"The expression puruSa is not be construed in the sense of 'man' (human being), although this meaning became prevalent at a later age. It is never employed in the vedic hymns in this sense."
And the book goes on to give the following definitions of the word puruSa:
1) that which goes ahead (purati agre gachchati)
2) that which fills all with strength (piparti pUrayati balam yah)
3) that which lies inside the township (puri shete yah)-- Shatapatha BrahmaNa (purah kuSan UnAdi--sUtra, 4.74)
He also mentions:
"It is said that the savitR of the gAyatrI mantra occuring in RV(3.62.10) is identical to the puruSa of the puruSa sUkta of RV(10.90)."
" The word puruSa has the meaning of the spirit in contradistinction to matter (prakRti); in the sankhya system of thought puruSa (masculine gender) is distinguished from prakRti (matter, nature, feminine gender). prakRti evolves, changes and binds;but it is inert and has therefore to depend upon the presence of puruSa to enliven, impel and vivify. puruSa here corresponds to SavitR in the sense of stimulator or creator of all things. All things in their individual forms are regarded as 'embodied' (viz. having bodies, which are filled by souls, and hence called puras).
We read in Bhagavatha (7.14.37):
The puruSa is so called because he creates all the species of beings (puras)- humans, beasts, sages, and gods, and lies in each of the beings in the form of soul.
Elsewhere PuruSa is identified with Vishnu, for he abides within the body which is called pura.
It is in this sense that the lexicon, Amara-Kosha, takes the word puruSa as synonymous with 'atman' (3.3.218). puruSa, as the ultimate and unitary cosmological principle as well as the subtlest psychic reality, occurs in the hymns of Rig-Veda, and in the UpaniSads."
The author then proceeds to detail wonderfully what famous upaniSads such as praSna, katha, munDaka, bRhadAnandaka say about puruSa and then he explains the relationship between puruSa and sun, puruSa and prajapati.
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And given below is the marvellous representation of the cosmic puruSa by chandu--
5 comments:
Thoughts --
1) Nice one...hoped to see my puruSa drawing along with this post :( Would love to see more posts on the concept...e.g. how this interpretation lends itself to the (in)famous varna edict, which talks about the various varnas arising from the puruSa's body parts? I read some (rather lame, one ok) translations of the sUkta, but none that contain a holistic idea that gains strength from other references in RV and elsewhere.
2) "pura" is such a cool concept...the body as the (temporary) abode of the soul, as a village/town is to a person..
3) i guess a key to my own question above is how the vedic texts treat metaphors...they seem to introduce a subtle idea through an analogy, and take it on so far that the distinction between the analogy and the real thing seems to disappear..maybe this theme requires a separate post, too!
enlightening!.
@Kalyan-
Thanks!
@Chandu-
I didnt have the puruSa drawing on my laptop when I wrote the post yesterday night... so I have posted it now.
The pura concept appealed to me this way... just as different varnas came out from different parts of the same body of the cosmic puruSa, ppl of different varnas live in different sections of a city, thereby transforming it into a singular macro-organism.
In the physical sense, if one considers human body as a pura, then all the varnas exist in the human body itself. May be its the puruSa who governs what varna does a particular person belong to, in the form of the person's interests and tastes.
Since you have asked about it, I will post more about the varna system in the coming post. The whole book, of about 80 pages, is dedicated only to puruSa suktam.
@kedar,
1) thanks :D
2) that's a wonderful way of seeing it. (i read your interpretation and thought "aaha"..the way one reacts to lovely music or a the aroma of a delicious dish...hungering for more!)
well... do not think any good of my explanation yet... I just read the explanation of that varna verse in the sukta and well... we'll see...
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