Purusha Sukta
|| पुरुषसूक्तम् ||
सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् । स भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वात्यतिष्ठद्दशाङ्गुलम् ॥१॥
sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasrapāt | sa bhūmiṃ viśvato vṛtvātyatiṣṭhaddaśāṅgulam ||1||
The Purusha has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. Enveloping the earth on all sides, he transcends it by ten fingers’ breadth.
पुरुष एवेदं सर्वं यद्भूतं यच्च भव्यम् । उतामृतत्वस्येशानो यदन्नेनातिरोहति ॥२॥
puruṣa evedaṃ sarvaṃ yadbhūtaṃ yacca bhavyam | utāmṛtatvasyeśāno yadannenātirohati ||2||
The Purusha alone is all this - whatever has been and whatever will be. He is the lord of immortality and transcends all through food (the material world).
एतावानस्य महिमातो ज्यायांश्च पूरुषः । पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि ॥३॥
etāvānasya mahimāto jyāyāṃśca pūruṣaḥ | pādo’sya viśvā bhūtāni tripādasyāmṛtaṃ divi ||3||
Such is his greatness - and the Purusha is even greater than this. One quarter of him is all beings; three quarters are immortal in heaven.
॥ इति पुरुषसूक्तम् सम्पूर्णम् ॥
The Purusha Sukta is one of the most important hymns in the Vedic tradition, describing the cosmic being from whose sacrifice the universe, Vedas, and social order are created. It is found in the Rig Veda (10.90) and is quoted extensively in the Upanishads.