sky. Purusa is both the essence of creatures and also the inclusive principle, the first principle, the ruler, the immortal, the eternal. He is neither Agni, Siirya, nor Visnu alone, nor is he a combination of the three. He is a combination of characteristics derived from them, fused in a rather shadowy way in a new unity, with especial reference to the sun. He does not, as far as I can see, draw his importance from any relationship with the Teutonic world-giant or Ur-mensch, either genetically or ideologically; he is most significantly a secondary derivation from notions established antecedently in the RV. The authors of our hymn no more thought of the world as a human being than did the composers of the BrhadaraniyakaUpanisad think of it as the sacrificial horse (BA I. 1). The emphasis in the hymn is not on the man-like nature of Purusa, but on his qualities of universality and his functioning as the sacrifice, which last is of predominant importance.8 TRANSLATION 1. Purusa has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.' Having covered the earth on all sides,2 he ruled the tenfinger place (the highest point of heaven).3
For epithets with sahusra and for prussa, see above. sa bhiirn1m visvato vrtvd; cf. RV 10. 81. 1; 10. 129. 1 (cf. AV 10. 2. 18). Agni faces in all directions (RV 2. 3. 1, etc.). The covering of the earth is symbolized in Agni's covering of the altar; the altar is beyond the ends of the earth (1. 164. 35), and Agni has an epithet vedisdd (1. 140. 1; 4. 40. 5), which is not applied to any other deity; his seat on the vsdi is the navel of the earth (cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 92). atiVsthd I find only one other time in RV cite atstthad da'aniguldm: I find twice 10. 60. 3); atipra\/stha (y6 jarm mahisan ivdtitasthd4, (pnrgne tistha jdndni dti, 8. 60. 16; pr4 ni4 so mdirtah H'Vad jdn4g dti 1. 64. 13). These verbs seem to mean " be above, rule over ", and tastha4, have a direct object (jdndgn); but it seems impossible to equate dahfinguld with jdna (sg. or plur.), and I have therefore followed the usual interpretation, which sees in the place that is ten fingers broad the heart. The
2

7In this statement I refer only to the RV, not to later literature. 8 If the ideas I have suggested are sound, they may throw some light

upon other points in the RV, as to the true nature of Vigvakarman, who may draw largely from Agni and the sun, and to VAc, who may also get an eye on the sacrifice, the her importance first as the vec of Agni,-with crackling of the sacrificial flame,-and of Hiraxyagarbha, already identified with the sun.

The Sources and Nature of pitrusa in the Purusasiftkta 115

reference here is possibly to the summit of the universe, as in the next stanza. For a survey of the interpretation of dahsdngula in the later literature as referring to the heart-space, see L. Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen au8 der Rig- und Atharva-Veda-Sanhita (Strassburg and London, 1887), pp. 17-20;, for the heart in the Upanisads, see G. W. Brown, The Human Body in the Upanishads (Jubbulpore, 1921), pp. 139-53. A different interpretation is offered by Deussen (Geschichte der Philosophie, which I have used in the fourth edition, Leipzig, 1920, 1 Bd., 1 Abt., p. 152), who thinks it means that Purusa, after covering the earth, extended tenfingers' length beyond, but he gives no support for the interpretation other than the statement in the following stanza of the same hymn, s4 jeti6 dty aricyata, a passage which seems to me to have another meaning (Deussen's interpretation is accepted by many eminent authorities, as Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, p. 242; and Macdonell, A Vedic Reaxder for Students, 1917, p. 196). The Mudgala Upanisad I. 1, a commentary on the first part of the Purusa Siikta, says that the expression means an infinite distance (see G. W. Brown, op. cit., p. 116).

2. Purusa alone is this entire world, both past and future; he is also the lord of immortality' when he mounts above (to heaven) through food.2
1 For atmrtatvdsyefano, see above. ' For dnn-en4tir6hati, see above. The rising of the sun is simultaneous with the kindling of the sacrificial flame (5. 6. 4; 10. 156. 4; cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 98); Agni is born in the morning as Sfirya (10. 88. 2, 6). The sun rises from the ocean where he moved and springing from the primal seed burns in heaven (8. 6. 29, 30). That we should supply dive after atir6hati seems clear from the many constructions with atiVruh mentioned above.

3. So great is his greatness, yet greater than that is Purusa.1 One-fourth of him is all creatures; three-fourths of him are immortality in heaven.2
vrsanvasu dto va bhiiyo a'viind grndnta Nmahe, 8. 5. 27; for the idea, cf. 10. 31. 8; 10. 125. 8. Purusa's greatness includes not only the world but more besides, as indicated in the following half-stanza. 'Vac, like Purusa, has four parts, three being concealed, the fourth being human (1. 164. 45).
8umnlm 1 For the syntax, cf. etdvad vam

4. With three-fourths Purusa rose upwards; 1 one-fourth of him was reborn here.2 Thence he strode across in all directions to earth and heaven (or, by day and night?) .3
1 The reference is to Visnu's great deed of rising in three strides to the summit of heaven, the verb udVi belonging to Sfirya (see above). ' As the sacrificial fire, which is born daily. ' The word sO?a na,?an6 is obscure and the translation is only con-

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jectural. Visnu strides over heaven and earth (1. 154. 4); Agni shines over earth and sky (6. 1. 11), fills them (6. 48. 6), and having generated them advances to them (tvdm bhuvrand jandyann abhikrann, 7. 5. 7). The neuter dual sasa' might be referred to the word sadhdstha (neut.), which is used with both Visnu (1. 154. 1, 3) and Agni (3. 6. 4; 3. 7. 4; etc.), and in the dual is used of heaven and earth (10. 17. 6). Agni is frequently trisadhastha (6. 12. 2; etc.), as are also Visnu (1. 156. 5) and Brhaspati (4. 50. 1); the three gathering places are the waters, earth, and heaven (see Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 93). More pointedly for this passage, the two sadhasthe of Visn.u are mentioned respectively as iattaram 8a' (heaven) and idAm dirgham prdyatam sa' (earth) in 1. 154. 1, 3. The place " with eating " might be a reference to, this world, where Agni eats the sacrifice, and the place " without eating might be the higher world. Another possibility might be to regard the dual compound as feminine, referring to day and night or to dawn and evening (cf. abhi dyin, 1. 33. 11). Men seek nourishment when dawn appears (1. 124. 12); the dawn brings the sacrificial meal of the gods (1. 113. 12) and provides the martabh6jana (7. 81. 5). Evening and Dawn alike nourish Agni, who shines between earth and heaven (naktasasal vairnam a 6msyane dhapayete Wixum e6kamsamici, dydvadksama rukm6 antdr vi bhati devel agniM dharayan dravinodafm, 1. 96. 5). Agni rules by both day and night (1. 98. 2; 1. 127. 5; 10. 88. 6); this idea contains an allusion to Sfirya, a form of Agni (10. 88. 11), who, according to a Brahmana notion, rises both in the east and in the west, and at midnight is at the peak of heaven as well as at midday, the answer to this riddle being that at night the sun turns his face away from the earth and so is not visible to men (Ait. Brfth. 3. 44. 4; cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 10; herein we may perhaps have a clue to the use of uditi "rising of the sun " with pascat "west" as well as with the usual east).

5. From him was born Viraj, and from Viraj was born Purusa.1 When born he overpassed the earth both in the west and in the east.2
1 For the idea of children begetting their parents, cf. of Indra and his parents (10. 54. 3), of earth and sky and their sons (1. 159. 2, 3), of Daksa and Aditi (10.72.4,5), of Agni and his mothers (1.95.4; cf. 6. 16. 35). Viraj is a tentative means of accounting for the cosmic generality, like Aditi (10. 72), and is very uncertain. It may be considered the cosmic waters from which Purusa arises, as the sun does from the samudra (1. 163. 1; 7. 55. 7) and as Agni does from the waters (10. 45. 1) or from the samudra (1. 95. 3). That Purusa is both the son and the, progenitor of Virdj is not necessarily surprising: as the essence and source of all, the underlying generality, Purusa must precede even that out of which he rises in concrete form. 2 The words pagoat and puras at some other points in the RV mean west

The Sources and Nature of pitrusa,in the Purusasikta

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and east (8. 61. 16, where they appear with adharat and uttacrdt; cf. 6. 19. 9, where the same four directional words appear, but with piurdstat in place of purds). Agni is led to east and west (a tva pirvamo anayarnn aparam ptlnah, 1. 31. 4), perhaps an allusion to ritualistic performance; and the sun dwells in the eastern and western oceans (ubham samudrav d kseti ygs ca pfirva utdparah, 10. 136. 5).

6. When the gods performed the sacrifice with Purusa as oblation,1 the spring was its melted butter, the summer its fuel, the autumn its oblation.
1 Similarly Visvakarman, the primordial artifex, becomes the sacrifice (10. 81. 6). The "oblation " here is a set and solemn act, the type of oblation, not " any old " oblation; but at the end of the stanza the word is denuded of its pointedness and means only oblation.

7. Him, Purusa, born at the beginning,' they besprinkled on the straw; the gods sacrificed with him, and the Sadhyas and the Rsis.
Cf. 1. 121. 1.

8. From that sacrifice when it was fully offered the speckled (clotted) butter was collected; it constituted the birds and the wild and domestic animals. 9. From that sacrifice when it was fully offered the hymns were born, and the chants; the metres were born from it, and from it the prose formula was born. 10. From that were born horses and whatever (other) animals have (incisor) teeth in both (upper and lower) jaws. Cows were born from it; from it were born goats and sheep.'
1 The reference in this stanza is to the sacrificial animals, which are divided into two classes, the one being those which have incisors in both jaws, and the other being those which have them in only the lower jaw. This same division is mentioned elsewhere in the ritualistic literature, as for example in the gatapathabrahmana I. 6. 3. 30; see discussions by Weber, Indische Studien 10. 58; Eggeling, HBE 12. 171. The teeth alluded to must be incisors, as noted in pw. Horses and men have incisors in both upper and lower jaws; cows, goats, sheep in only the lower jaw (cf. Encyclopedia Britaia, 14th ed., s. v. " Teeth "). The sacrificial animals are mentioned variantly in RV 10. 91.14 as horses, bulls, oxen, cows, and sheep. For a list of sacrificial animals, note also the Chftndogya Upanisad 2. 6. 1; 2. 18. 1 (goats, sheep, cows, horses, men); and cf. Keith, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda I. 254, 279; II. 324-6; Dumont, L'Agvamedha (1927), p. 55.

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11.1 When they divided Purusa, into how many parts did they separate him ? 2 What was his mouth? What were his arms? What were the thighs and feet called?
1 The hymn turns to an explanation of the origin of the parts of the universe from Purusa. Puru?a, being a fusion of elements taken from Agni, Sfirya, and Vi?Vu, and then being translated to a more exalted plane than that occupied by those deities individually, becomes the source of those deities themselves (vs. 13). In vs. 12 men are derived from parts of Purusa, in vs. 13 deities, in vs. 14 parts of the universe. The same parts of Purusa's body are sometimes mentioned in more than one connection. 2 For Agni as the object sacrificed, cf. 8. 58. 1, 2 (VI.) : ydm rtvtio bahudha kalpayantah sdcetaso yajfidm invrm vdhainti y6 anflcan6 brahmatI6 yuktd asit ka svit tdtra ydjanmznasya san.vvit (1) 6ka evagnir bahudha sdmiddha 1kah 8uryo vifvam dntu prdbhuftah dkaiv6ah shrvarm iddm vi bhWty 4kam vd iddtm vi basbhava sdrvamn (2); Brhaspati is sacrificed in 10. 13. 4.

12. The Brdhmana was his mouth; his arms were made into the Rdjanya; his thighs were the VYisya; and from his feet the gudra was born. 13. The Moon was born from his mind; from his eye was born the Sun; from his mouth Indra and Agni; from his breath VYyu was born. 14. From his navel was the atmosphere; from his head the sky was evolved; from his feet the earth; the; directions from his ear. Thus they fashioned the regions. 15. Seven were the enclosing-sticks of it; 1 thrice seven were the sticks of firewood, when the gods conducting the sacrifice bound Purusa as the animal (victim).
1 In the hymn of Sacrifice identifications are asked for the various parts of the sacrifice and the pawridhiis mentioned (10. 130. 3) but is not identified. The 'seven mentioned here are perhaps the paridhZn euryasya of 10. 139. 4, where the number is not specified, and perhaps the sapt4 maryadah of 10. 5. 6. The constituent parts of the sacrifice are mentioned in similar connection in 10. 31. 7; 10. 81. 4.

16. With the sacrifice the gods sacrificed to the sacrifice; these were the first ordinances. These powers (arising from the sacrifice) reach the sky where are the Sadhyas and the gods.